Five "Expected" Playoff Contenders Who'll Disappoint

Okay, so I've already got the thread going for five under-the-radar teams (in my opinion) that I think could make serious pushes for playoff berths, now I will list five teams that I believe may disappoint and miss the playoffs, despite expectations. I think it'd be interesting to see who we all think about these five other teams I'll list. Here they are:

1) Saints
Yes. I said it. I'm not buying the "all of this will motivate us" stuff. The Saints have pretty much no easy games this year. If you think Tampa is easy for New Orleans, you may have missed how the Saints -- for some reason -- have struggled mightily against the Bucs, losing one of their three last year to them. The Saints had little to work with to improve their team. Brees is still looking for a monster contract, and the team had barely any draft picks to use, and the players they did pick were in rounds where you wouldn't expect much of an impact anytime soon. New Orleans must deal with improved versions of the Falcons, Eagles, 49ers, Packers, Panthers, Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders, Giants, and Cowboys who they play on the road and have had trouble with lately as well. Tack on the devastating loss to us to end last season, and I see lots of reasons to believe the Saints will falter this year.

2) Chargers
San Diego doesn't have the toughest schedule, but something tells me they just haven't added enough to make up for the issues they had last year. Their GM has been terrible lately, and Norv Turner simply isn't a great HC. While many expect the Chargers to at least be a wild card, I don't see them winning enough games in the end to make it. The Raiders owned them last year, and the Chiefs beat them with backups. Peyton Manning is in Denver and I think San Diego is in real trouble.

3) Cowboys
Some might say, "Dallas? Really? I don't think they're expected playoff contenders." After several years of disappointing, maybe not, but this year.. all the praise of their draft, along with a softer schedule has people thinking they could crack the playoffs once again. Personally, like I think most here will say, I believe they'll fall short again. I think especially if DeMarco Murray gets hurt, that team will become one-dimensional, and quickly fade out of contention.

4) Bengals
I like the Bengals and wouldn't mind seeing them succeed, but it's possible Dalton and the other high-performing rooks from last year could go into sophomore slumps. Cincy's early schedule looks soft, but toughens up later on. Of course, it could turn out in reality to be the opposite when we really get into the season, but if Cincy's opponents turn out as expected, the Bengals could have a rough time returning to the post-season.

5) Falcons
I thought the Falcons had a rather uninspiring draft. Their best pick was Peter Konz, but outside of him, they didn't really get much. Pass-rusher Massaqoui was a solid pick with potential, but all their other selections probably won't contribute much this year. I felt their third round pick, OT Lamar Holmes, was a horrendous reach. He was expected to go in the later half of the draft, more toward the 6th or 7th rounds. They did the same thing last year with LB Akeem Dent who had the same projection, and unsurprisingly make a whopping ONE tackle in the regular season in 16 games. Sure, the Falcons added Asante Samuel to the secondary, but they pretty much neglected every other need they had this year. The added no linebacker support, no tight end of the future to pair with Tony Gonzalez, and no extra-extra receiver depth or explosiveness at running back like we, the 49ers, did to further bolster their offensive attack. Their division strangely tends to see the bottom teams rise to the top while the top teams fall. Along with New Orleans, Atlanta could flounder next season.

Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Okay, so I've already got the thread going for five under-the-radar teams (in my opinion) that I think could make serious pushes for playoff berths, now I will list five teams that I believe may disappoint and miss the playoffs, despite expectations. I think it'd be interesting to see who we all think about these five other teams I'll list. Here they are:

1) Saints
Yes. I said it. I'm not buying the "all of this will motivate us" stuff. The Saints have pretty much no easy games this year. If you think Tampa is easy for New Orleans, you may have missed how the Saints -- for some reason -- have struggled mightily against the Bucs, losing one of their three last year to them. The Saints had little to work with to improve their team. Brees is still looking for a monster contract, and the team had barely any draft picks to use, and the players they did pick were in rounds where you wouldn't expect much of an impact anytime soon. New Orleans must deal with improved versions of the Falcons, Eagles, 49ers, Packers, Panthers, Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders, Giants, and Cowboys who they play on the road and have had trouble with lately as well. Tack on the devastating loss to us to end last season, and I see lots of reasons to believe the Saints will falter this year.

2) Chargers
San Diego doesn't have the toughest schedule, but something tells me they just haven't added enough to make up for the issues they had last year. Their GM has been terrible lately, and Norv Turner simply isn't a great HC. While many expect the Chargers to at least be a wild card, I don't see them winning enough games in the end to make it. The Raiders owned them last year, and the Chiefs beat them with backups. Peyton Manning is in Denver and I think San Diego is in real trouble.

3) Cowboys
Some might say, "Dallas? Really? I don't think they're expected playoff contenders." After several years of disappointing, maybe not, but this year.. all the praise of their draft, along with a softer schedule has people thinking they could crack the playoffs once again. Personally, like I think most here will say, I believe they'll fall short again. I think especially if DeMarco Murray gets hurt, that team will become one-dimensional, and quickly fade out of contention.

4) Bengals
I like the Bengals and wouldn't mind seeing them succeed, but it's possible Dalton and the other high-performing rooks from last year could go into sophomore slumps. Cincy's early schedule looks soft, but toughens up later on. Of course, it could turn out in reality to be the opposite when we really get into the season, but if Cincy's opponents turn out as expected, the Bengals could have a rough time returning to the post-season.

5) Falcons
I thought the Falcons had a rather uninspiring draft. Their best pick was Peter Konz, but outside of him, they didn't really get much. Pass-rusher Massaqoui was a solid pick with potential, but all their other selections probably won't contribute much this year. I felt their third round pick, OT Lamar Holmes, was a horrendous reach. He was expected to go in the later half of the draft, more toward the 6th or 7th rounds. They did the same thing last year with LB Akeem Dent who had the same projection, and unsurprisingly make a whopping ONE tackle in the regular season in 16 games. Sure, the Falcons added Asante Samuel to the secondary, but they pretty much neglected every other need they had this year. The added no linebacker support, no tight end of the future to pair with Tony Gonzalez, and no extra-extra receiver depth or explosiveness at running back like we, the 49ers, did to further bolster their offensive attack. Their division strangely tends to see the bottom teams rise to the top while the top teams fall. Along with New Orleans, Atlanta could flounder next season.

I could definitely see the Saints and Chargers disappointing. The Saints are going to fall off a perch. The Chargers disappoint 8 out of 10 years it seems. They usually underachieve or fail in some way even when they are good. The Cowboys are overhyped, overrated and disappoint almost every year. The Falcons seem vastly overrated the last few years. IMO their QB gets overhyped by a mile. I don't think he is that great. The team is not that great.

The Bengals I believe in. Their QB is really good. At TCU he was awesome. Really, really accurate. I saw him in person in college a few times and I think their QB has "got it."

Id say the Bears as well.

this list is legit, but maybe put the bengals and jets on there.

I thought the Bengels got lucky last year. I look at that roster and I say who scares me and I can't come up with an answer. Dalton was good last year but I think he will be scouted better and have a down year.

I agree with those five teams

I don't see both the saints and the falcons falling, I expect the Saints to suck and the Falcons to take advantage of that. If they can get a good enough record to skip that wildcard round they've got as good of a chance as anyone to make a good run at the playoffs.

Bengals will slump b/c they are in a division with the Steelers and Ravens. Although the Bengals are better than years past, their running game is down w/out Benson, and their defensive depth is lacking. Will probably go 8-8, but with Steelers getting healthier, Ravens bringing back RayRay/Ed Reed, Denver/Tennessee possible dark horses, and Buffalo revamping, I see a much more difficult Wild Card birth.

I definitely like your list, but I'd add Philly to that list. Vick still has too many ??? and no way that defense can get away with running 9-techniques all game, even with Demeco Ryans filling the MLB position. They will be better, but see the NFC North/South getting the WC spots compared to a so-so NFC East

Ravens.

Soo Tampa bay or Carolina will make it to the playoffs. Actuallly, I see that happening
Chargers wont make it because the chiefs are gonna run the division. Especially since they probably have an easy scedule.
Cowboys wont make it because the NFC east will go to Philly or NY again
I think bengals will make it in as a Wildcard unless injuries keep BAL from winning the north. I really want BAL to make it to a superbowl b4 Reed retires. Theyve been one game out 2 years straight and play hard. Even though they would lose to us, it would still be nice

Originally posted by martysofresh:
Soo Tampa bay or Carolina will make it to the playoffs. Actuallly, I see that happening
Chargers wont make it because the chiefs are gonna run the division. Especially since they probably have an easy scedule.
Cowboys wont make it because the NFC east will go to Philly or NY again
I think bengals will make it in as a Wildcard unless injuries keep BAL from winning the north. I really want BAL to make it to a superbowl b4 Reed retires. Theyve been one game out 2 years straight and play hard. Even though they would lose to us, it would still be nice

Carollina will make it, TB didn't make enough changes imo. Chiefs now that they got rid of haley will be good again, and i agree with the rest. (except bengals might miss out)

Originally posted by unst4bl3:

Originally posted by martysofresh:
Soo Tampa bay or Carolina will make it to the playoffs. Actuallly, I see that happening
Chargers wont make it because the chiefs are gonna run the division. Especially since they probably have an easy scedule.
Cowboys wont make it because the NFC east will go to Philly or NY again
I think bengals will make it in as a Wildcard unless injuries keep BAL from winning the north. I really want BAL to make it to a superbowl b4 Reed retires. Theyve been one game out 2 years straight and play hard. Even though they would lose to us, it would still be nice

Carollina will make it, TB didn't make enough changes imo. Chiefs now that they got rid of haley will be good again, and i agree with the rest. (except bengals might miss out)

Uh, remind me who the Chiefs have at QB. Did they draft a new and improved QB, because Matt Cassel kinda blows.

Expecting a link to some east-coast biased rag discounting the Niners and an angry string of responses...am disappoint

Originally posted by Psinex:

Originally posted by unst4bl3:

Originally posted by martysofresh:
Soo Tampa bay or Carolina will make it to the playoffs. Actuallly, I see that happening
Chargers wont make it because the chiefs are gonna run the division. Especially since they probably have an easy scedule.
Cowboys wont make it because the NFC east will go to Philly or NY again
I think bengals will make it in as a Wildcard unless injuries keep BAL from winning the north. I really want BAL to make it to a superbowl b4 Reed retires. Theyve been one game out 2 years straight and play hard. Even though they would lose to us, it would still be nice

Carollina will make it, TB didn't make enough changes imo. Chiefs now that they got rid of haley will be good again, and i agree with the rest. (except bengals might miss out)

Uh, remind me who the Chiefs have at QB. Did they draft a new and improved QB, because Matt Cassel kinda blows.

Didn't they make the playoffs like 1-3 years ago with Cassel at QB? Didn't people on here at one time want him over Alex Smith?

Originally posted by unst4bl3:

Didn't they make the playoffs like 1-3 years ago with Cassel at QB? Didn't people on here at one time want him over Alex Smith?

Can you name me any NFL qb, no matter how bad, that "people on here" at one time or other haven't wanted over Alex Smith?

On the thread subject, I suspect the biggest disappoints will be the Saints. Big time self destruct.