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AOL.com Article - 10 Burning Questions: NFC South

Utah_Saint

"Still, I think the Bucs have the best chance at being the No. 2 team in the division, if McCown plays 80 percent as well as he did last year. He has a running game and strong defense to back him up, while Newton is a one-man team and the Falcons will have trouble stopping anybody.

I've been saying this is going to be the Buc's year for three years now. I'm not falling for it again. (but they do look good on paper)

"[I]The Panthers had arguably the worst offseason, losing key players to put Cam Newton into a difficult position.[?I]"

I don't think the Panthers will be as bad off as this article suggests. Their offensive line took a big hit but Cam's ability to scramble should minimize the problem and they lost their wide receiving corp from last year but they really weren't very good anyway. So the group replacing them could be just as good as what they lost. Their secondary situation is about the same as the wide receiver situation. They lost starters but that front 7 will help make the replacements look better than they did with their previous teams.

"The challenge will be on defense, where the unit is transforming into a 3-4 and may be subject to growing pains."

The falcons are a wild card.
4-12 last season and 13-3 the season before.
The offensive line was one of the worst in the NFL last year. They've added a good guard in Jon Asamoah and a top 6 draft pick. Frank Baker is coming back from injury but that might work against the birds since Baker's only had one decent season in the league. Their defense was horrible and it doesn't look to be much better this year with the additions of an average nose tackle and a below average defensive end, their line doesn't seem to be any better. They've already lost Weatherspoon for the season and their linebackers graded out as the worst in the South last season. Trufant looked like a beast and might end up being one of the best corners in the league someday on the other hand, Alford graded out as 87th out of 110 corners. He'll really have to turn things around in his second season if the falcons hope to turn the defense around. They have quite possibly, the worst starting safety duo in the league. Which is surprising with all the safeties that were available during the offseason.

I think...
The Saints will win the division.
The Panthers fall of a little and finish around 10-6 and via for a playoff spot.
I think the Buc's offense will be better this year than it has in a while. I think Lovie will get the defense playing up to the level of the talent they have.
I don't think the falcons will be 4-12 bad again this season but I think they'll be out of playoff contention relatively early next year. Around 6-10 or 7-9

Schmohams

NFC South:
1. Saints 13-3 Will lose 3 games to mediocre teams on the road (like always)
2. Buccaneers 7-9 Defense will be great but Josh McCown will suck
3. Falcons 6-10 Rebound slightly successful but bottom 5 in sacks
4. Panthers 5-11 Franchise explodes and Cam gets exposed, defense will still be good