You only have so many opportunities to make a good impression. With NFL preseason games fully underway this week, there are only three glorified exhibitions left for each team to make the most of them. Yes, we saw the Los Angeles Chargers clean the Detroit Lions' clock in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, but we all have to remember Jim Harbaugh was coaching on the sidelines for the Bolts.
While every team plans to take training camp seriously, not all can honestly say they will be doing it in the preseason. Teams that are well-established, and those who are not as established as they think they are, may not play their starters hardly at all. They do not want their best players to potentially get hurt in games that do not count. I get it, but what if complacency carries over into the regular season?
As I try to get my head around how many teams may, or may not, take the preseason seriously, these eight teams I am about to rattle off should. Whether they have a coaching staff on the hot seat, an up-and-coming roster that is ready to break out, or maybe a new cast of coaches and characters in their building, time would be such a precious commodity for this particular quarter of the league to waste.
I will now start with a team that could potentially come out of nowhere to win its own division this fall.
8. Seattle Seahawks
I am not a fan of Sam Darnold's game, but I want to believe that my fellow University of Georgia alum Mike Macdonald can really make something of himself as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Heading into the preseason, I have the NFC West being the most jam-packed division in all of football. Since I am not that much of a believer in the Los Angeles Rams, maybe 10 wins will win the division?
Much was made about the Seahawks having perfect attendance in the voluntary portion of the offseason. Clearly, the guys John Schneider drafted to be part of this team are buying into what Macdonald is preaching. This is not a team with a very high ceiling, but a high floor will have to do this season. I want to see how good Darnold and Jalen Milroe can get playing in Klint Kubiak's system.
All signs point to the Seahawks taking their preseason very seriously, but this is not a big surprise.
7. Detroit Lions
It was only the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, but the Detroit Lions looked dreadful out there in Canton last week. Yes, going up a man who has never had an awkward moment in his life in Jim Harbaugh was a recipe for disaster for Dan Campbell's team. However, he needs to prove to everyone he is no Sam Pittman, that he is much more than a figurehead propped up by two great coordinators.
Last week was not a great debut for John Morton and Kelvin Sheppard replacing Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn as offensive and defensive coordinator, respectively. Detroit has plenty of talent to still make the playoffs this season. Where I am concerned is that coaching attrition could result in their Super Bowl window completely tapering off. It could still be open, but the window is definitely closing.
It starts by not looking completely disinterested in playing the Atlanta Falcons come Friday night.
6. Carolina Panthers
I will put the Carolina Panthers in the same bucket as the Seattle Seahawks. By taking the preseason seriously, they could enter this year with a bit more positive momentum than the rest of the league may realize. Carolina is probably only a dark horse to win the NFC South, behind Atlanta and Tampa Bay in some order. However, the Panthers feel like a team that is a year away from being a year away.
My favorite thing about this team is second-year head coach Dave Canales. He gives off the vibe of being a leader of men, one who generally cares about his players. In time, this should work out for the Panthers. But in the meantime, they need to see if the Bryce Young pop year is going to happen, if the offensive line will hold up in front of him, and if Dan Morgan needs to go get more dudes on defense.
I view the 2025 Panthers through the same lens as I did the 2024 Arizona Cardinals in some capacity.
5. Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders occupy an interesting spot in all this. This is a team that needs to fully rally around its new coaching staff, but they are not exactly rebuilding. Pete Carroll is firmly in his mid-70s, and Chip Kelly is no spring chicken either. While I still view them as a fourth-place team in their own division, with the right attitude and Commitment to Excellence, maybe the Raiders will be ... decent?
I expect for there to be a healthy combination of players young and old taking part in the preseason games. We know that competition is key when it comes to a Carroll-led team. While it remains to be seen how quickly the antiquated slogans of yesteryear from USC and Seattle will wear off, maybe this is exactly what the Raiders have been missing? This team will not be good, but maybe not that bad...
The Raiders are not expected to be a playoff team, but they might have a say in who might in the end.
4. New York Giants
I do not know how the pieces fit, but the New York Giants sure will try. I fully expect for head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen to try and force a Tool composition into 4/4 time like Lars Ulrich of Metallica. He will make the pieces fit, while Danny Carey is in utter shambles... I am all-in on Abdul Carter being a star, as well as Malik Nabers. We need to know if Jaxson Dart can ball or not.
My best guess is he will be the Baker Mayfield you have at home, or the Baker Mayfield you have in Cleveland this season. I think Giants ownership did the franchise a disservice by bringing Daboll and Schoen back for another year, but could stand corrected if the Giants grow by leaps and bounds this season. There will be moments of hope throughout this campaign, but their current regime has to go.
That being said, New York is really being left with no choice other than taking the preseason seriously.
3. New England Patriots
Low-key, I kind of want to see Mike Vrabel suit up for the New England Patriots one more time... He may be getting into fights in practice, but he is the key to all that is holy in getting the fallen Evil Empire to return to glory. As is the case with the Seattle Seahawks, the Carolina Panthers, and to some extent the Las Vegas Raiders, a strong preseason could have the Patriots in the playoff mix.
When Drake Maye was drafted out of North Carolina, I was very afraid that he was just going to let life happen to him wherever he landed. Going to the Patriots led by Jerod Mayo was a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. Now that Vrabel has taken over, the Patriots finally have a chance to get out from under the Bill Belichick shadow and finally be good again for once. It may happen as early as this year.
Second place is totally up for grabs in the weak AFC East, so I would claim it if I were the Patriots.
2. Tennessee Titans
Am I the conductor of the Tennessee Titans hype train that has not even left its station in Nashville yet? Affirmative, General... After having finished last season with the worst record in football behind a first-time head coach in Brian Callahan, what do the Titans have to lose, honestly? Like Shania Twain, it can only go up from here! To me, this is all about first-round pick Cam Ward thriving under Callahan.
Somebody has to win the AFC South, so it might as well be the Titans, right? I have a bad feeling the Houston Texans wasted their golden opportunity. They are still the favorites to win the division, but Tennessee has Ward, and Jacksonville should at least be interesting, we think... For Tennessee, this team could come out of nowhere and go worst-to-first in its division. This happens almost annually.
Any confidence the Titans find during the season playing as a collective will be so beneficial to them.
1. Indianapolis Colts
At this time, I would like the Indianapolis Colts to stop what they are doing at once and no longer resemble the Miami Dolphins of the AFC South. No, they are not doing cartwheels for Instagram, TikTok or whatever in training camp practice, but the results are the same. The Dolphins do not win playoff games, just like the Colts do not win division titles anymore. 2014 feels like a lifetime ago...
So what I would do is try to make the late, great Jim Irsay proud and find a damn quarterback?! I understand that Peyton Mannings and Andrew Lucks do not grow on trees, but how many more days, weeks, months and years do we need to be watering this desert rock by the name of Anthony Richardson before we realize nothing will blossom out of him? Go full bore with Daniel Jones, guys!
In the event that Jones probably stinks, at least the Colts can move forward to the 2026 NFL Draft.