The Dude

Yes I do believe our defense will be much better. I have no reason to think our offense won't be top 5 again. We made changes on coaching staff, player personnel, and other areas. No reason we can't be a better team.
Problem is every team has made changes to achieve the same goal.

Carolina has our number no matter what. Cam is hard to contain and has more weapons than ever. Their defense though which is usually top notch may have taken a step back. Interesting to see how they approach the game if they don't have that tough defense to fall back on.

Tampa is always supposed to surprise and hasnt really lived up to the media hype. They do have a hell of an offense on paper though. Is this Winstons break out year? Can their D keep them in the field?

Atlanta is tough and may have the most balanced team overall. Ryan is getting better and they have weapons to be a high scoring offense. We have owned them in the Payton era but have had a solid couple years against us. Their defense is improved. May be best in division which scares me. They are also coming off a Super Bowl year. Will that humiliating loss carry over to this year or will they have a huge chip on their shoulder as motivation.

Division will be tough this year. May take 10 or more games to win it.
When Brady went down they had 11-5 record and still missed playoffs if I remember correctly.

Our toughest will be Atlanta imo. The first game against the Vikings is as a must win of a game as we can have. Winning it and coming out of the gate knowing we won't be looking at 0-4 yet again would be huge for team moral and get us that winning mindset for when we have our first division game. Lose it and the memories of the last 3 seasons will be hard to get out of their heads.
So, whose our toughest?

Hell even winning a couple preseason games could go a long way.

"Where life had no value, death, sometimes, had its price. That is why the bounty killers appeared."