Welcome to my inaugural edition of preseason Lamentations. On this topic I will pick three teams who I now project to be worse (or better) than I expected at the start of the preseason.
BETTER: Cincinnati Bengals. They have the one QB not named Tom Brady who has defeated Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs. The defense is passable, so they’ll be in the mix to win the AFC North.
WORSE: Las Vegas Raiders. Great defense, great coach, but no consistent QB. To his credit Gardner Minshew almost led the Colts to the playoffs, but I went from 11-6 to 9-8 with slim playoff hopes with this team.
BETTER: Carolina Panthers. QB Bryce Young is showing signs of improvement and the RBs and receivers are improving as well. The defense can only improve from last year, so while I don’t have them sniffing the playoffs after mid-December, I think they’ll finish 7-10, up from 4-13 where I originally had them.