NFL Preseason Week 1: San Francisco 49ers @ New Orleans Saints Fri. Aug. 12, 2011 8 p.m. EST

No team in the NFL was more disappointing in the playoffs last season than the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. With hopes of repeating as Super Bowl champions, the Saints were considered to be a team that would go far in the playoffs and possibly pull off the repeat, but they were destroyed by the lowly Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Wildcard game and were forced to go back to the drawing board to see what went wrong.

NFL Preseason Week 1: Pittsburgh Steelers @ Washington Redskins Fri. Aug. 12, 2011 7:30 p.m. EST

Last year the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to live up to their high expectations once again as they made it back to the Super Bowl for the third time in the Ben Roethlisberger era. Even though Big Ben and company ultimately lost to the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl, the Pittsburgh Steelers were still considered to be one of the best all-around teams in the league and would be able to maintain that distinction heading into this upcoming NFL regular season.

With arguably the best defense in football, the Steelers will always be successful and this upcoming season should be no different. The only problem is that the competition in the AFC Conference is quickly catching up to them and every season will just get tougher and tougher from here on out.

NFL Preseason Week 1: Miami Dolphins @ Atlanta Falcons Fri. Aug 12, 2011 7:30 p.m. EST

One of the most surprising teams in the NFL last season was without a doubt the Atlanta Falcons. There was no question that the Falcons were a talented young team with a potential Pro Bowl quarterback leading the way in the form of Matt Ryan, but the consensus was that Ryan and company needed a few more seasons to come into their own and contend with the best of the best in the NFC Conference.

Despite being a young and inexperienced team, the Atlanta Falcons were playing like a veteran team with their eyes on the Super Bowl. Everyone kept waiting for this team to start to fall apart and show signs of their youth and inexperience, but it never happen and the Falcons made it into the playoffs with a legitimate shot of going the distance.

NFL Preseason Week 1: Cincinnati Bengals @ Detroit Lions Fri. Aug. 12, 2011 7:30 p.m. EST

Before the NFL lockout ended, the Cincinnati Bengals were in trouble as they knew that their star quarterback Carson Palmer had no intentions to return. Not only did Carson Palmer want to be traded, but if he wasn’t traded by the team he would rather retire than play another game in a Cincinnat Bengals’ uniform.

Losing your star quarterback in this fashion is devastating to say the least. Even with Palmer under center, the Bengals were an awful football team last season and had little to no hope for the future. With that being said, this struggling NFL franchise is in serious trouble at this point in time and could be headed for another extremely disappointing season under head coach Marvin Lewis.