Next up in my series is going to be the NFC South. Last year did not truly show all the teams talent. You obviously have the dominant team in the Atlanta Falcons, legit Super Bowl contenders. Then you have the triple threat of the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Each of the teams has obvious issues to deal with but how good are the other parts of there game is going to decide this division.
Lets look at last years standings from the division
Atlanta Falcons: 13-3 record, 3-3 in division
Carolina Panthers: 7-9 record, 3-3 in division
New Orleans Saints: 7-9 record, 3-3 in division
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7-9 record, 3-3 in division
This division was really awkwardly close, every team was 3-3 in division games, and then three of the teams were 7-9! The division was so close and they had to go deep into the tie breaking system do even decide who would land between spots 2 through 4. I do not think that there is any question about who is going to end up being the divisions champion this year but can any of the other teams jump up and start to gain some rhythm for coming years.
Now the schedules for the upcoming season
Atlanta Falcons
Tough Games: Week 4 vs Patriots, Week 10 vs Seahawks, Week 14 @ Packers, Week 16 @ 49ers.
Toss up Games: Week 1 @ Saints, Week 7 vs Buccaneers, Week 8 @ Cardinals, Week 9 @ Panthers, Week 11 @ Buccaneers, Week 12 vs Saints, week 15 vs Redskins, Week 17 vs Panthers.
Easy Games: Week 2 vs Rams, Week 3 @ Dolphins, Week 5 vs Jets, Week 13 @ Bills.
The Atlanta Falcons are one of my favorite teams in the league they are so talented on offense and still have some solid talent on defense. The schedule treats them nicely overall considering there record last year. They have an equal number of Easy games as Tough games, so they will balance each other out. And for most teams I would put Buccaneers games as easy games and same with a good chunk of Panthers games, but the fact that each team went 1-1 against each of its division rivals makes for a Toss up game every time in the AFC South.
Carolina Panthers
Tough Games: Week 1 vs Seahawks, Week 6 @ Vikings, Week 9 vs Falcons, Week 10 @ 49ers, Week 11 vs Patriots, Week 14 @ Saints.
Toss up Games: Week 2 @ Bills, Week 3 vs Giants, Week 5 @ Cardinals, Week 8 @ Buccaneers, Week 12 @ Dolphins, Week 13 vs Buccaneers, Week 14 @ Saints, Week 16 vs Saints.
Easy Games: Week 7 vs Rams, Week 15 vs Jets.
The Carolina Panthers are in for a doozy of a season. they have a lot of Toss up games in the first half of the season and then they have three weeks of terror starting in week 9 against the Falcons. Starting in week 9 all of the games are going to be a handful as they go through the wear and tear of those tough games and then only one easy game against the Jets. Could be pretty tough.
New Orleans Saints
Tough Games: Week 1 vs Falcons, Week 5 @ Bears, Week 6 @ Patriots, Week 11 vs 49ers, Week 12 @ Falcons, Week 13 @ Seahawks.
Toss up Games: Week 2 @ Buccaneers, Week 3 vs Cardinals, Week 10 vs Cowboys, Week 14 vs Panthers, Week 16 vs Panthers, Week 17 vs Buccaneers.
Easy Games: Week 4 vs Dolphins, Week 8 vs Bills, Week 9 @ Jets, Week 15 @ Rams.
The Saints are probably looking at there schedule and are saying that they can do well but then inside they really feel like man this is going to be tough. heres why. You are starting off against the pass dominant Falcons in opening week, you have 4 out of your 6 Tough games away from your home field, then most of the Toss up games come after a Tough game. Not to mention that even two of the easy games are away. Another difficult schedule for this division.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tough Games: Week 3 @ Patriots, Week 7 @ Falcons, Week 9 @ Seahawks, Week 11 vs Falcons, Week 15 vs 49ers.
Toss up Games: Week 2 vs Saints, Week 4 vs Cardinals, Week 6 vs Eagles, Week 8 vs Panthers, Week 10 vs Dolphins, Week 12 @ Lions, Week 13 @ Panthers, Week 14 vs Bills, Week 17 vs Saints.
Easy Games: Week 1 @ Jets, Week 16 @ Rams.
The scheduling committee was not kind to this division as a whole, another tough schedule. They will be good in most of the Toss up games but then they will most likely lose all of there Tough games, I just do not see them winning any of those games. Then they only have two games where they should be they clear cut favorites and thats gonna make for a taxing season.
Overall Team Rankings
Atlanta Falcons
As I stated earlier, THIS TEAM IS REALLY good! First off lets look at the defense, They have a very solid D-line with Jonathan Babineaux, and the addition of Osi Umenyiora was really big for them good pick up. Line backers are there weakest spot but they still have Sean Weatherspoon. Then comes the creme of the crop with a very nice Secondary with Desmond Trufant, Asante Samuel, William Moore, Thomas DeCoud really solid guys. Then the mighty Atlanta Offense, running game and passing game gets a HUGE boost with Steven Jackson as the feature back now! Then they have Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez all snagging the ball out of the air from the 5th best QB in the league Matt Ryan. That sounds like a fantasy team in my mind but they truly are all on the same team, pretty insane offense.
Carolina Panthers
Alright I'm not fully on board with Cam Newton. He is an amazing talent i get that but he is a very inconsistent player and gets only one half of a season of tremendous football but it seems to take him a while to get his groove, or as in his rookie season lose his groove. Then the rest of there offense is not really helping them, overpaid running backs not playing well, and then old or not very good wide receivers. The defense of the Panthers really is more impressive then the offense with a very impressive defensive line. Greg Hardy and Charles Johnson coming off the ends is a QB nightmare. They are a solid front seven which is really helping them over all.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints are a team of polar opposites. Defense is just awful purely terrible. Last against the run and second to last against the pass. They are going to need a MAJOR turn around but they did not add the players truly needed to do that. First year in a new system as well with the same players as last i think you get about the same amount of production. The Offense on the other hand is arguably the most consistent offense in the league. They have the most consistent QB in the league, Drew Brees, throwing two touchdowns a game. Then you have Darren Sproles a multi threat back who is just a problem causer for defenses. Then you have Colston as one of the most consistent Wide Receivers in the league, mostly because of Brees, but hey whatever works. The most polaroizing team you could possibly ask for and for that reason its going to be tough to improve. HOWEVER Sean Payton is back so a BIG boost is coming from him but still you need the players to work with.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
How did this team win seven games last year? Doug Martin is why, he took teams by suprise and was to new, to fresh, and to stinking good. They do not have a great quarterback but he does have really good players around him with the Mighty Hamster and Vincent Jackson. The defense was not good by any means, they were decent against the run, but horendous against the pass, last in the league. The big thing for them though was getting Darrell Revis. The Defense really improved with Revis. I think the teams overall though stays about the same with Doug Martin getting a lot more attention now, but an improvement in the secondary!
Final Predictions
Atlanta Falcons: 12-4 Record, 4-2 in division
New Orleans Saints: 9-7 Record, 3-3 in division
Carolina Panthers: 7-9 Record, 3-3 in division
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6-10 Record, 2-4 in division
Obviously the Falcons almost have this division sealed as long as Matt Ryan stays away from the injury bug. They just have too much talent on offense to stop them and a solid defense to hold off the other teams from gaining in rhythm. The Saints will have to really blow improvement, they have there Head Coach back and the most consistent offense in the league, but how is that defense going to hold up? There really is next to no room to go backwards so I'm going to say they make enough progress to gain two games, if this team had an average defense at least they would be my super bowl pick. The Panthers are the exact same team as last year, therefore same record. They have some tools to be really good but Cam Newton has to be consistent all the way through the year in order to be better then 7-9 and i just do not see that happening. The Buccaneers really surprised me getting 7 wins last year so they will have to surprise me again to get more then 6, schedule is not easy, should not be any surprises on offense anymore. However I do think overall pass defense is going to make a huge jump with Revis. What will happen only time will tell for sure.
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