Which NFL team is headed for Suck Town?

We’re bad, but we’re not that bad. Remember, the Buccaneers played the league’s toughest schedule last year, and it’s no cakewalk this year.

Add to that starting a rookie quarterback for most of the year, with an offensive system patched together in three weeks (since Jeff Jagdozinsky got fired during the preseason), and a totally new defensive system which didn’t fit our personnel at all, and it’s surprising we won any games at all.

What’s even more surprising is that the team was actually quite good at times. The defense improved a lot after Raheem Morris took over playcalling and went back to the Tampa 2, and we lost half our games on the final play, or by 3 points or less. We lost two of those because of horrible calls by the officials.

Don’t get me wrong: we’re not a playoff team - except maybe in the NFC West. However, we’re not a horrible team either. I’ll be disappointed with fewer than six wins.

Nitpick: that was with Randall Cunningham, not Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper hadn’t even been drafted yet.

Anyway, your larger point stands; Brett Favre wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference to the 2000-2006 Vikings. Their defenses were the problem; the offense was invariably ranked among the top 10.

I have to say that I am very pleased that my beloved Falcons are not headed for Suck Town.
We may not win our division this year because the Who-Dats are really really good, but we could easily make the wild card.

Personally, I vote for the Browns. Which is sad because their basketball team is going to suck as well this year.

Assuming we are excluding teams that already suck and will continue to, and only picking decent teams in decline:

Cinncinnati, big time. Everyone is old.

Seattle.

Arizona. Obvious.

Washington. Granted, they are not decent, but everyone seems to think that bringing in a coach with one playoff win in the last decade will turn things around. It won’t.

Wait, what? Cincy only has one noticeably old player: T.O.

Ochocinco is 32, so he’s probably got at least two good years left. Carson Palmer is 30. Cedric Benson is 27. The offensive line is mostly young. The defense is mostly young.

Yeah, beat me to it. The Bengals certainly aren’t old by any stretch. Their defense is loaded with young talent and their offense is a fair mix.

The biggest question the Bengals have is how well are they going to protect Carson Palmer. The starting oline looked pretty bad against the Cowboys starting defense last Sunday. If they allow Palmer to get injured the Bengals season is over as our backups are pretty bad too.

To be fair though, the Cowboys had a full week of camp/practice over the Bengals as they started TC earlier…and it showed. Its hard to really judge much on a couple series in the preseason anyway.

I think the biggest problem with Cincy is Marvin Lewis. The team has no identity and they seem to win as much by surprise or luck as anything purposeful. Whether they finish 13-3 or 4-12 nobody will be surprised.

But, in terms of this thread, I doubt they’re heading towards a long run of mediocrity. I think it’s more likely to continue with alternating years of good/suck.

Regarding Washington, it’s going to be interesting to see how Shanahan and Snyder mesh. Shanahan is the king of the o-line and the running game. Snyder loves RB’s who had their career year 5+ years ago.

You’re on.

Oh please lose this bet!
:slight_smile:

Heh I’m Ok if the Steelers suck for a while. Two championships in the 2000’s will keep me satisfied for years. If they win another, that will just be gravy. It would be nice if they make the playoffs, but I’m happy if they just stay healthy even if it means playing fewer games.

Eh, I don’t know about that. Marvin is pretty nonchalant and soft-spoken generally with the media, but he’s definitely a willful, solid coach. The problem was as follows: Palmer starts playing in 2004 and the Bengals, despite Marvin’s reputation as a defensive-minded coach, build an exciting passing-oriented offense. Their offensive line in 2004, 2005 and 2006 was among the best in the league with Willie Anderson, Levi Jones, Eric Steinbach, Mike Goff and Rich Braham all in the prime of their careers. The Bengals score a lot of points and start winning. They barely miss the playoffs in 2004, make them in 2005 with an 11-5 record but lose to the Steelers mostly due to Palmer’s freak knee injury, 2006 was riddled with off-field arrests and such and the Bengals barely missed the playoffs again at 8-8. In 2007 the oline began to fall apart, particularly at both tackle positions as Willie and Levi kept being injured/old, we had no good RB as Rudi Johnson also aged badly. They finished a disappointing 7-9. Bear in mind that during these three seasons the Bengals defense pretty much continued to suck in spite of the turnovers generated in the 2005 year. They just outscored opponents more often than not.

Usher in 2008. The oline is still in shambles, we don’t have a good running back, TJ Houshmanzadeh is gone, Palmer injures his elbow and Ryan Fitzpatrick is our starter for far too many games (11? 12?) and the Bengals are awful at 4-11-1 (Bills fans will understand). But they had a glimmer of hope as they finished the season strong and the defense starts to make strides under Mike Zimmer, whom I believe is the second best hire Mike Brown has made since Marvin Lewis.

In the 2009 offseason, Marvin vowed to “blow it up” and re-create the Bengals team. And they did, transforming into a run-first team that played good defense (ranked #4 last season) with new players installed in the oline and Cedric Benson as the redeemed centerpiece of the offense. They made the playoffs at 10-6 but faltered down the stretch due to a number of reasons, mostly the lack of viable receiving options as we lost both starting TE’s in training camp for the season to injury, and Chris Henry to injury then death (whom was super-important to the offense with his height and speed), and the defense wore down and suffered some injuries due to the offense’s inability to regularly move the chains and kept the defense on the field far longer than they should have been.

This offseason they acquired a number of weapons for Palmer…TO, Antonio Bryant, Jermaine Gresham, Jordan Shipley…and the coaches still claim that we are going to be a run-first team.

What remains to be seen is how well the oline plays in pass pro, and the status of Andre Smith who’s gained an enormous amount of weight and hasn’t properly rehabbed his foot.

The defense is built in Mike Zimmer’s image.

Or alternatively, you can watch Marvin in the locker room (from Hard Knocks)…I get chills every time I watch this…and its weird seeing Chris Henry sitting there…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tze9Dlh5qI

Cardinals fan checking in. Not sure why everyone is picking Arizona to return to suck town so quickly. Yes, Warner retired. The Cards still have a good team. The schedule gods have smiled on the NFC West since they play the AFC West and the NFC South. The Cards also have a possible Favreless Vikes team in November in the Metrodome as well as the Cowboys at home.

This looks like another 9-7 or 10-6 schedule for the Cards. The 49ers might be better, but they’re still an inconsistent team.

The Cards might be done in the first round of the playoffs as they don’t have Warner to turn up the heat in the playoffs as he did the last 2 years. Still, going to the playoffs isn’t exactly Suck Town. The Rams or the Seahawks aren’t going to be in the NFC West playoff race and I’ll take the Cards over the 49ers.

As a fan, maybe you don’t see how much Warner did for the team? He is a master of possession. He can throw left-handed to avoid the sack. If you look at game film, he’s constantly getting rid of the ball so quick it hides how bad the o-line is.

The only reason, seriously, that AC went to the Superbowl is Warner. Not only did he carry them on his back, he basically erased the worst o-line and defense in the history of the Superbowl.

Only somebody who’s forgotten what the Bungles were like before Marvin Lewis could say that.

The NFC South had 33 wins last season, the same number as the NFC East. The schedule gods may not have frowned, but they sure haven’t smiled.

No way the Cards make the playoffs this year. They won’t have a winning record, either. Not only did Warner retire, they lost Boldin, Dansby, Rolle, Chike Okefor, and even kicker Neil Rackers. The incoming players are comparative downgrades.

Of all their losses, I predict Boldin will hurt the most. He was the heart and soul of that team, and he’ll add three wins to Baltimore’s record all by himself.

IF…if Flacco can get him the ball. I’m undecided as to whether the fact that Flacco’s majority of completions being to Rice and Heap were due to suckage on his part or not having legit WR options.

Still, he can’t hurt at all. He’s a great player. But that secondary of theirs is really banged up. I think Palmer and the Bengals with the TO show, Chad, Shipley, Caldwell, Gresham, Coffman and maybe even Matt Jones (who’s been badmouthed in practices but looked great in a game) will light their asses up in game 2 this season.

And if he can stay healthy. I think that’s the major reason the Cards were willing to let him go is his health issues (and they liked Breaston).

That’s certainly a legit concern about Boldin as well. For some reason as a Bengals fan the Ravens just don’t worry me much anymore. Carson in general has had their number and their defense keeps aging and their secondary is a wreck. Their best player is Ray Rice, IMO.

As a Ravens fan, their secondary is a glaring weakness that they failed to address in the offseason. Tom Zbikowski looks good as a backup to Reed (who may or may not be back on the field by the season opener, or mid-season, or the playoffs), and Landry’s a good young strong safety. While I’m not that comfortable with two CBs coming off of knee reconstructions, anybody we can throw back there would be better than Frank “Pass Interference” Walker was last year.

Still, they’ve gotten a little help for the secondary. Suggs looks to be in much better shape than he was all of last year, and they added a couple of solid pass rushers in the draft. Nobody in the league could cover for as long as we asked those guys to last year. I like to think they won’t be as bad as they were, but I’m not unrealistically optimistic about it.

I’m not sure what you’re worried about with Flacco spreading the ball. Rice and Heap did combine for 131 catches last year, but Mason had 73 as well, and Mark Clayton and Kelly Washington each had 30+. That’s not great distribution, especially for a 2nd wideout, but you don’t necessarily need it when your team rushes for 2200 yards (5th on the NFL) and 22 TDs (1st in the league). Clayton and Washington aren’t exactly Boldin and Stallworth, either. Flacco improved in every statistical category between his rookie year and sophomore season - I think with more options and a longer leash he continues to improve this year.

No argument about Ray Rice - he was the heart and soul of the offense last year, and they’ll lean heavily on him again this year. If they want him to last more than four years, though, they’ll have to spread the ball around a little more.

I think Baltimore is in good shape. While they aren’t as committed to defense as before, they did spend a lot upgrading the offense. I think that’s a solid strategy to keep your team competitive: use the draft to build up one side of the ball, when it’s good, switch, etc. Other teams (Indy, Pittsburgh) maintain one side of the ball and keep replacing older players with new players who had years to prepare. I think the shotgun method (Cleveland, Houston) never works. If both sides suck, there’s no sense to add a few players to each side every year.