(pre) Rank the 2019 NFC teams in 4 tiers

[hepcat]

11 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Major question marks for the Panthers. 

3-4 defense?

Cams shoulder?

Stars align and both work out, it's a playoff year.

One doesn't work out, losing season likely.

If both don’t work out it’s quite possibly the #1 overall pick and a completely new era of Panthers football. It could easily be 2010 all over again 

[rayzor]

16 hours ago, saX man said:

Rams are going to SUCK.

1: Panthers-Bears-Vikings-Saints

2: Eagles-Falcons-Packers-Cowboys-Seahawks

Drinking this koolaid.

[KillaCamNewton]

Honest and non biased view of each NFC team

West

Rams - i think they take a step back. Still not a believer in Goff and something seems up with Gurley. Still tons of talent and still have McVay and Phillips calling shots. They win their division

Seahawks - they seem to have tons of holes in the roster, but even though Wilson is a cornball he is always going to have them in the discusson

49ers - hard to judge because we still dont know how good Jimmy G is. They can make noise if he’s the real deal

Cardinals - im intrigued with the Murray and Kingsbury pairing but this roster is still by far the worst in the division. Not expecting a lot from them

South

Panthers - im drinking the kool aid this year. With Rivera calling the defense and the additions of McCoy and Burns I expect a big improvement. Still terrified of teams beating us deep with Gaulden at safety. On paper this should be our best offense ever as long as Cam is healthy. If he is, this is a better team than the 2015 team

Saints - theyre going to be good as long as Brees and Payton are there. Can Kamara carry the offense without Ingram though?

Falcons - they had tons of key injuries on defense to start the year. They will be good again

Bucs - seems like no matter who is on the team they cant get it right. Im going to assume the same until i see otherwise

East

Eagles - this team is stacked. That being said, Wentz seems injury prone and they were honestly a better team with Foles. Foles is gone now so we’ll see if they can continue to be a championship level team

Cowboys - theyve quietly built an elite defense, and their offense was much different after the Cooper trade. They will be good, but im still not a believer in Prescott

Redskins - see my thoughts on the Bucs

Giants - wtf is Gettleman doing?

North

Vikings - surprised people are sleeping on them. They are one of the most talented teams in the league. Cousins doesnt scare me but they have the best receiver tandem in the conference and their defense should be elite again

Bears - their defense is loaded, but i dont see Trubisky leading them to a Super Bowl

Packers - roster is full of holes, but you cant count out Rodgers carrying them to wins

Lions - see Redskins and Bucs

[Peon Awesome]

13 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Tier 1(Proven entities that SHOULDN'T have a drop off from being elite): Rams, Saints

Tier 2(Could ascend to elite, could be mediocre): Panthers, Bears, Packers, Vikings, Eagles, Cowboys, Seahawks, Falcons

Tier 3(Mediocre to bad): 49ers, Cardinals, Bucs, Lions, Redskins, Giants, 

Just opened this thread and was going to suggest 3 tiers as well. 4 tiers doesn't really make sense. In the NFL, there's the cream of the crop (tier 1), the rebuilding teams with no chance (tier 3) and then everyone else. Based on the OP's original list of tier 2 vs tier 3, I suspect we'll look back and see multiple tier 3 teams clearly superior to his tier 2 (hopefully the panthers included).

[Thama]

Tier 1: Barring major injuries, should be playoff teams and likely contenders.

Saints, Rams

Tier 2: Good teams that have a strong chance at playoffs and contention, but with a key weakness or two that could be a problem.

Eagles (secondary), Bears (QB consistency), Panthers (secondary, Cam's health?), Packers (just average D, Rodgers' health?), Vikings (Cousins behind a still-bad OL)

Tier 3: Average teams with a shot at playoffs if things go right.

Seahawks (mediocre talent around Russ), Falcons (offense not good enough to win Chiefs style with no D), Cowboys (Dak still overrated, predictable offence), 49ers (strong overall talent but Jimmy G remains a question mark)

Tier 4: Weak to bad teams that shouldn't be in the playoff race.

Bucs, Lions, Giants, Skins, Cardinals

[Sean Payton's Vicodin]

Top Tier (in order)

Eagles

Saints

Rams

Bears

Those are your four division winners.

[mc52beast]

It’s hard to put the Panthers above tier two right now. Ron is building a new “hybrid” defense and there’s the question of how will players fit and will any of them struggle to understand it. 

We also have Cam who could either light up the League this year or he could end up on IR.

[jamos14]

Tier 1: NFC Elite  - Saints  

Saints - They are #1 in the conference unless Brees arm continues the trend we saw the last 1/4 of the season.  Barf.  Well rounded team.  Excellent on both lines and skill positions.  Not many question marks (LB, S, WR depth).  They would have been in the SB and likely won if they got the pass interference call (HAHAHAHAHA)

Tier 2: Likely playoff teams - Rams, Eagles, Vikings, Falcons, Panthers

Falcons - Unfortunately, I also think a lot of people are sleeping on the Falcons.  Their offense will still be stacked and they just added two 1st round picks on OL to protect Ryan.  The defense was legit 2 years ago and then last year they were crushed with injuries.  I think 3 teams from the NFC South get in the playoffs.

Rams - I'm also not sold on Goff but McVay knows how to work with him.  Aaaron Donald is still the best player in the NFL.  Gurley's health could change everything for them.

Eagles - Best OL/DL combo in the NFL.  Wentz is a damn good QB if he stays healthy.

Vikings - Top 3 defense in NFL.  TWO elite WR.  Cousins is trash but rest of the team can carry him.

Panthers - I'm a big believer in them if Cam is healthy.  It's obvious a big question mark but for the sake of this discussion, let's say he's as healthy as can be.  They started 6-2 last year for a reason.  They have lots of veteran talent.  This is the best offense Carolina has had since Cam came into the NFL and the best OL (assuming Little, Williams, Paradis, Turner, Moton).  3-4 is a question mark but teams are so hybrid at this point, I don't think we will stick with anything too often.  Secondary looks solid if Gaulden can be average or find a replacement level vet.

 

Tier 3: Lots of question marks - Cowboys, 49ers, Seahawks, Packers, Bears

Cowboys - Dak sucks.  

49ers - I have absolutely no clue what to expect out of them.  They have a lot of high draft talent that could make them a contender if Jimmy plays like a top 10 QB.

Seahawks - I don't see much talent on that roster but Wilson also pulls the rabbit out of the hat.

Packers - If Rodgers is back to normal, this is a playoff team even with it's medicore roster.

Bears - Trubisky is worse than Dak.  

Tier 4: Top 10 draft picks:  Redskins, Giants, Lions, Bucs, Cardinals

[Bronn]

On paper, in order:

T1: Rams, Saints, Packers, Eagles

T2: Panthers, Bears, Seahawks, Cowboys

T3: Falcons, 49ers, Vikings, Redskins

T4: Lions, Bucs, Cardinals, Giants

One per division per tier.

Rams, Saints remain the NFC teams to beat. Packers rising, Eagles slipping a bit.

Panthers, Bears, Seahawks, Cowboys are all candidates to have make-or-break season moments. Panthers - Cam's health. Bears - youth and dealing with a few personnel losses. Seahawks - youth and luck are big factors. Cowboys have the personnel to put it together, but it all depends on coaching and Dak.

The Falcons still lack the defensive talent to make them overtake the Panthers as the South's T2 team. The 49ers are a team I think is on the rise and that could surprise people this year. The Vikings seem like they don't have much direction and are somewhat average on both sides of the ball. The Redskins have assembled some pretty good talent on paper, especially on defense, and they could be another surprise team if they can keep their QB healthy.

The Lions just always seem to disappoint, and I don't know that they've done enough to be legit and give Stafford a true shot. The Bucs are on the rebound, and likely have the talent to do better some games than their tier would indicate. The Cardinals are rebuilding but have some seemingly good talent, even though I think it'll take them a couple years to put it all together. The Giants made some of the more questionable moves of the offseason, and I've never liked Eli Manning as a QB. I do like Daniel Jones, but I think they'll be the worst team in the NFL this year.

Division rankings:
1. NFC South
2. NFC West
3. NFC North
4. NFC East
 

 

[Goondal]

On 7/20/2019 at 8:30 PM, Lumps said:

Little bored. So how would you guys rank the NFC this year?

I’d say:

Tier 1: Rams, Saints and Bears

2: Seahawks, Eagles, Cowboys

3: Panthers , Vikings, Falcons, Packers, Redskins

4: Giants, 49ers, Lions, Cardinals, Buccs

I think the Packers, 49ers and Cardinals can be the big surprises/wildcards as well as the Panthers. They all have a lot of unknowns that could be great or very bad.

I would drop the Bears to tier two and the Seahawks and Cowboys to tier three.

[Davidson Deac II]

I hope the cowboys suck.  That being said, by the end of the season, they probably had the best defense in the NFC, or close to it.  Dak doesn't have to be great, he just has to be adequate for them to be a solid team.  

[CarolinaNCSU]

If Wentz can stay healthy, the Eagles are DEEP and talented.  Also, as much as it sucks, think Atlanta bounces back nicely after having so many key injuries last year. Saints regress (a little).  Rams as well.  Bears will be good, but Trubisky.  The Seahawks will be annoyingly mediocre, as will the Packers. 

As usual, the NFC will be a jumbled mess with 8 or so teams being pretty good to great. While the AFC will field 4 competent teams only to see the Patriots win.