Race to #1: 2011 Edition Part 1

Last year as the season came to an end, the first blogs for this wonderful website real football talk were the Race to #1 series.  These articles focused on the teams in the league that weren’t doing so well on the year.  That is putting it nicely.  It actually focuses on the worst teams in the league and who will get the first draft pick in the 2011 draft next year.

Last time, St Louis led the way as they picked first and turned around their franchise with the drafting of Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford.  Well, this time even though the Rams aren’t in the mix there are a lot of the usual suspects.  Carolina is the team that looks to be in place for the 1st overall pick in the upcoming draft with a 1-12 record.  Cincinnati would pick second at this point.  In the AFC North they went from first to worst.  They were undefeated in the division a year ago and now they have no wins against those same teams.  They do, however, play my Cleveland Browns on Sunday and if they are unable to win they may still have a great shot at getting that #1 pick.

Both Denver and Detroit are 3-10.  Detroit is coming off a shocking win against the Green Bay Packers in which starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers was concussed.  Detroit plays Tampa in Week 15 and will continue to try and play the spoiler role against an 8-5 Bucs team which still has playoff aspirations.  Denver is in a downward spiral after firing fromer head coach Josh McDaniels.  Last week they were anialated by Arizona 43-13.  Tim Tebow was one of two first round picks for Denver las year and will have his first start against a 6-7 Oakland team.

The Buffalo Bills are also 3-10.  I think this team has somewhat exceeded expectations this season.  Despite their record, they’ve played well with Ryan Fitzpatrick leading the team at the quarterback spot after Trent Edwards was given the boot as the starter early this year and ended up in Jacksonville (when you release your starting quarterback there is a problem).  Buffalo has lost multiple games in overtime this season and the Bills are coming off a home win against the Browns.  I will say it now, the Bills need a quarterback even though Fitzpatrick has had an excellent season.

The aforementioned Cardinals, who now start John Skelton at quarterback, and the Dallas Cowboys are both 4-9.  These two teams have quite a bit of talent and can use the early draft picks to look forward to playoff runs for next season.  Dallas has played well since firing Wade Philips and despite losing Tony Romo and Dez Bryant for the season, are playing with intensity. Arizona is a team that is searching for an identity after being ravaged by free agency and the retirement of Kurt Warner leading into the season.

The Panthers may be a lock for the first pick, but what are their team needs? What do the Bengals need to do to improve their team morale and try to recapture their spot atop the AFC North?  Will the Cardinals draft a quarterback and will Detroit ever not be included in these articles?  For the answers to these questions and more, stay tuned to the Race to #1 series (only found on realfootballtalk.tv).