Pittsburgh Steelers: Why ESPN Incorrectly Has Steelers as No. 5 on Their List

ESPN.com has officially released it's preseason edition of "NFL Power Rankings," and last year's Super Bowl runners-up, the Pittsburgh Steelers, find themselves in the No. 5 spot.

At first that surprised me, but let's take a look at who ESPN put ahead of the Steelers.

At No. 1 they had the Green Bay Packers. They won the Super Bowl, and yes, that does earn them the right to be ranked No. 1 in a preseason power ranking.

The Packers look virtually the same as last year with only a few differences, and those differences are improvements. Last year they won the Super Bowl with Jermichael Finley and Ryan Grant out with injuries. If the Packers stay healthy this year they should be a strong favorite to repeat.

At No. 2 ESPN has the New England Patriots. While many people were wowed by the free-agent signings of Albert Haynesworth and Chad Ochocinco, I wasn't completely sold.

Haynesworth will still be Haynesworth, and that's saying he'll be an overweight player who underperforms. However, Ochocinco could make the Patriots offense one of the best in the league.

If Tom Brady stays healthy and the defense holds up, the Patriots could find themselves in the Super Bowl. I'm OK with them at the No. 2 spot, but not entirely sold on it.

At No. 3 are the Philadelphia Eagles. I know why the Eagles are here, but I'm surprised ESPN bit on this "dream team."

What the Eagles did was stockpile talent, and they certainly were the winners of free agency. But will that result in wins on the field? ESPN certainly thinks it will, but I'd like to see them play a few preseason games to find out how all that talent is jelling.

The one team I can't justify being ahead of the Steelers is the New Orleans Saints. ESPN.com NFC West blogger Mike Sando's comment on the Saints was that they "will find out whether Reggie Bush was an underrated contributor after all."

I don't want to nitpick all of a sudden (because none of their comments actually justified where teams were ranked), but how does this explain why the Saints are ahead of the Steelers?

Fact No. 1: The Steelers made it to the Super Bowl.

Fact No. 2: The Saints lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round.

I need an explanation here, otherwise the Saints need to be tossed from the top five in the power rankings. Without a doubt the Steelers should at least have the No. 4 spot in the rankings.

Besides the Saints, the other teams are relatively interchangeable, and the Steelers could fall anywhere in the top four.