The 2021 NFL season is upon us, and a lot has changed since the 2020 NFL season, which was nearly the Season That Never Was. Vaccinations have made things a lot easier for those coaches and players smart enough to partake. Fans should be back at full capacity in the stands at every stadium. And hopefully, no team will have to forfeit a game because its backward thinking on vaccinations renders its roster unable to take the field.
(Spoiler: We’re talking about YOU, Vikings).
There are differences on the field, as well. Free agency and the draft have added the usual number of new stories, and we tried to cover as many of those as possible in our pre-season power rankings. But as you’ll see from the teams up top, very little has changed, as well. The best are still the best, and as the Buccaneers are the first Super Bowl champion to return all 22 of its starters since the 1979 Steelers (who repeated as Super Bowl champs), we could be in for “same as it ever was.”
Then again, there are those teams in prime position to knock the crown off Tom Brady’s head, and as we go through our preseason preview of all 32 teams, that’s where it always gets interesting.
Here are Touchdown Wire’s preseason power rankings for 2021.