NFL - NFC South Discussion

The Game Room
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I’m a sports bigamist. There, I said it. Lifelong Giants fan transplanted 5 years ago to Charlotte, and now a casual Panthers fan. The G Men are still #1 in my heart, but I do root for the Panthers unless they play each other.

There is a HUGE difference in the NFL culture down here. There are plenty of rabid Panthers fans, but it’s very different. For one thing, the Panthers are still a relatively new franchise. Many of the local population are old enough to have pre-existing favorite teams, so the Panthers have not completely taken over. The Steelers, Cowboys and Redskins have a huge following here, with a bunch of others too. The other thing is that college football is so big down here, that it competes favorably for air/print time with the NFL.

Ok, not sure why I felt the need to go through all that, this ain’t my blog. Sorry.

So… the NFC South. Before the preseason started I thought there were 3 teams that could challenge for playoff spots. Now,however, I think I need to remove the Panthers from that group. They just look horrible and I don’t know if John Fox can be flexible enough to adapt. He’ll run his game plan no matter the personnel on the field and it depends heavily on good defense, which they just don’t have this year. Julius Peppers’ selfish and completely inept off-season crap killed our cap room and any ability to bolster our weaknesses. Then Kemo went out early,exposing a very thin D Line, which they don’t have cap space to fix. Add a bunch of injuries, an aging mediocre QB, and a brutal schedule, and I think they are watching from home in January. 8 - 8 with some breaks.

On the other hand, I think the Falcons will be better than most are saying. They also have a tough schedule, but they improved the O with Gonzalez, Ryan is the real deal at QB and should improve, and they are relatively healthy. I can see them getting to 11 wins.

The Saints should also be a potential playoff team, if the D has improved. Offense should be no issue, as long as Thomas is ready to be a #1 RB. The D seems to have been the focus in the off season, so we’ll see how that works out. 10 - 6.

Tampa? Rebuilding. 4 - 12.

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I think your assessment of the division sounds fair, although it certainly could go either way with Carolina. They traditionally have a stingy defense and a strong running game so I wouldn’t expect that to change all that much. Delhomme is a decent QB. They aren’t too far removed from a Superbowl appearance.

I would also be surprised if the Bucs only win 4 games. I’d make it 6 or 7. They can be tough at home.

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I’m a Falcons fan. I can pretty much assure you that the defense is going to be a problem all year. I see a lot of final scores along the lines of 45-38, etc.

Also, being a Falcons fan, I can assure you that either Matt Ryan or Michael Turner will suffer a season-ending injury by the end of Week 2, most likely in the 3rd quarter of Game 1. How do I know this? Because I am a Falcons fan, and this is what happens to the Falcons. Every. F***ing. Time.

4

Panthers fan here, and I believe your analysis is spot-on regarding Fox’s inflexibility. Delhomme is an okay QB, but needs a better offense (and for Steve Smith to STOP GETTING INJURED, for the love of god).

5

Saints fan here. 3-1 on the preseason, for whatever that’s worth. I like what I’ve seen from the defense so far. Look for them to generate turnovers and some points this year. Usama Young got himself arrested the other day…unpaid parking ticket.

Haven’t seen much of Thomas in preseason. Hoping he can step up to become the feature back. Really wish somebody would remove the end around and all variants thereof from the playbook. They call that damn play way too much, and it rarely works. Shockey could have a monster year at tightend if he stays healthy…

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Falcons fan here. I agree with Shot Clock. The Falcons look to be the team to beat in the South, but Ryan will probably have a broken leg early in game 2. Remember, they’ve never had back to back winning seasons.

As an aside, I’ve got tickets to the Falcons’ first game next week. They’re playing the Dolphins, who are my second favorite team in the NFL. I can’t wait. :slight_smile: