A quick check on three contenders for the Panthers division, plus the New Orleans Saints
With little actual newsworthy developments around the NFL in July, it’s time to ask ourselves the important questions. We’ll start with a simple one:
Who is going to win the NFC South?
You have three obvious contenders in the Atlanta Falcons, the Carolina Panthers, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The New Orleans Saints are also notable for being present in the division. Let’s break this down briefly by team before throwing y’all at this week’s Reacts survey.
The Falcons
Atlanta has a fascinating mix of youth, relatively new leadership, and hunger, given that most of their current employees, from players to coaches, where either employed elsewhere or in middle school the last time the Falcons made the playoffs.
They’ll be a team to watch out for if they stop treating the quarterback position the same way they treated their defensive line when they had Matt Ryan: as an afterthought.
The Panthers
Atlanta Carolina has a fascinating mix of youth, relatively new leadership, and hunger, given that most of their current employees, from players to coaches, where either employed elsewhere or in middle school the last time the Falcons Panthers made the playoffs.
After two years of steady additions in the offseason to shore up key weaknesses, the Panthers might finally be dark cat contenders in one of the traditionally weakest divisions in football. What an accomplishment.
The Bucs
Tampa Bay seems, I don’t know, fine? At least, that’s the case at first glance. They haven’t gotten substantially better or worse for years in spite of upheaval at quarterback and head coach. At some point, though, they are going to realize their roster is coasting on fumes.
I think that point comes this year by virtue of the fact that they are on an unprecedented run of success in the NFC South. They have won the division from 2021-2024 and, as a wildcard team in 2020, are the most recent Super Bowl champions in the division. The NFC South has been notewortht for years for chaos and shenanigans. A mini dynasty is the antithesis of that identity and should not be able to last much longer.
The Saints
The Saints were members of the NFC West from 1970-2001. They joined the NFC South on its formation in 2002 and have remained in the division ever since.
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