Early Preseason TIER'd ranking

Pre-season TIERed ranking

AFCE AFCN AFCS AFCW NFCE NFCN NFCS NFCW TIER
NE   DEN  GB  SEA A
 CIN IND  PHI  NO  A
      CAR ARI A
 PIT      SF A
 BAL  KC  CHI   B
   SD     B
    DAL    B
     DET ATL STL B
MIA  JAC  WAS    C
NYJ  TEN   MIN TB  C
BUF    NYG    C
 CLE HOU OAK     C

It's always tough to rank teams prior to the season, take the NFC West arguably the toughest division in the NFL. I have ARI above SF, because from watching preseason games, I suspect the 49er's are out of sync, especially on offense and are weaker on defense this season than the prior 4 years.

I may have NO ranked too high due to the absence of their QB Brees, but they are the best in their division. Yes CAR D is formidable a top 5 D, but it's their O that makes you wonder, if they can't sustain their run O, exactly what will the pass O provide? ATL seems to be in the same ship as last year and that was a 4-12 record. TB may have gotten better, but their OL is starting to stink and their front 7 on D really have only McCoy and David, TB maybe a year or two away from a dominating D.

I maybe underestimating CHI, if their D proves to be average, then they'll deserve a higher ranking. MIN is really a big question mark to me, new staff and players haven't gelled in preseason, when will they gell?

PHI is far more balanced than any team in their division. DAL has an O, but their D looks to be nearly pathetic, WAS has a new staff and players, but I've yet to see enough good signs to place them higher. NYG is just not playing well with a new OC

NE and IND have huge gaps between themselves and the rest of their division and will likely have double digit wins seasons again

KC D appears to have gotten worse during the offseason and SD D is still fairly weak, it's their O which allows them to rank so high. OAK is just a bad team and DEN is on the opposite spectrum (a really good team)

If JAC was bad last year, HOU may sink to a lower level and I don't see TEN ranking much higher.

BAL and PIT are a bit of enigmas to me. BAL new OC, seems to sputter in preseason too much. PIT has a lot of youth mixed in with veterans, maybe ranking them lower would be better.

MIA has a good D, but their O leaves much to be desired. NYJ will have another good D unit, but the O may be as equally bad. BUF may still be a year or two away from competing with NE and the other division favorites/winners.