The Biggest Weakness for Every NFL Team That Made the Playoffs Last Year

The New England Patriots are thin on the offensive line this year—a problem that could derail the team's chances to get back into the playoffs in 2012. 

Every team that made the playoffs in 2011 faces an uphill battle to keep winning. Staying on top in the NFL year after year is the toughest challenge general managers and head coaches have to face, and few have the talent and skill to make it happen.

Follow along as we investigate what each 2011 playoff team's greatest weakness will be going into Week 1 of the 2012 regular season.

Cincinnati Bengals

Biggest Weakness: Strong Safety

The Cincinnati Bengals have a battle going on for the starting strong safety spot on the team's roster. Taylor Mays is competing against Jeromy Miles for the honors.

The fact that Miles hasn't been able to do enough to overtake him should be all we need to know about how potentially devastating this position could be in the long run. 

Mays routinely launches headfirst into the fray without even looking where he's diving. He's already injured himself, two of his teammates and a couple of opponents so far this preseason. For a detailed analysis into Mays' follies, read this post from Bleacher Report's deputy NFL editor Collin McCullough.

To call him a liability is a disservice to liabilities everywhere. 

Mays is awful. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

Biggest Weakness: Offensive Line

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally addressed their biggest weakness in the 2012 NFL draft after Ben Roethlisberger went down with an ankle injury last season. The team drafted David DeCastro and Mike Adams to shore things up, but so far things aren't going as planned.

DeCastro tore his MCL in the team's third preseason game, and he requires surgery. He'll be out for a few months, but according to CBSSports.com's Chris Adamski, he will not be placed on the IR.

That's good news, but it won't protect Big Ben in the meantime. 

Adams had been impressing his coaches during camp, but the team started Max Starks in Week 3 of the preseason—a sign that he isn't ready to step in for full-time duties at this point. 

This means that the team is essentially going out with the same unit they did last year on the line, minus Chris Kemoeatu. 

Roethlisberger will need to keep his head on a swivel. 

Denver Broncos

Biggest Weakness: Secondary

The Broncos actually have two studs in the secondary, as Champ Bailey and Mike Adams will hold down their end of the bargain

The other two starters, Rahim Moore and Tracy Porter, are open to being exploited.

Moore wasn't a full-time starter last year. According to Pro Football Focus, he played in 526 snaps, made 28 tackles and whiffed on 10. Furthermore, when quarterbacks threw his way, Moore allowed 75 percent of those passes to be completed—allowing them to post a passer rating of 107.6. 

Porter wasn't much better for the New Orleans Saints in 2011, missing seven tackles and allowing quarterbacks to complete 71.2 percent of their passes for a passer rating of 100.4, according to PFF.

The onus on defense for the Broncos is getting pressure on quarterbacks. If the front seven fails to do so, the secondary is liable to get torched. 

Houston Texans

Biggest Weakness: Staying Healthy

The Houston Texans are loaded. If Matt Schaub, Arian Foster and Andre Johnson can stay healthy the team has a fantastic chance to go to the Super Bowl. 

Unfortunately, the Texans' star offensive weapons have had trouble staying healthy for the past handful of seasons. Schaub has missed 16 games in the past five seasons, Johnson missed 19 games during the same stretch and Foster missed three games last year. 

If I were a Texans fan, I'd be praying for the health of these guys on a daily basis. 

Baltimore Ravens

Biggest Weakness: Joe Flacco is Related to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

If Flacco plays with any modicum of consistency in 2012, the Ravens have a chance to go to the Super Bowl. 

The roster is loaded from top to bottom at every position.

The defense will be stellar, even without Terrell Suggs' presence for most of the season, Ray Rice is the NFL's most complete running back and Torrey Smith had made significant strides as a polished route-runner this past offseason. 

Unfortunately, Flacco showed last season that he's still capable of looking like Rex Grossman's worst nightmare at times—completing less than 50 percent of his passes on four separate occasions.

Flacco has looked sharp so far this preseason. He looks confident, accurate and poised. If he maintains his current level of execution, the Ravens will be dangerous in 2012. 

New England Patriots

Biggest Weakness: Offensive Line

Losing Matt Light and Brian Waters has been difficult to overcome for the New England Patriots thus far in 2012. 

Nate Solder is finding the left side of the line to be a challenge, and he's struggled to keep Tom Brady upright so far this preseason. It's been so bad that his offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia felt the need to come to his defense, according to ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss:

"

I think all young tackles struggle on plays and protections in this league. Just do a little thinking. Who did Matt Light replace? Did any of you think that it was going to be [easy]? Did you think he had any problems with it to start with? Well, hell ya. They all [have] problems.

"

Additionally, long-time center Dan Koppen is currently being overtaken by fourth-year man Ryan Wendell while Dan Connolly is taking over for Brian Waters at the guard spot. 

Sebastian Vollmer has struggled to stay on the field so far this preseason, so his integration into this group at the right tackle spot has been stunted. 

It's going to take some time for all these moving parts to settle into place. Tom Brady has already been getting walloped this preseason, and if he goes down, the Pats will have to compete with the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East. 

Detroit Lions

Biggest Weakness: Running Game

Everyone is talking about how Matthew Stafford is prone to injury. 

Let me ask you one question: How is a young quarterback supposed to survive without a running game?

The Lions' offensive line isn't atrocious in the passing game, but even the best lines break when battered enough times. 

Javid Best has been placed on the PUP list, according to the Detroit News' Chris McCosky, after missing more than half of the past two seasons with concussion-related issues. It's time to move on, in my humble opinion.

Bleacher Report's Andrew Garda seems to agree, saying:

"

I don't understand how, if nine + months hasn't cleared Best, that another 6-12 weeks will change a thing.

— Andrew Garda (@Andrew_Garda) August 28, 2012"

Hopefully, for the Lions' sake, Kevin Smith and Mikel LeShoure can stay healthy and out of trouble in 2012, or it could be bad news for Stafford's health. 

Atlanta Falcons

Biggest Weakness: Mike Smith

Mike Smith chokes under pressure. 

First off, he succumbed to public pressure.

He made two decisions that resulted in losses, punting twice on fourth downs (December of 2008 and December of 2012) to the New Orleans Saints, who then went on to win on the next drive. 

Fans didn't appreciate his conservative approach.

So, in 2011, Smith decided to acquiesce to the masses. He went for it on fourth-down three separate times, and the offense failed to convert every single time. 

The first one was absolutely ridiculous. Smith's offense was deep in their own territory—the 29-yard line, to be exact. It was fourth-and-one, and Smith decided he couldn't let Drew Brees beat him again and called a running play that the Saints' defense stopped cold.

All the Saints had to do at that point was send out John Kasay for a chip-in field goal. 

Then, in the wild-card round of last year's playoffs against the New York Giants, Smith blew it again, twice as bad. 

He went for it on fourth-and-one two separate times, calling quarterback dives for Matt Ryan on both occasions. 

Such a waste of resources. The Falcons have one of the most explosive offenses in the league, if utilized properly. We've seen it in fine form thus far in the preseason. 

If you're going to go for it on fourth down, then at least use your strengths. The decision to call two-straight quarterback sneaks was utterly contemptible. 

Smith must make better decisions in 2012. The Falcons are loaded. I'm picking this team to overthrow the New Orleans Saints in the NFC South, and it has enough talent to make a deep run into the playoffs. 

New York Giants

Biggest Weakness: Secondary Depth

The New York Giants were already thin at the cornerback position before Prince Amukamara went down in Week 3 of the preseason with a high ankle sprain. 

Now, the secondary is being held together with duct tape and some paper clips. 

Jason Webster and Kenny Phillips are good. Antrel Rolle is atrocious. Michael Coe—the man responsible for carrying the torch for Amukamara until he's ready to return—is a career backup who has never started a game and has defended two passes in five seasons. 

The Giants can't afford another injury to this group. It won't matter how much pressure the defensive line puts on quarterbacks if there's nobody to defend the receivers. 

New Orleans Saints

Biggest Weakness: No Sean Payton

The New Orleans Saints will miss Payton more than most people think. 

He is the biggest, most important reason Drew Brees and the offense has been so dynamic for the past handful of seasons. 

Payton is a brilliant play-caller when games are on the line. 

He and Brees together make things look easy, but there's nothing easy about what Payton does. He sees things that nobody else sees, and then he knows how to exploit those things better than any other play-caller in the NFL. 

There are bound to be times during the course of the season where the Saints fall short as a result of his absence. If not, I'll happily eat my words, because it will mean Brees pulled off one of the greatest feats in modern times. 

San Francisco 49ers

Biggest Weakness: Offensive Line

If the offensive line of the San Francisco 49ers protects Alex Smith in 2012, this team goes to the Super Bowl. Smith is exponentially better than most people give him credit for, and if he has time to throw this year, he's going to light up the scoreboard. 

So far this preseason, I haven't seen a single indication that the offensive line has improved upon its poor play from a year ago. If I were a defensive coordinator, I'd be blitzing up the middle at least 10-to-15 times a game until the 49ers proved they could stop the rush. 

Joe Staley looks slow on the outside. He's getting beat way too easily, and if he can't hold up his end, the problems will just get worse for the rest of the group. 

Right now, the only starter I've been happy with is Mike Iupati. 

Alex Boone is struggling to make the transition at right guard. Meanwhile, Leonard Davis seems to be capable of running with the first team. 

Anthony Davis still struggles with quick pass-rushers, and given Boone's struggles the right side of the line is subject to breach on any given play. 

Jim Harbaugh and offensive line coach Tim Trevno have their work cut out for them, and if the line fails to become cohesive, the 49ers may be in for a disappointing season. 

Green Bay Packers

Biggest Weakness: Secondary

The Green Bay Packers are loaded, and as long as Aaron Rodgers stays healthy, this team has a chance every year to get to the Super Bowl. The offensive line isn't spectacular, but Rodgers is mobile enough to negate their deficiencies most of the time. 

The biggest problem on this team is in the secondary. 

Veteran backup Jarrett Bush is being forced into starting duties as Davon House went down with a shoulder injury in Week 1 of the preseason. Meanwhile, Sam Shields and Casey Hayward have had underwhelming camps and haven't been consistently sharp in preseason. 

For a unit that was torched last year for 4,796 yards—worst in the NFL—starting Bush isn't a good sign of better days to come. 

Follow me on Twitter @JesseReed78