ESPN's Preseason FPI Rankings

[kungfoodude]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/fpi/_/view/projections/season/2021

We come in 22nd in their preseason Football Power Index rankings.

Projected W/L: 7.8 - 9.2

Playoff Percentage: 28.7%

Divisional Title: 9.0%

Make Divisional Final: 12.0%

Make Conference Final: 4.4%

Make Super Bowl: 1.7%

Win Super Bowl: 0.5%

 

Interesting how tightly packed they have the non-Tampa Bay portion of the NFC South. In their model they don't predict a lot of separation. I will admit, I could stomach a 7-8 win season a lot more if our divisional rivals are languishing in the bottom half of the league too. We keep predicting a fall back to earth for the Saints. I'd love to see it finally happen and the Falcons misery continue. 

[R0CKnR0LLA]

15 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Win Super Bowl: 0.5%

[Ocpanthertew714]

Fug it.  I'll take it. Can't be greedy at this point.

[Panther53521]

Everyone (NFL, ESPN, PPF) don’t know what to think of this years team. I have seen season predictions of 5-12 to 10-7. So I am thinking this is the year the coaches will make this team, and we will see what kind of coaches we have. Of course if the coaches do a good job, we will lose some good coaches.

[DaveThePanther2008]

New Orleans at 16?  Who is going to be their QB?  Mr. Turnover or Mr. Go Go Gadget?

Brees was always good for 2 or 3 extra wins a year.  I don't see JW winning those extra games.

[Rubi]

2 hours ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

New Orleans at 16?  Who is going to be their QB?  Mr. Turnover or Mr. Go Go Gadget?

Brees was always good for 2 or 3 extra wins a year.  I don't see JW winning those extra games.

[AndrewLaskoski]

3 hours ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

New Orleans at 16?  Who is going to be their QB?  Mr. Turnover or Mr. Go Go Gadget?

Brees was always good for 2 or 3 extra wins a year.  I don't see JW winning those extra games.

They aren’t exactly setting Jameis up for success either in terms of passing weapons. Idc how good of a coach Payton is, Jameis can’t be better going from Evans/Godwin to Marquez Callaway and TreQuan Smith

[kungfoodude]

3 hours ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

New Orleans at 16?  Who is going to be their QB?  Mr. Turnover or Mr. Go Go Gadget?

Brees was always good for 2 or 3 extra wins a year.  I don't see JW winning those extra games.

Well they aren't exactly predicting they are going to be stellar. A game above or below .500, essentially. Given their overall roster talent, that is low.

[Tbe]

I think everyone here is overestimating the abilities of our D-line, and LB Corp. 

We have some good starters on the D-line, but not much depth. Particularly in the interior.

LBs are looking rough. 

The first few games will tell us how well our run defense is. I think it is going to be average.

O line is an obvious problem.

So is QB.

7-8 wins sounds about right.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, Tbe said:

I think everyone here is overestimating the abilities of our D-line, and LB Corp. 

We have some good starters on the D-line, but not much depth. Particularly in the interior.

LBs are looking rough. 

The first few games will tell us how well our run defense is. I think it is going to be average.

O line is an obvious problem.

So is QB.

7-8 wins sounds about right.

I would disagree about the DL. I think the depth did improve from last season. 

I could see a scenario where we struggle with run defense. It did seem like the focus was on pass rush in the offseason, so perhaps we aren't stellar in that regard.

[45catfan]

I'm still saying 9, possibly 10 wins.  I think we win a few of those close games that we managed to lose all of last year.  Joey Slye can't choke on all his game winners either.  Playoffs?  Eh, it depends if we get that 10th win and if the NFC is having a down year, so possibly a wildcard, but no better.

[kungfoodude]

12 minutes ago, 45catfan said:

I'm still saying 9, possibly 10 wins.  I think we win a few of those close games that we managed to lose all of last year.  Joey Slye can't choke on all his game winners either.  Playoffs?  Eh, it depends if we get that 10th win and if the NFC is having a down year, so possibly a wildcard, but no better.

Has Slye ever made one in the NFL?

[shaqattaq]

10 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Interesting how tightly packed they have the non-Tampa Bay portion of the NFC South. In their model they don't predict a lot of separation. I will admit, I could stomach a 7-8 win season a lot more if our divisional rivals are languishing in the bottom half of the league too. We keep predicting a fall back to earth for the Saints. I'd love to see it finally happen and the Falcons misery continue.

Losing Julio and Brees has to be a kick in the nuts to ATL and NO. I can't see either being better than us. Now, TB is another story.  They're the team to beat again. I swear Brady sold his soul to the devil years ago.

[kungfoodude]

38 minutes ago, shaqattaq said:

Losing Julio and Brees has to be a kick in the nuts to ATL and NO. I can't see either being better than us. Now, TB is another story.  They're the team to beat again. I swear Brady sold his soul to the devil years ago.

I can definitely see a scenario where both or one is better than us. They are still both very talented teams. 

I am not gonna sweat that this year, but if they happen to be better than us and win less than 10 games, I think that may mean we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Especially with New Orleans.

Here is the thing, though. I definitely don't want to see New Orleans be TOO bad. The ideal situation for us is that they languish in the 6-9 win range for a long enough time that they can Payton. The last thing we need is for them to snag a hotshot top 8 draft pick QB. Atlanta is gonna be Atlanta. Capable of ripping off 12 wins and capable of 3 wins. 

The best part is that if the Taysom The Golden Calf of Bristol/Jameis Winston experiment fails, we can probably start helping keep New Orleans down for the next few years while we ascend the NFC South ranks.

Even better news? Tom Brady isn't immortal, no matter what he thinks. Even that little stunt down in Tampa is coming to an end sooner rather than later.