And I know that this division led the league in win percentage last season, but that means nothing in 2018! Hmmm… now that I think about it, maybe this division is actually pretty good. With three legitimate contenders in the mix, it is anyone’s guess who will the competitive NFC South... So, who will win this horrible division?
Carolina Panthers (Last
Season: 11-5)
2018 Prediction: 11-5
Prepare for the return
of Super Cam. During the two years since his MVP season in 2016, Cam has not
been very good. Injuries to himself and his favorite offensive weapons have
made it tough on the Carolina quarterback recently. So, why do I think this
year will be different? Simply, Cam seems to be much healthier this year, and
he has a very talented group of skill players at his disposal. McCaffrey is
poised for a big year. CJ Anderson is a nice addition to the backfield. Moore
looks like a potential great NFL wide receiver. Funchess is entering his prime.
And Greg Olsen continues to be the rock of the Carolina receiving corps and the
security blanket that every great quarterback loves.
The defense is a top
tier unit, led by the impressive linebacker duo of Luke Kuechly and Thomas
Davis (though Davis is suspended for the first four games of the season).
During Davis's aforementioned suspension, Shaq Thompson will get the chance to showcase his
abilities, as the Panthers have high hopes for their young stud linebacker. On
the defensive line, Carolina beefed up with the addition of Dontari Poe, which
should help to create a consistent pass rush and clog up running lanes. The Panthers are primed for
another great season, as they have retained most of last season’s talent. The
only question is, can they win the stacked NFC South?
New Orleans Saints (Last
Season: 11-5)
2018 Prediction: 10-6
Brees continues to shine
into his golden years. At the moment, he is a mere 1,496 yards away from
setting the all-time mark in the NFL. Over his illustrious 16 year career as a
starter, he has led the league in passing yards seven times. And now, at 39
years old, he will look to lead the Saints to the playoffs for the seventh time
in 13 tries. While Brees is still playing at a high level, the Saints offense
is not as good as it has been in the past. Fortunately for New Orleans, their
defense has begun to peak at just the right time, keeping the Saints’ window of
opportunity open for just a little longer.
After finishing as the
worst and second worst scoring defenses in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, the
Saints have finally appeared to figure things out, as they finished tenth in
scoring defense last year. New Orleans
finally has a defense that can help supplement the consistently solid offense.
With Kamara, Ingram, Thomas, Gin, and Meredith, this offense appears to have
the weapons to help Brees hold off retirement for as long as possible. And,
even if Brees believes that he has another few years of football left in him,
the Saints are running out of time to put together another Super Bowl run
before he finally retires. This season might be Brees’ last chance to grab his
second Lombardi Trophy, which would help cement his place as one of the
greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game.
Atlanta Falcons (Last
Season: 10-6)
2018 Prediction: 10-6
Last season, Matt Ryan
and the offense were nowhere near as good as they were in 2016, but this
Atlanta team still managed to scrounge together ten wins. While I only predict
that they will repeat last season’s win total, I expect improvements, particularly along the offensive front. While the players are mostly the same, the main
reason I expect a bounce back year for the offense is that Ryan has now had a
full year to learn Sarkisian’s offense. After Shanahan left for a head coaching
job with the Niners, Ryan had to learn a new offensive system. Obviously, it
did not take with the former MVP quickly, as he regressed from a 38/7 TD/INT
season to a 20/12 season. That’s a huge regression in the passing game for a
team that saw almost no offensive players lost during the previous offseason.
The good news from last
year is that even with such a poor passing season, the defense was able to hold
firm and keep Atlanta competitive in a very tough division. The bad news is
that this division has not gotten any weaker. So, in order to stay competitive,
the defense will have to continue to play well, and the offense will have to
return to their 2018 form. With Freeman, Jones, and Coleman still in place,
this offense certainly has the firepower to fight for playoff berth. Now, can
they win the critical divisional games that will be crucial to them clinching their third straight
playoff appearance?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(Last Season: 5-11)
2018 Prediction: 5-11
This team is awful. And
to make matters worse, they play in what appears to be the toughest division in
the NFL. And to make matters EVEN WORSE, their quarterback is Jameis Winston.
Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, whether or not this franchise succeeds in the
next number of seasons will most likely ride on the shoulders of their young
quarterback. The only good (?) news for Tampa Bay is that they will start the
first three games of this season with Fitzpatrick under Center, who I actually
think is the better option at quarterback. As you already know, Winston will be
suspended to start the season because he GROPED AN UBER DRIVER. Look, with the
the recent #metoo movement, we now realize that men are disgusting and that
powerful men are generally even more disgusting, so this behavior can’t
surprise anyone, but it is still shocking to read about.
The only question now is
whether or not the Bucs will even go back to Winston when he returns from
suspension. Winston is a turnover machine, a bad teammate, and a worse person.
The fact that Tampa Bay has sheltered him for this long is amazing. Once they
finally take the training wheels off, I expect his career to unravel, and,
unfortunately for Winston, that unraveling may have already begun. While the
offense is in disarray due to question marks at quarterback, the defense is no
better. Last season, Tampa Bay finished dead last in overall defense. Now, in
fairness, the Bucs play in arguably the toughest offensive division in the NFL,
so it is not surprising to see them at the bottom. Still, the defense has a lot
of improving to do if Tampa Bay hopes to be competitive at all this season. With such grim hopes of success for the coming years, the
only interest I have in this team is if we are witnessing the end of
Winston.
So, as you can see, the
NFC South is horrible. I wonder if the NFC East is any good…
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