The NFL’s 5 most overrated teams entering summer

It’s hard to prove that a team or player is overrated or underrated because perception isn’t something you can totally quantify. But I do spend an unhealthy amount of time consuming NFL Twitter, reading NFL analysis and watching NFL games. I know who’s getting love and who’s getting hate. And I know that in some cases, teams receive too much of one or the other.

Here are five NFL teams that get too much love considering the state of their rosters.

Cincinnati Bengals:
There seems to be a perception that the Bengals just had an off year (6-9-1) and followed that up with a great draft, thus they’ll contend again in 2016. But Cincinnati basically refused to participate in free agency (despite having money to spend) for the second consecutive offseason, and in that span they’ve now lost two two key wide receivers (Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu), two key offensive linemen (Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler) and a key defensive back (Reggie Nelson).

They’re getting worse, not better. And despite Andy Dalton and A.J. Green, they’ll probably lose 10-plus games in 2017.

Detroit Lions:
The luckiest team in the NFL needed last-minute comebacks from quarterback Matthew Stafford in order to beat bad teams time and again last season. Stafford led an NFL-record eight fourth-quarter comebacks, but none of that is sustainable. On paper, the Lions were a six-win team — one that was ranked 27th in the league by Football Outsiders in terms of DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average). And they don’t look significantly better now than they did when they lost their last four games in 2016.

Dallas Cowboys:
You can be overrated while still being good, and that’s the case with a Cowboys team which has one of the best offenses in the league and some quality players on D. That said, we might be viewing Dallas as a better team than it is based on what rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott were able to do while benefiting from the element of surprise last season. That element is gone now, and the Cowboys secondary was gutted in free agency. Defending their NFC East crown will be a challenge.

Baltimore Ravens:
Joe Flacco is one of the most overrated players in the league — he hasn’t done much of anything outside of that 2012 Super Bowl run — and his top receiver, Steve Smith, has retired. Smith’s June free agency replacement, Jeremy Maclin, might not have a lot left, and there still isn’t much depth beyond him. They were forced to cut tight end Dennis Pitta after an 86-catch season because chronic hip problems have ruined Pitta’s career. They also lost key offensive starters Rick Wagner and Kyle Juszczyk in free agency and the defense is old.

The Ravens are still treated by many as a contender, but they’re 31-33 with just one playoff appearance in the last four years and they appear to be getting worse.

Seattle Seahawks:
The Seahawks don’t have the bite they used to, probably because they’re missing an entire offensive line and those Super Bowl teams have been slightly picked over. The Legion of Boom has lost some boom, they don’t have any accomplished offensive weapons outside of Doug Baldwin and Jimmy Graham, and quarterback Russell Wilson is coming off the worst season of his five-year career. Seattle is good, not great, but it has benefited of late from playing in a terrible division.