ESPN's 2022 Football Power Index

[Daniel]

You cut off the X axis.

[Forge]

33 minutes ago, Ray Reed said:

They also had virtually no impactful injuries last year, and at the end of the day were 10-7 and had an awesome postseason run.

I'm not trying to crap on the Bengals but they were far from a juggernaut last year & were insanely healthy and fortunate in 1 score games. The circle size below is the quality of players injured, and the x axis is # of games lost to injury.

I don't think people "sleeping" on the Bengals this year is out of pocket at all tbh. I see a 10-11 win team with the potential for an 7-8 win type letdown season if they get hit with some injuries

Not only were they healthy, but I believe that they had the greatest luck in opponent injuries (IE, they played the most "hurt" teams in the league last year by FO adjusted games lost) 

[HoboRocket]

18 minutes ago, Ray Reed said:

They also had virtually no impactful injuries last year, and at the end of the day were 10-7 and had an awesome postseason run.

I'm not trying to crap on the Bengals but they were far from a juggernaut last year & were insanely healthy and fortunate in 1 score games. The circle size below is the quality of players injured, and the x axis is # of games lost to injury.

I don't think people "sleeping" on the Bengals this year is out of pocket at all tbh. I see a 10-11 win team with the potential for an 7-8 win type letdown season if they get hit with some injuries

Good post, but I question the size of the Cardinals' bubble. Pro Bowl QB Kyler Murray missed 3 games, came back from injury and didn't play up to the MVP-caliber pace he was at previously. Annual All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins missed 7 games to injury. The starting RB missed 5 games, and the Pro Bowl backup RB missed another couple games. The starting TE missed all but 5 games. In fact, our only offensive players who didn't miss a game were Christian Kirk and Josh Jones.

Our future HOF pass rusher Chandler Jones missed a couple games. Our other future HOF pass rusher, JJ Watt, missed 10 games. Markus Golden, who finished with his third double-digit sack season, missed time. Our number one outside corner, Robert Alford, missed 4 games. 

I don't know, I guess I just disagree.

[Ray Reed]

4 hours ago, HoboRocket said:

Good post, but I question the size of the Cardinals' bubble. Pro Bowl QB Kyler Murray missed 3 games, came back from injury and didn't play up to the MVP-caliber pace he was at previously. Annual All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins missed 7 games to injury. The starting RB missed 5 games, and the Pro Bowl backup RB missed another couple games. The starting TE missed all but 5 games. In fact, our only offensive players who didn't miss a game were Christian Kirk and Josh Jones.

Our future HOF pass rusher Chandler Jones missed a couple games. Our other future HOF pass rusher, JJ Watt, missed 10 games. Markus Golden, who finished with his third double-digit sack season, missed time. Our number one outside corner, Robert Alford, missed 4 games. 

I don't know, I guess I just disagree.

I certainly don’t know enough about the Cardinals’ season last year on the whole to comment super knowingly, but based on that writeup I think that’s a pretty “on par” injury season relative to the rest of the league, which is probably why the circle doesn’t seem very large. All of the teams on here obviously had some injuries throughout the year, but I think the reason it looks so small relative to other teams on here says more about the astronomical injuries some of the other teams in the league faced last year like the Titans, Packers, and Ravens.

[NYRaider]

On 5/19/2022 at 8:52 AM, Daniel said:

I like Burrow, but I do think they're gonna have some growing pains this season.

The Bengals snuck up on a lot of teams last year as a breakout team, this year they'll have a target on their back. 

[NYRaider]

On 5/19/2022 at 9:30 AM, HoboRocket said:

Good post, but I question the size of the Cardinals' bubble. Pro Bowl QB Kyler Murray missed 3 games, came back from injury and didn't play up to the MVP-caliber pace he was at previously. Annual All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins missed 7 games to injury. The starting RB missed 5 games, and the Pro Bowl backup RB missed another couple games. The starting TE missed all but 5 games. In fact, our only offensive players who didn't miss a game were Christian Kirk and Josh Jones.

Our future HOF pass rusher Chandler Jones missed a couple games. Our other future HOF pass rusher, JJ Watt, missed 10 games. Markus Golden, who finished with his third double-digit sack season, missed time. Our number one outside corner, Robert Alford, missed 4 games. 

I don't know, I guess I just disagree.

Kingsbury is honestly the thing that concerns me most about the Cardinals. 

In 2020 the Cardinals started 6-3 then finished 2-5 down the stretch.

In 2021 (including playoffs) they started 9-2 and then finished 2-5 down the stretch. 

[NYRaider]

On 5/18/2022 at 4:53 PM, jetjuice said:

Strong defense, strong run game, good coaching, good GM. They play good teams tough too, I like them to win the AFCS.

The Colts lost two starters on the offensive line so they will likely take a step back. They also lost their defensive coordinator and replaced him with Gus Bradley who is a step down, imo. Not sure what having a good GM has to do with anything. 

[NYRaider]

On 5/18/2022 at 7:24 PM, Bearerofnews said:

Great defense, great oline, great running game, solid weapons, good coach and veteran good QB and weak division.

Their great defense was built around forcing turnovers and they just lost Eberflus and replaced him with Gus Bradley, who is solid but has a very simplistic scheme. Their great offensive line lost two starters and looks more like a middle of the pack OL rather than an elite one now. Taylor is obviously a monster but other than Pittman who is good but not great they have basically nothing in terms of weapons in the pass game.

[jetjuice]

5 hours ago, NYRaider said:

The Colts lost two starters on the offensive line so they will likely take a step back. They also lost their defensive coordinator and replaced him with Gus Bradley who is a step down, imo. Not sure what having a good GM has to do with anything. 

Not sure what a good GM has to do with having a good team? Do I really need to spell that one out for you?

They also upgraded at QB and edge, two of their biggest weaknesses. They still have elite players along the line where I don't see there being a huge drop off. The DC argument is probably your best point, but still a super talented D on all three levels, plus they get to play the Jags and Texans x2. Colts and Titans duke it out for AFCS champion.

[Pugger]

On 5/18/2022 at 3:58 PM, ThatJerkDave said:

Packers are too low, tbh.

 

no bias.

lol   I was surprised to see us that high, TBH.  I think our D will be pretty darn good but with our WR room in flux who knows?

[Blackstar12]

3 hours ago, jetjuice said:

Not sure what a good GM has to do with having a good team? Do I really need to spell that one out for you?

They also upgraded at QB and edge, two of their biggest weaknesses. They still have elite players along the line where I don't see there being a huge drop off. The DC argument is probably your best point, but still a super talented D on all three levels, plus they get to play the Jags and Texans x2. Colts and Titans duke it out for AFCS champion.

To add Kwity Paye really come on late in the year. DL Dayo Odeyingbo wasn’t even supposed to play and will be healthier this season. DL overall looks solid with Buckner and Yannick . CB Isaiah Rodgers really flashed last season looking forward to see him improve. They also added safety depth with vet Rodney McLeod and rookie Nick Cross. Blackmon should be healthy to start the season.

On the OL I really don’t think they’ll be a big drop off. A lot of the starters had nagging injuries last year (Nelson, Smith). Fisher was awful last year and Pryor was decent and was brought back he’ll get first crack at LT. Danny Pinter is versatile and can play multiple positions. Also who knows how quickly Bernhard Raimann develops won’t be surprised if he becomes the starter late in the season. WR is where things look dicey for the Colts Pittman is technically one of the vets and he’s only 24.

Parris Campbell is basically playing for his career I don’t know if he’s just unlucky or his body can’t handle the NFL. I’m not expecting a lot from Alec Pierce but who knows. They need a vet WR. I do like the TEs and RBs though Mo and Woods are going to be a good tandem and Taylor is a beast. Matt Ryan is much more accurate and smarter than Wentz. If they handle business in this easy division and win the other winnable games no reason they shouldn’t host a playoff game.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Blackstar12

[NYRaider]

17 hours ago, jetjuice said:

Not sure what a good GM has to do with having a good team? Do I really need to spell that one out for you?

They also upgraded at QB and edge, two of their biggest weaknesses. They still have elite players along the line where I don't see there being a huge drop off. The DC argument is probably your best point, but still a super talented D on all three levels, plus they get to play the Jags and Texans x2. Colts and Titans duke it out for AFCS champion.

What position does the general manager play on Sundays for them? If he's not playing then how is he contributing to the teams game planning/strategy? 

Their GM is so "great" yet they lost two starters on the offensive line, made very minimal moves to improve their pass catching group, and hired Gus Bradley. Matt Ryan might be a slight upgrade over Wentz at this point but he's old now.

[Blackstar12]

6 hours ago, NYRaider said:

What position does the general manager play on Sundays for them? If he's not playing then how is he contributing to the teams game planning/strategy? 

Their GM is so "great" yet they lost two starters on the offensive line, made very minimal moves to improve their pass catching group, and hired Gus Bradley. Matt Ryan might be a slight upgrade over Wentz at this point but he's old now.

You keep acting like the two starters they lost were even good. Mark Glowinski had his worst year and Fisher was awful. Danny Pinter actually had better pass blocking stats than Glowinski. 

 

[Blackstar12]

Also Matt Pryor who’s going to get first shot at LT had a much better season than fisher.

 

[jetjuice]

6 hours ago, NYRaider said:

What position does the general manager play on Sundays for them? If he's not playing then how is he contributing to the teams game planning/strategy? 

Their GM is so "great" yet they lost two starters on the offensive line, made very minimal moves to improve their pass catching group, and hired Gus Bradley. Matt Ryan might be a slight upgrade over Wentz at this point but he's old now.

Dude, the GM has everything to do with every player that plays and coaches for them on Sundays. I'm not entertaining this.

As the other guy mentioned, Fisher was old, injury prone, and past his prime, so replacing him with a promising rookie at this stage in his career is hardly a drop-off. Danny Pinter had been getting hype before they didn't resign Glowinski so they might not even miss a beat there; that plus a QB upgrade and a strong play caller and schemer = not much drop off. I happen to like Alec Pierce a lot and they're a run-first team anyway. It's not so much that the Colts improved drastically, but the other teams in their division either got worse or are bottom dwellers.