2018 NFL Preview: The NFC South

NFC South
Although the Saints aren’t as dependent on Drew Brees as they once were, they’re once again the favorites in the NFC South. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen, Getty Images)

Projected NFC South End-of-Season Standings

1 New Orleans Saints (13-3)

2 Carolina Panthers (10-6)

3 Atlanta Falcons (10-6)

4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-12)

It took New Orleans a while to get going last year. But once they started rolling, they showed how good they can be. They have talent all over and shouldn’t need to wait this year for it all to come together. Even in this tough NFC South division, the Saints should only have a few losses.

The way Carolina plays almost naturally makes their opponent play left-handed, so to speak. In other words: teams have to do things they’re not totally comfortable doing against the Panthers, like having a defender watch for Cam Newton to take off running at all times. That bodes well for the Panthers.

Seeing Atlanta projected to finish in third place in the NFC South is a little bit of a shocker. While they might not match up all that favorably against Carolina and New Orleans, however, they should still be one of the most explosive teams in the league and comfortably in the playoff picture, regardless of their division standing.

This season will answer more than a few questions about the direction the Buccaneers go in in the future. (Like if Jameis Winston stays in Tampa long-term.) But at least this organization has a good idea of what questions need to be asked in order to get answers. That’s ahead of a few teams around the league.

QB Watch (Because It’s the Most Important Position)

New Orleans: Ever since Drew Brees had a shoulder injury that ushered in his departure from San Diego, he’s been remarkably durable. And the Saints smartly brought in a backup who’s young enough to qualify as “QB of the future” status in Teddy Bridgewater. Brees might only have a couple years left, but the Saints are set up for long-term success with all their talent and youth. The quarterback they most recently brought in might be the perfect bridge between this incarnation of New Orleans football and the next (pun totally intended).

Carolina: At one point it looked like the mobile quarterback was going to be a major wave in the sport. For sure, it’s important for quarterbacks to move and avoid defenders or buy time to throw. But the running QB didn’t take off as much as some thought. Regardless of your standard(s), Cam Newton is a prototype. He’s as important to the success of his team as anybody in the sport.

Atlanta: Matt Ryan’s had a great career thus far. But there have been times Matty Ice has looked a bit … melty? He’s veered back-and-forth between MVP-caliber play and merely above average. Atlanta should figure into the playoff picture under just about any circumstance but will need Ryan to return to his 2016 MVP-level play if Atlanta ascends to the top of the NFC.

Tampa Bay: Tampa Bay will have to make do with Ryan Fitzpatrick to start the year as Jameis Winston serves a suspension. That could go one of two ways, but neither are that great for the Bucs: 1) Fitzpatrick plays surprisingly well and Tampa decides it’ll move on with Winston riding the year out on the bench (a bit far-fetched, but not out of the question by any means), or; 2) The season starts off with a few losses and then the team has to turn to a quarterback who they already seem at peace with losing after this season. No need to ask what could go wrong here. It’s already there.

Non-QB Positions/Players to Watch

New Orleans: The edge rush could transform the Saints from really good to historically great. There’s reason to be a bit nervous about the offensive line, but if this team can get a consistent pass rush from off the edge, they’ll be Super Bowl favorite before too long.

Carolina: The defense relies heavily on Luke Kuechly’s health. That’s worthy of watching. They also have some unproven skill position players on offense and defense. But Carolina figures to put a large share of the offensive workload on Christian McCaffrey this season. He has to stay healthy, productive, and involved in order for the Panthers to be successful. By the end of the season, you should be able to tell the story of this team’s season in the context of only three players: Newton, Kuechly, and McCaffrey.

Atlanta: In order for the Falcons offense to be as dangerous as it has been and is capable of, Devonta Freeman needs to be on the field. Thing is, even at 26, he plays a position that wears players out quickly. Freeman allows Atlanta to diversify their offense and milk the clock late when leading. If he struggles, so too could the entire offense.

Tampa Bay: The Bucs figure to struggle this season under any and all circumstances. So let’s think bigger-picture here. With a presumed early-season quarterback change in store, once Winston is eligible, it’ll be interesting to see how the offense responds to the change and what kind of example this is in the eternal debate between how dependent receivers are to the quarterback in order to be great or if great receivers make great quarterbacks. Mike Evans has certainly shown flashes of being in the top handful of NFL WRs. But the signal-caller situation might tank Evans’ production.

Crazy-Wild Scenario

This division is as top-heavy as any division, maybe in league history. The Saints, Panthers, and Falcons could finish in any order in the top three and it wouldn’t move the needle on anything being surprising. Much less crazy-wild. Thus, Tampa Bay must be involved in any bizarre alteration to the standings. Even in fiction, the Bucs managing to knock off all three or even two of the more talented teams in this division in order to push for a playoff spot. Even in Crazyland, Tampa isn’t making the playoffs out of the NFC South.

Related Topics

Ryan lives in Wisconsin. He was raised on a steady diet of whole milk, cheese, sports, WWF/WWE wrestling, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

You May Also Like

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.