Tampa Bay Buccaneers disrespected in Week 1 NFL Power Rankings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers disrespected in Week 1 NFL Power Rankings

Despite having potentially the most prolific offense in the league, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain disrespected in season-opening NFL Power Rankings.

Several organizations have released their preseason NFL Power Rankings with the season less than a week away from kickoff and it’s clear that the Buccaneers are yet again an afterthought in the minds of many national analysts.

While many believe the Buccaneers can be contenders for the playoffs, *some* of these power rankings numbers make us believe Tampa Bay is more of a ‘pretender’ in their eyes.

Here’s a look at some of the NFL Power Rankings pertaining to where the Buccaneers are placed to begin the season.

• Sports Illustrated: No. 14
• NFL.com: No. 13
• Yahoo Sports: No. 9
• CBS Sports: No. 9
• USA Today: No. 8
• ESPN: No. 8
• NBC Sports: No. 5

The Buccaneers should be no less than a top-10 team to begin this season

The vast majority of these power rankings are understandable, but the disrespect still shows itself, especially at Sports Illustrated and NFL.com.

While the vast majority of analysts have the Buccaneers as a top-10 team to begin the season- as they should- both SI and NFL.com have Tampa Bay as a middle-of-the-pack team to begin the year.

Sports Illustrated even admits to having a debate on whether to put the Bucs or New England Patriots ahead of each other. The fact that this was even a conversation shows the amount of disrespect and lack of knowledge based on what the Buccaneers have entering this season.

Tampa Bay is going to easily be a team that competes for the playoffs and very well could end up as a Super Bowl contender before it’s all said and done. The Bucs have one of the league’s best quarterbacks to go along with an explosive offense. Oh, and the defense may be the most improved unit in the league.