Possible Madden power rankings!

[gamerCNSK]

The Panthers shouldn't be the worst team in the NFL again this year, especially with the right moves when the crazy free agent market is open. I heard on the radio there is a chance they get Braylon Edwards and that Smitty has developed a relationship with Cam so he may stay. This plus Shocky at TE means that just putting 2 on Smitty and loading 8 in the box won't work anymore. Williams and the Panthers both want him to stay in Charlotte if the money can work out, so don't count him off the team either. The Panthers could be a decent little team this year if everything falls into place over the next month or so.

[Chrisksaint]

Quote: Originally Posted by phillysouljah

The Saints are pretty much all Drew Brees. They're good only by his greatness. The Falcons have a suspect defense but they have more going for them otherwise.

False. Does Drew Brees make the offense run? Yes.However let me take you through a tour of their roster.

Marques Colston, Meachem, and Lance Moore all capable receivers at what they do featuring 1 potential pro bowler maybe even 2 depending how Meachem continues his devlopment. Jimmy Graham an athletic stud at TE with David Thomas also a very capable TE that can be used. Pierre Thomas can do it all at the RB position when healthy, Chris Ivory was a stud when healthy as well, so now add in Mark Ingram. Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks are prolly the top 2 guards in the NFL.

Defense isn't as great as the offense but it's getting there. Will Smith, Sedrick Ellis, Shaun Rogers, and now Cam Jordan on the D-line. Vilma the defensive leader at MLB, OLB spot is heh but they have some young guys who have been hurt early. Malcolm Jenkins really shined in his 1st year at FS, Porter/Greer are really solid at CB but I feel Greer did have a down year. Last years 1st pick Patrick Robinson was decent when thrown into the fire last year due to injuries.

To say the Saints is only as good as Brees is silly, the talent is there for Brees to have an off game and still win a game just won't be as pretty or easy. LAst year tho maybe cause with all the injuries to the team and even to Brees himself he was basically told to just go sling out there for 60 attempts in the Seattle game.

[phillysouljah]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chrisksaint

False. Does Drew Brees make the offense run? Yes.However let me take you through a tour of their roster. Marques Colston, Meachem, and Lance Moore all capable receivers at what they do featuring 1 potential pro bowler maybe even 2 depending how Meachem continues his devlopment. Jimmy Graham an athletic stud at TE with David Thomas also a very capable TE that can be used. Pierre Thomas can do it all at the RB position when healthy, Chris Ivory was a stud when healthy as well, so now add in Mark Ingram. Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks are prolly the top 2 guards in the NFL. Defense isn't as great as the offense but it's getting there. Will Smith, Sedrick Ellis, Shaun Rogers, and now Cam Jordan on the D-line. Vilma the defensive leader at MLB, OLB spot is heh but they have some young guys who have been hurt early. Malcolm Jenkins really shined in his 1st year at FS, Porter/Greer are really solid at CB but I feel Greer did have a down year. Last years 1st pick Patrick Robinson was decent when thrown into the fire last year due to injuries. To say the Saints is only as good as Brees is silly, the talent is there for Brees to have an off game and still win a game just won't be as pretty or easy. LAst year tho maybe cause with all the injuries to the team and even to Brees himself he was basically told to just go sling out there for 60 attempts in the Seattle game.

I'm just comparing the team to the Falcons. If Matt Ryan goes down, I'm confident that a Chris Redman-led Falcons will still win games, even if it means relying a bit more on Michael Turner but, for the most part, the Falcons will still be the Falcons. If Drew Brees goes down, yikes.

Case in point, here's Brees' passing attempts each season since coming to New Orleans:

2006: 554
2007: 652
2008: 635
2009: 514
2010: 658

Those are an insane number of attempts (for comparison, Brady in 2007 only threw 578 passes and, until the 2010 season, Peyton Manning had never thrown more than 591 passes in a season in his career!)!

That tells me the Saints are committed to the pass in a way that no other NFL team is, that Brees is capable of being very efficient and productive in the face of so much volume, and that I doubt many other NFL QB's, let alone the Saints' backups, could step up to the plate if Brees goes down and not force the offense to radically change.

Could a different QB fill those shoes and with the players the Saints have, could they do well? Sure. But success in that case would be predicated on Sean Payton dramatically changing the gameplan.

[phillysouljah]

Quote: Originally Posted by gamerCNSK

The Panthers shouldn't be the worst team in the NFL again this year, especially with the right moves when the crazy free agent market is open. I heard on the radio there is a chance they get Braylon Edwards and that Smitty has developed a relationship with Cam so he may stay. This plus Shocky at TE means that just putting 2 on Smitty and loading 8 in the box won't work anymore. Williams and the Panthers both want him to stay in Charlotte if the money can work out, so don't count him off the team either. The Panthers could be a decent little team this year if everything falls into place over the next month or so.

So who would be the worst team if it's not the Panthers? Cincinnati? Arizona? Buffalo? Denver? Washington?

The Palmer-less, Ochocinco-less, (and looking to be Benson-less) Bengals look like they're going to be terrible. Arizona is an okay to good team everywhere but the QB position (though that defense needs improvement that may come from more consistent offense). Washington looks ugly, as well, unless they have Packers-like success in the 3-4 in the second season of that defensive change; their offense is lacking at every position, though. Denver and Buffalo are, like the Cardinals, okay to good generally-speaking except for a few positions.

So maybe Washington and Cincinnati should be the bottom-feeders followed by Carolina, Buffalo, et al.

As always, though, one of those top rated teams will have a big fall. The Chiefs or Bears look like possible free-fallers.

[Cj7298419]

Falcons should be rated lower than the Saints.

[Cj7298419]

Quote: Originally Posted by phillysouljah

I'm just comparing the team to the Falcons. If Matt Ryan goes down, I'm confident that a Chris Redman-led Falcons will still win games....

To me, that's more a testament to how overrated Matt Ryan is as opposed to the Saints being "all Drew Brees."

Brees is a top 3 Qb, but don't make the mistake of thinking the Saints aren't one of the most talented teams top to bottom in the league.

[Chrisksaint]

I'm not even going to try to get into a sensible arguement in the madden forum, but the way I see it just looking at the roster the Saints have a better O and better D then the Falcons

[will12203]

the Bills are about right at 76....