In my latest post on The League, I researched passer ratings on offense and defense, and picked four teams I expect to improve in 2011. Not all of these teams are going to make the playoffs, but some teams could do a lot better next season in the win column.
For example, the Green Bay Packers are a great team, but at most they'll improve by two or three wins in 2011. On the other hand, the two win Panthers have no where to go but up. If Cam Newton is just decent, they could easily win 6 or 7 games in 2011, for a big four to five win jump.
From the Washington Post.com:
Looking back at the 2010 season, every team that had a better passer rating on offense than they allowed on defense had a winning record, and only one team (the Jets) surrendered a higher passer rating (77.1) than their offense produced (76.5). A few teams underachieved based on that spread in 2010 and it might be a key to their quick turnaround in 2011.