Winning the Super Bowl isn’t enough to get the Giants the top spot in our Preseason Power Rankings. They took third in our vote and those of you who have been paying attention to the whole list will realize that the Giants beat each of the teams ahead of them on their way to a…

Another NFC East team is talking about dynasties, but the Giants are the ones that have won two of the last five Super Bowls. It wouldn’t be like Tom Coughlin to be thinking about things like dynasties, anyway. Coughlin’s never allowed himself to think too far ahead, whether it is about his job security or…

The San Francisco 49ers entered the 2011 season coming off a 6-10 campaign, and lacking a winning record since 2002. Although Jim Harbaugh’s hire instilled some offseason hope following Mike Singletary’s failed regime, you wouldn’t have found many football analysts projecting a playoff trip for the ’11 49ers. Unless you came to PFT. Florio last…

Eagles doctors discovered an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in defensive tackle Mike Patterson’s skull following last year’s lockout. A brain AVM is a tangle of blood vessels in the head. Doctors ultimately cleared Patterson to play football in 2011, putting off treatment until after the season. Patterson underwent surgery in January, and the Eagles were convinced…

Last year the Baltimore Ravens made it to the NFL’s Final Four, and they were a dropped pass away from the Super Bowl. But this year the Ravens have seen Terrell Suggs, perhaps their best all-around player, suffer a torn Achilles tendon. So does that mean the Ravens fall out of the Top Four? Yes,…

After barely missing out on the Super Bowl last season, the Ravens kept their roster largely intact and had every reason to believe they’d be Super Bowl contenders again this year. At least, until one of the biggest pieces of their roster took a big offseason hit. Terrell Suggs, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of…

Hard work isn’t something that bothers Bills DE Mario Williams. There are plenty of storylines to follow at Dolphins camp. S Ross Ventrone appears ticketed for the practice squad again this season. The Jets need better work from their punter this season. With Cory Redding gone, Pernell McPhee and Arthur Jones are in line for…

The team that owns six Super Bowl trophies is No. 6 on the Preseason Power Rankings as the 2012 season approaches. The Pittsburgh Steelers, bounced from the first round of the 2011 playoffs by Tebowmania (or, more accurately, a stubborn refusal to accept the fact that if they dared Tebow to beat them, he would),…

For much of last season, it seemed that the Steelers were destined to return to the Super Bowl, for the third time in four years.  But a stronger-than-expected season from the Ravens relegated Pittsburgh to a wild-card berth, and a game plan that grossly underestimated Tim Tebow kept the Steelers from advancing. While it was…

Somehow, we’ve managed to stick to a strict, two-per-day schedule of lengthy, comprehensive, team-by-team season previews, posted from bottom to top based on a consensus ranking of every franchise as the 2012 season approaches. Links to the first 26 teams appear below.  The final six are coming in the next three days. Do you disagree…

With a healthy quarterback, they could have gone to the Super Bowl last year. But after a dynamic offseason, and an honest concern about Matt Schaub’s future under center, the Texans might still be better than last year. Schaub says he’s healthy and ready to play, and not worried about his contract. All those are…

Coming off the first playoff berth and 10-win season in franchise history, the Texans can’t help but feel it should have been better. They were 7-3 when Matt Schaub suffered a foot injury, ending his season and throwing the potential for a deep playoff push out the window. T.J. Yates proved himself capable last year,…

There’s something about the Eagles and the number eight. They won eight games and lost eight games in 2011 and now they have nabbed the eighth spot in our Preseason Power Rankings. That final eight looks a lot better than the first two as it would mean a return to the playoffs after the failure…

After the Eagles’ terribly disappointing 2011 season ended with an 8-8 record and no playoff berth, owner Jeffrey Lurie passed on the chance to make wholesale changes to the team. Andy Reid and Michael Vick return, DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy got new contracts and the team stayed away from the big-name offseason additions that…

You wouldn’t think a team that’s won 37 games the last three years, a team that just signed its franchise quarterback to a record-setting deal, a team that set so many records would be this low. But this has been no ordinary offseason for the New Orleans Saints. They might have kept quarterback Drew Brees…