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Joe Flacco doesn’t have to worry about losing his starting job to rookie first-round pick Lamar Jackson. Flacco has been money this preseason while Jackson is still learning that the NFL is much different from the college game. The real position battle on the Baltimore Ravens roster is for the backup quarterback gig with the forgotten Robert Griffin III making the decision more difficult for John Harbaugh. Coming off a Monday night game, the Ravens have less time to prepare for their preseason W... 

The teacher and the pupil get together when the Kansas City Chiefs visit the Chicago Bears in Week 3 of the preseason. The Bears plucked Matt Nagy off Andy Reid’s coaching staff to become their head man and transform an offense that was the most boring in the league under John Fox. Nagy put together a top-5 offense last season as Reid’s offensive coordinator and got his start in the NFL coaching ranks under Reid in 2011.... 

You don’t often see a team score 51 points, but the Green Bay Packers welcomed Aaron Rodgers back to Lambeau Field with a thrashing of the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. It had been nearly a year since Rodgers last stepped on the frozen tundra and it looked like he hadn’t missed a thing. Rodgers directed a touchdown drive on his only possession, hooking up with his new favorite target Jimmy Graham, and the avalanche of points was underway. With his one series executed to perfection, we’re unlike... 

We haven’t seen the 2018 Los Angeles Rams yet this preseason, but that’s about to change on Saturday. Not wanting to risk injury or give away any secrets, Sean McVay sat his presumed starters during the first two exhibition games. Opening the regular year with Raiders, McVay went with his reserves to beat Oakland last week. We can expect to see a little bit of Jared Goff, Todd Gurley and Ndamukong Suh against the Houston Texans in Week 3 of the preseason, but don’t blink because you might miss t... 

The Cleveland Browns have won all of one game in the past two seasons combined, including a winless mark in 2017. So obviously expectations are going to be pretty low again, but the oddsmakers do see a decent amount of improvement coming.... 

The Cincinnati Bengals won seven games a year ago and have a lot of the same players returning, so it shouldn’t be a huge shock that the oddsmakers have projected them to win the same amount in 2018. However, there are reasons for concern, as the underlying metrics could portend some struggles this tear. ... 

The Baltimore Ravens had a dominant defense in 2017 but didn’t get nearly enough help from the offense. The wide receiver corps has been revamped and if the Ravens can increase their efficiency with the ball in their hands, they could be in line to push for a playoff berth.... 

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the steadiest teams in the NFL, as the star trio of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Le’Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown has kept them among the best teams in the AFC for the past half-decade.... 

If the Washington Redskins didn’t have bad luck they’d have no luck at all. For a team that dealt with an enormous amount of injuries last season, the Skins are at it again. And the running back position has been hit particularly hard this preseason. They lost second-round pick Derrius Guice to a season-ending injury in the opener and two more backs went down last week, forcing the team to reach out to Adrian Peterson. The Skins will continue to work on their ground game when they host the Denve... 

The Philadelphia Eagles got some good news on the injury front when it was determined Nick Foles had a minor shoulder sprain. The potential loss of Foles, combined with the uncertainly of Carson Wentz leaves the Eagles in no position to take any risks when they visit the Cleveland Browns in Week 3 of the preseason. Nate Sudfeld has been the busiest quarterback this preseason and he’ll get plenty of snaps. But for the defending champs it’s about getting ready for the regular season and these exhi... 

In the grand scheme of things the game is meaningless. But once every preseason and when the teams don’t meet in the regular year, bragging rights are at stake. The New York Jets and New York Giants will fight their annual battle in Week 3 of the preseason in what is the shortest road trip of the year for the G-Men. With both teams sharing MetLife stadium, the game is affectionately known as the Snoopy Bowl, complete with a bronze statue of the cartoon character.... 

Ending what was the longest current playoff drought in the NFL, the Buffalo Bills won nine games in 2017 and participated in their first postseason game since the 1999 season. They were probably the least deserving playoff team last year, having snuck in on a tie-breaker, but they got in nonetheless only to crater in the wild card game. The Bills aren’t getting much respect for the 2018 season and they need to find a quarterback and an identity. They are likely to regress this season, but a thre... 

Prior to last season the New York Jets stripped their roster and still were able to win five games. With the addition of some better talent, added depth and the possible quarterback of the future, it’s time for them to show some tangible progress in their rebuild. The Jets haven’t had a franchise quarterback since Joe Willie Namath was slinging the ball around old Shea Stadium some 30 years ago. The Jets were ecstatic when Sam Darnold was available with the No. 3 pick in the draft and the club f... 

Moving on from several veterans in an effort to change the culture around the team, the Miami Dolphins enter 2018 with a number of question marks. The biggest is in regards to a player the Fins didn’t part with, but rather one that returns after missing all of last season. Can Ryan Tannehill continue his upward trajectory that started in 2016 under Adam Gase, or will the knee injury that forced him to sit last season linger? Tannehill and Gase had a strong connection two years ago leading the Do... 

All the New England Patriots do under Tom Brady is win football games. With a NFL-high tying 13 victories last year, the Pats have won at least 12 games in eight consecutive seasons and hit the 10-win mark every year since 2003. There was the typical amount of turmoil following the loss to Philadelphia in the Super Bowl, and once again the roster had some significant turnover. But no coach is better at putting players in a position to win than Bill Belichick and no quarterback is as good as Brad... 

The Atlanta Falcons made it to the playoffs last year after the Super Bowl run of two seasons ago, but never reached the same epic heights. The core of the offense remains intact as Atlanta hopes to become an elite scoring unit once again. The Falcons may not be quite be in the stratosphere of top NFC teams, but they are right in the tier below and have the capability to beat anyone on a given night. ... 

The NFC South is stacked this season, with three teams capable of making deep playoff runs. That’s not good news for the hapless fourth-best team in the division. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will try to stay afloat in 2018, but there are many things working against them.
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The New Orleans Saints have boasted one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL for the last several years, and now they have a great team around him. Drew Brees got a bunch of help in 2017 as the Saints made the playoffs, and the team is looking for another deep run in 2018. ... 

The Carolina Panthers have been an enigma in recent seasons. They were dominant in 2015, making it to the Super Bowl, and then followed that up with a six-win season in 2016 before bouncing back with an 11-5 campaign last year. ... 

A little luck will make Frank Reich and the Indianapolis Colts a better team in 2018. A lot of Luck could make them a playoff contender. Playing for the first time since the end of the 2016 regular season, Andrew Luck looked strong in the preseason opener, leading the Colts to a win. With Luck sitting out the 2017 season with a shoulder injury, the Colts stumbled to a 4-12 record, just their third losing season since 1999 and the second-fewest wins in that stretch. Indy’s two wins in 2011 gave t... 

The championship window is wide open and the Minnesota Vikings are doing all they can to take advantage of the opportunity. The Vikings won 13 games last season, tying for the most in the NFL, and advanced to the NFC Championship Game behind a career backup quarterback and the league’s best defense. They replaced the quarterback with the elite arm of Kirk Cousins and the defense returns virtually intact, making the Vikings a serious threat to surpass their projected win total and contend for a Super Bowl title. ... 

The Detroit Lions won nine games in each of the last two seasons and had three winning years and two playoff appearances in Jim Caldwell’s four years, but it wasn’t enough to for him to keep his job. Former New England executive and current GM Bob Quinn hired his buddy Matt Patricia away from the Pats to become the head coach to try and instill the “Patriot Way” on a team that hasn’t won a division title since 1993 and has gone two years longer without a playoff victory. For a team that averaged nine wins over the past four seasons, expectations are low. ... 

Just in case anyone was questioning the credentials of Aaron Rodgers as an MVP, look no further than last season. A two-time winner, Rodgers had the Green Bay Packers sitting at 4-1 heading into a key divisional matchup with the Vikings. I think we all know what happened next. Rodgers was knocked out of that game with a broken collarbone and the season was lost. The Packers went 3-7 the rest of the way, ending their streak of eight straight playoff appearances with a 7-9 mark. If you think Rodgers is worth three victories, the Pack are the over pick. ... 

The Chicago Bears approach to the 2018 season is very Rams-like, but can they have the same success? Like the 2017 Rams, the Bears hired a young, offensive-minded coach to mentor a strong-armed second-year quarterback. After four straight double-digit loss seasons, the last three under John Fox, who turned a once rabid fan base apathetic toward the club with his boring style, at least the Bears should be exciting, even if they don’t win a lot of games. ... 

It may be a year late, but the Cincinnati Bengals are counting on their top two picks from the 2017 draft class to transform the offense. The Bengals were dead last in total yards last season and the hope is that John Ross and Joe Mixon are ready to be a bigger part of the equation. Ross, the ninth overall selection, missed most of last season dealing with injuries and is close to being labeled a bust. Mixon led the team in rushing in 2017, but Cincy is looking for more than the 626 yards he ama...