Season 62 Power Ranking Preview - #1
by adelfish | 4 years ago | 0 Comments
Season 62 Power Ranking Preview - #1
Welcome to the 2020 Red Zone Power Ranking Preview. In this long-running preview, I will be going team at a time, ranking them 32-1, discussing the user, the team, the schedule, etc.
COVERED TEAMS: Lions, Jaguars, Bengals, Patriots, Bears, Vikings, Dolphins, Seahawks, Rams, Giants, Cowboys, Saints, Steelers, Panthers, Raiders, Browns, Texans, Jets, Cardinals, Falcons, Bills, Washington Football Team, Chargers, Chiefs, Colts, Broncos, 49ers, Eagles, Packers, Ravens, Titans
Yep, we did it.
Some fun stats about this Power Rankings Preview...
It began on June 12th, taking me 75 days to complete, with a total of about 30 hours of work. The final word count ended up being 42541 words between all 32 teams, which was longer than paper I completed when finishing my degree. It took 110 pages in Microsoft Word to complete this preview.
This is the most extensive preview I have ever done, and I feel like I know everything about every team now.
Thank you to everyone who read each of these, thank you to anyone who read just yours and none of the others. Thanks to Blueprint, Jim, Astin, and others for commenting on these, and to anyone who smacked that like button in chat. This was very fun to do, and glad I was able to complete it.
With that being said.
#1 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Tauph)
(12-4 Projected Record)
4th Seed, Win in RZ Bowl 62
Yep, Tauph wins the title.
I really just put my eggs in the Brady basket and hope for the best. I have RZ Bowl 62 between two users who have never won a title, and a player who won the first title of last year's cycle (Brady w/ Beech).
I love the Buccaneers, and think they match up so well with every team in the NFC. Let's take a look.
One Big Question
Enter Coach Reid, who has regular season success last cycle, but was overlooked by a lack of playoff success. With Brady and Gronk in Tampa, can Reid finally break through and win his first ever RZ trophy?
Yes!
Tauph is one of the most successful regular season coaches that Red Zone has, he has competed in every division he has been in, including an ultra-competitive NFC West last year, in which he made the playoffs a few times. He even made a RZ Bowl two years ago with his Houston Texans, in the infamous Panos-Gate game.
With Brady and company, he is finally ready to take the step.
This roster is loaded with young superstars, and veteran talents that are Hall of Fame worthy. The additions of Brady and Gronkowski to this offense are going to make them nearly impossible to defend, as the weapons of Godwin and Evans were already elite.
Tauph had success last year building up an offense with two elite wide receivers and an athletic tight end, and he gets to do it again with an even better quarterback. I just like his chances against any team in the NFC, with his firepower and his defensive talent. Barring a classic Reid screw-up in the postseason, it is his to lose.
One Big Schedule Issue
I have Tampa Bay going 4-2 in the NFC South, splitting with the Panthers and Falcons, and sweeping the Saints. The Buccaneers are the second best roster in the division, but with Spencer controlling the Saints, I think that is a pretty easy call to make.
Tampa Bay has a few really tough matchups early, including a back to back of Broncos/Chargers in Weeks 3 and 4, then Rams/Chiefs in Weeks 11 and 12. They benefit from a weaker schedule due to their finish last year.
Once they get to the postseason, I have them defeating Washington, San Francisco, and Green Bay in the NFC, three teams I think they match up really well with. In 2 of those games, they have a far superior quarterback, and against Green Bay I think they have a superior roster top to bottom.
I have them losing 4 games, because Reid is a headcase and will drop games he isn't supposed to, but this team is built for the postseason.
Reasons for Optimism
The arrival of Tom Brady changes everything, turning the Buccaneers into a perennial contender instead of the 8-8 team they were under Jameis Winston. Brady isn't around for long, but it is enough time to find his successor, and take two legitimate shots at a championship.
The weapons are unbelieavble, with arguably the best wide receiver duo in the league with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and then Rob Gronkowski coming out of retirement to join the fun. Seriously, how unfair is that? They already has 1st round tight end O.J. Howard, so adding Gronk just gives them another superstar weapon to use.
The offensive line around Brady is improving, as Donovan Smith has been solid at left tackle, and Ali Marpet and Ryan Jensen have been fantastic at left guard and center respectively. I also love the choice of Tristan Wirfs in the 1st round to play right tackle, giving Tampa a legitimately talented offensive line, that is also pretty young.
Defensively, they managed to retain Shaq Barrett under the franchise tag after leading the legaue in sacks last year. He joins star defensive tackle Vita Vea, and veterans Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul, giving them a really talented front.
Devin White and Lavonte David at linebacker are one of the most talented combinations in football, and the sky is the limit for White in terms of his development, one of the more athletic players in the league.
I love the addition of Antoine Winfield Jr. to the secondary through the draft, who is slated to start at safety for the Buccaneers.
Reasons for Negativity
One big negative is how short this window could be, Brady is under contract for two years, Gronk for one. As soon as these two leave, the future gets awfully murky in Tampa Bay, unless Coach Reid starts looking for his quarterback of the future right away.
The major area of need on this team is the secondary, as I am not a fan of any of the cornerbacks on this roster, guys like Sean Bunting, Carlton Davis, and Jamal Dean will be rounding out that group. Reid needs to make an upgrade at this spot to get some stability, as the Buccaneers could potentially be a bottom 5 pass defense with this group.
The Buccaneers free up a ton of money heading into next offseason, and have a ton of players coming up for new deals, like Chris Godwin, Gronkowski, Suh, Barrett, David...the list goes on. The Buccaneers are 'all-in', meaning it is Super Bowl or bust. If the Bucs don't live up to the hype in Year 1, it will be interesting to see how Reid approaches this team.
Last Word
This team is built to win right now, and despite having a coach who can be shaky in big spots, I think they are the team to beat heading into Season 62. With a treasure trove of offensive weapons, a Hall of Fame quarterback who has proven he can elevate his coaching staff, and a defense that is better than advertised, they match up with everyone.
The big tests come early, especially against Denver and Los Angeles. If he can take care of business against these AFC West teams and prove that the Buccaneers are legit, I ride or die with them all year.
Like I said, I worry about Tauph as a headcase, he has a tendency to get outside his mind and drop games to lesser opponents. I think the roster talent makes up for that here, and the thing I kept telling myself was - 'If Beech can do it, why can't Tauph?'
I am beyond excited to see how it plays out.
Thank you again for reading! I can't promise I will do this again, but I enjoyed writing about your team, and all other teams! And just like that, we are on to Madden 21, and a brand new cycle! Good luck everyone!