The toughest division in the NFL provided three play-off teams last season and that looks to be the case again this year, but who will come out on top?
Predicted Finish:
- Saints
- Falcons
- Panthers
- Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints
Last season: 11-5
Coach: Sean Payton
Super Bowl odds: 12/1 | Division odds 11/8
Fresh off their Division title last season, New Orleans look to win rare back-to-back NFC South titles. New Orleans swept the rookie awards, with Kamara and Lattimore winning offensive and defensive respectively, and they will be hoping Alvin Kamara will be able to avoid a sophomore slump, given that starting running back Mark Ingram is suspended for the first four games of the 2018 season. The running back duo combined for 25 total touchdowns so if the Saints want to get one step closer to the Super Bowl, the running back committee will be key.
Young receiver Michael Thomas has been dominant since entering the league, racking up 1,000 yard seasons in each of his first two, so expect gunslinger Drew Brees to connect with him in the passing game.
On the defensive side of the ball, first round pick Marcus Davenport gives New Orleans another option to get after the Quarterback along with pass rushers Alex Okafor & Cameron Jordan, so they will hope to increase their sack total, a category they finished seventh in last season.
Atlanta Falcons
Last season: 10-6
Coach: Dan Quinn
Super Bowl odds: 20/1 | Division odds 2/1
Steve Sarkisian’s Atlanta offense regressed from the dizzy heights of the Shanahan era in almost every metric but most notably, and most importantly, the Falcons only managed to score 22.1 points per game in 2017 compared to a league-leading 33.8 in 2016. This made it hard to get back to the Super Bowl but expect the offence to gain traction again this year now it has had a full year to grow into their new scheme.
National Championship winner and first round pick Calvin Ridley will look to take advantage of defences that will likely concentrate their best defensive backs on Julio Jones.
The large positive Atlanta fans will have taken from last season is that their defence was a large reason they still made the play-offs despite their average offence. A young defence that has really grown up together, with only one starter that wasn’t drafted by Atlanta, has allowed them to build the chemistry needed to play team defence. Young star Grady Jarrett shows incredible burst off the ball on the interior, and joined by linebacker Deion Jones, safety Keanu Neal & former sack leader Vic Beasley, to create a defence that is strong in all facets of the game. This showed up in the stats, where they only allowed 19.1 points per game compared to 25.3 the previous campaign.
If Atlanta can get their offence to anywhere near where it was in 2016 and manage to keep up the defensive performance of last year, expect them to do very well and don’t be surprised if they become the first team to win a Super Bowl in their own stadium.
An opening loss at Philadelphia was a blow but there's no disgrace in losing to the Super Bowl champs and they almost claimed the win in the dying stages and showed enough to think they could challenge.
Carolina Panthers
Last season: 11-5
Coach: Ron Rivera
Super Bowl odds: 28/1 | Division odds 11/4
Since his 2015 MVP season, we have seen a very average Cam Newton that was so cruelly brought back down to earth by the Broncos defence in Super Bowl 51. Quarterback play is key to a team’s success in the NFL so the Panthers will be hoping they can get the Cam that score 45 total touchdowns in 2015 and not the Cam who threw 16 interceptions and fumbled the ball nine times in 2017.
The first step to this goal is to surround him with talent and 2017 first round pick Christian McCaffrey was a step in that direction. The rookie contributed seven touchdowns and 1000 scrimmage yards and hopes to build on this with an increased workload now that Jonathan Stewart has left the team.
Carolina also looked to improve their skill positions in this year’s draft, taking first round wideout DJ Moore. Pair this with free agent signing Torrey Smith fresh off a Super Bowl win with the Eagles, and Cam should have the option to throw to a receiver not named Devin Funchess, who caught eight touchdowns from Newton compared to the next man up Damiere Byrd who only found himself in the end zone twice last season.
Luckily for Carolina fans, their defence kept them in the picture last season. The talent they possess up front on the defensive line was on display for all to see as they got to the quarterback for 50 sacks, which ranked third in the NFL. Kawaan Short provides an interior pass rush that is rare from someone of his size, and with the addition of nose tackle Dontari Poe, Short should be allowed to play more snaps from the three technique where he will benefit from one-on-one match-ups, which should increase his sack total. Add to that the best linebacker in the game in Luke Keuchley and Panthers fans have to be quietly confident that their defence can make them a factor in any game.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last season: 5-11
Coach: Dirk Koetter
Super Bowl odds: 66/1 | Division odds 10/1
When in a division with three play-off teams, two former MVPs and a seven-time NFL passing leader, the last thing Tampa Bay needed was quarterback Jameis Winston to be suspended for the first three games. Not to mention they start out the campaign with New Orleans, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, so they could find themselves 0-3 before they even have their starting QB back at the helm. They will have to rely on NFL journeyman, and one of the better back-ups in the league, Ryan Fitzpatrick. He will at least have the safety net of throwing to consistent WR Mike Evans, who has notched four 1,000-yard seasons in his first four years in the league.
Rookie Ronald Jones hopes to be cemented as the starter by the time Winston returns and TE pairing of OJ Howard and Cameron Brate will be attempting to inject some life into what has been a bang average offense in recent years.
As seems to be the theme in the NFC South, Tampa’s defence is much improved. A front four of Jason Pierre-Paul, Gerald McCoy, Beau Allen & Vinny Curry, with first round pick Vita Vea rotating in, is enough to strike fear into any offensive line. Gerald McCoy remains the only starting defensive linemen who was on the team last year, but given how Tampa Bay were dead last in the NFL in sacks last season fans must be glad to see the organisation went out and did something about it.
Verdict:
In a division where it seems all four defences are much improved, New Orleans have to stand out as the favourite as the team with the most consistent offence to pair with that, however don’t be surprised to see Atlanta and Carolina join them in the play-offs yet again. The Mark Ingram suspension will hurt them but Alvin Kamara has shown he is more than capable of carrying the load during a fairly favourable first four games for the Saints.
For second place it will all come down to which offence can get closest to their Super Bowl run years, and it looks like Atlanta have the better chance at this purely on Matt Ryan’s quarterback play along with one of the best receivers in the game in Julio Jones. Losing the opener was a blow but no disgrace the other teams will also have to face the Super Bowl champion Eagles.
Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, the season looks pretty glum, they will hope their defence will be able to grind out some games but expect them to finish in the bottom spot in what is the NFL’s toughest division.
