With two of the NFC divisions down, we now cast our eyes towards the NFC South division. For the first time since 2009, this division finds itself the home of the defending champions. Truthfully, it had been a long time coming, and Tampa was the team able to finally break through. Watching a division rival claim the Super Bowl couldn’t have been an easy pill to swallow. The other three teams will be eager to topple the Buccaneers this year. So, let’s see how they will stack up.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The defending champions come into this season unlike many champions before them. Usually, teams that win the Super Bowl lose a few key players during the offseason. That didn’t happen to Tampa as they were able to bring just about everyone back. This gives Tom Brady all the weapons he enjoyed the previous season again. With a year under their belt, there shouldn’t be much of an adjustment period. Expect this offense to reach some lofty heights this season as a result of everyone being comfortable with the schemes. This is especially true due to the fact that all 11 starters will be returning.
Remember when I said the Buccaneers were able to bring back just about everyone? Well, they managed to bring back every starter on the defense. Tampa Bay is the first team in the salary cap era to win the Super Bowl and then bring back all 22 starters the next season. This bodes well for a defense that was one of the elite units last season. Expect this unit to once again be among the league’s best as everyone already knows their role. There won’t be any need to get familiar with someone new or any new schemes. This unusual continuity is a massive advantage for this team. Expectations are sky high for this team, and for good reason. Taking the division title from the Saints should be the bare minimum. But the real prize will be to successfully defend their Super Bowl title.
New Orleans Saints
For the first time since 2000, the Saints are without Drew Brees, who retired this offseason. The Saints will now hand the ball over to Jameis Winston, who spent most of last season learning from Brees. He will be expected to continue the consistent success that this franchise has enjoyed as they have won the last four division titles. Unfortunately for Winston, he has a great deal of things to worry about. First off, his best weapon Michael Thomas is fighting with the franchise and is out the first half of the season with injury. The second is that due to hurricane Ida, the Saints won’t be able to play at home for some time.
Defensively things aren’t much better either. The defense comes into this season as an average unit that could lean either way. The secondary holds a lot of questions, and if not fixed can end up being costly. With the offense being a bit of a mystery, the pressure will be on the defense to step up. This will especially ring true when you consider Winston’s tendency to turn the ball over. If the defense can elevate their performances, this team could make a deep run. As mentioned before, not being able to play some games at home limits their ceiling. But this team can still compete for a division title and maybe even more if things come together.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons begin the first season of head coach Arthur Smith’s tenure. There was a lot of speculation on the future of Matt Ryan this offseason, but once again he remained the starter. However, Atlanta did trade away his longtime favorite target, Julio Jones. To ease some of that pain, the franchise selected Kyle Pitts, who is projected to be a generational talent at the tight end position. It remains to be seen whether the Falcons truly believe that Ryan is answer for the future. You get the sense that this will end up being a make-or-break year for Ryan.
The Falcons had one of the worst defenses last season and did little to alleviate that this offseason. If you’re looking for a reason to believe this will be a long season, look no further. This defense looks to once again be one of the worst in the league. Disappointments all over this unit has led to their downfall and will likely begin the process of cleaning house. Falcon fans will do well to only watch their offense play as the defense could frustrate at times. Winning the division will be a long shot, but Atlanta was perhaps one of the unluckiest teams last season. A change of fortune could be the catalyst to a shock season.
Carolina Panthers
After one season of Teddy Bridgewater being the starting QB the Panthers decided to go in a different direction. They chose to trade for Sam Darnold who had fallen out of favor with the Jets. Darnold is still young and one could blame the Jets’ mismanagement for why things didn’t work out in New York. Of course, the Jets could’ve been right to bail on Darnold before the rest of the league could figure out how bad he truly was. Either way Carolina felt that it was worth the risk to bring him in. The offense is a work in progress as Carolina seems content to see what they have before making a big splash.
The Panthers defense finished last season with a slightly below average ranking. While it wasn’t spectacular, the Panthers can take heart in knowing that they have a solid young core. No team recovered more fumbles last season than the Panthers. While that will surely regress, as fumble luck normally tends to do, the Panthers didn’t rest on their laurels. They made it a point of emphasis to improve their secondary this offseason. First round pick Jaycee Horn should be able to help with that right away. This season is clearly a year of transition and thus expectations should be tempered.