The Dynamic NFC South
There never seems to be a back-to-back winner of the NFC South. While this year could be different, history does tend to repeat itself. The Panthers are returning with a very solid team, but the shifting around of their offensive weapons could prove to have an adjustment period. The Saints are always in the running and they look fully capable of taking the NFC South as well. The Falcons and Buccaneers look to bounce back from forgettable seasons with key injuries leaving them in rough spots in 2013.
New Orleans Saints – 2014 Projection: 11-5
2013 Record: 11-5
Drew Brees is another candidate for MVP in the 2014 season. Brees has his favorite targets sticking around going into this season and should continue to put up elite numbers. Jimmy Graham will be celebrating a lot of touchdowns this season, he had 16 in 2013. Coach Peyton would like to see him choose a different celebration than dunking it over the uprights to avoid penalties; I have to imagine he will at least repeat once or twice.
Marques Colston’s production dropped off marginally and looks to bounce back after failing to break 1,000 yards for the first time in 5 years. First round pick Brandin Cooks will be another asset to this already stellar offense, Cooks is good at making tacklers miss and should have a very solid rookie campaign that will aid the Saints in a year that they can go the distance.
The Saints defense was 4th in points allowed with 304, that is 19 points a game. The defense was very solid against the pass, 2nd in passing yards allowed, while the run defense was middle of the road. With this solid a defense and a crazy productive offense they are a threat to push deep in the playoffs every season. They added safety, Jarius Byrd out of the free agency, which adds some sure tackling and a pretty solid ball hawk. He is a 3 time pro bowler and is sure to make a positive impact on the Saints defense.
X-Factor – Brandin Cooks can add another dynamic to this already very potent offense. His speed (4.33 40 yard dash), exceptional hands, and elusiveness should make him an asset to the Saints right out of the gate. Cooks broke Pac-12 single season records of 128 receptions and 1,730 receiving yards in 13 starts. Cooks also added 16 receiving touchdowns. If Cooks can contribute right away as he seems fully capable, this Saints offense will be even harder to stop.
Carolina Panthers – 2014 Projection: 10-6
2013 Record: 12-4
The Panthers defense was better than all but the Seahawks in 2013; they were in 2nd for yards allowed (301.2 per game) and points allowed (15.1 per game). Luke Kuechly got selected for defensive player of the year honors in 2013. Kuechly had 154 tackles, 2 sacks and 4 interceptions to go with it, this all in his 2nd NFL season. The sky is the limit for Kuechly and if he keeps playing this way the Panthers will continue to be a strong candidate for the NFC South crown. Defensive end, Charles Johson’s 10 sacks aided the Panthers in their league leading 60 sacks. Charles Johnson being in the prime years of his career should notch another 10+ this season.
Cam Newton is in going into his 4th season in the NFL and has been playing consistently well. His yards on the ground and rushing touchdowns set him apart from some of the other QBs that have similar passing stats. Newton has been doing this with some inconsistency at the receiver position. He loses Steve Smith this season, but gains two veterans, a promising rookie and retains Greg Olson who was his leading pass catcher in 2013 with 73 catches, 816 yards receiving, and 6 TDs. One of the veteran wide outs the Panthers added is Jerricho Cotchery who proved to be a solid red zone target for the Steelers last year, he caught 10 TDs. They also added veteran possession receiver, Jason Avant, who in the past 5 seasons has averaged almost 50 receptions and hauled in about 500 yards receiving each season.
X-Factor – Kelvin Benjamin was the Panthers first round pick and he is looking to fill the top wide receiver spot. His size alone (6’5”, 240 lbs with an 83 inch wingspan) can garner extra coverage and presents mismatches for pretty much every defensive back in the league. Benjamin is highly touted for his ability to take full advantage of his size to go up and get the ball at its highest point as well as use it to create separation. If Benjamin can become a solid number one wide receiver for Cam Newton then the Panthers can certainly take the NFC South again this season.
Atlanta Falcons – 2014 Projection: 6-10
Atlanta Falcons 2013 Record: 4-12
The worst thing that happened to the Falcons without a doubt was the loss of Julio Jones in week 5 of the 2013 season. Roddy White also missed 3 games in 2013. These injuries without a doubt were a major cause of Matt Ryan’s first season in 4 years that all of his major statistics took a turn for the worse. Ryan’s yardage, touchdown total, and QB rating all went down while his interceptions went up. All of these stats were steadily taking a turn for the better in each season for the past 4 seasons before the 2013 campaign. This backwards trend may continue due to the fact that Ryan loses his best red zone target in Tony Gonzales to retirement. The Falcons could not establish a ground game at all; they came in at the bottom of the league with 77.9 rushing yards per game. If they can’t get a ground game going then they will continue to struggle offensively.
The Falcons defense struggled pretty terribly against the pass allowing opposing quarterbacks a very generous 102.4 QB rating. They were tied for 29th in the league with 32 sacks and didn’t really bring in any help at pass rushing. It will be another long year if they can’t stop opponent’s passing attacks, they don’t have one of the most dominant offenses themselves. The offense looks to have its work cut out for it going punch for punch with opposing offenses doing what they want to with this defense.
X-Factor – Desmond Trufant: was Atlanta’s first round pick in 2013 and needs to start playing like it. 2nd year corners are supposed to show some vast improvements and if he does then perhaps their pass defense can step it up a notch despite the lack of a pass rush. Trufant could also help by snagging a few more errant passes, the Falcons turnover ratio was -7, which isn’t going to cut it if they want to compete in the very competitive NFC South.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 2014 Projection: 6-10
2013 Record: 4-12
The Buccaneers offense put out the least amount (277 yards per game) of any team in the NFL. They set out to improve that situation this year by drafting and signing some offensive weapons. The Buccaneers signed Josh McCown who went on a tear when Jay Cutler sat out several games last season, McCown had 13 TDs and 1 INT while having 5 starts in 2013. They signed tight end Brandon Myers who has broken over 500 yards receiving and had 4 TDs with the Raiders and Giants the past 2 seasons. Myers were certainly be an asset to McCown, and so will #7 overall pick, WR Mike Evans whose size should make him a great red zone target as well as a go to guy for first down grabs. Louis Murphy who is a little more under the radar also was signed by the Buccaneers. Murphy looked to be a very promising rising star in his early years with the Raiders but with JaMarcus Russel throwing him the ball, how was he supposed to catch a whole lot? To give you an idea, Russel completed 48.8% of his throws in his final season (2009) and threw 3 TDs and 11 INTs. Look for Murphy to have a positive impact and add some solid depth to their receiving corps.
A healthy Doug Martin should go a long way as well to improving the offense. In his rookie campaign he had 1,924 all-purpose yards and 12 TDs to go with it. Martin missed 10 games last season which was a big part of the Buccaneers being the worst offense in the league. Their offensive line has been pretty brutal in preseason, so despite the positives to this offense, there are still some concerns. They did make a trade for pro bowl tackle Logan Mankins recently to attempt to alleviate some of those concerns, however, one lineman does not fix the entire problem.
On paper the Buccaneers defense was one of the middle of the pack defenses, in points and yards this is true, however, with how bad their offense was any defense can look bad. With Gerald McCoy (50 Tackles, 9.5 sacks in 2013) and Lavonte David (145 Tackles, 7 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles, 5 Interceptions in 2013) heading up their front 7, they should continue to excel. Overall, the Buccaneers should improve, but they aren’t quite to the level of their tougher division rivals.
X-Factor – Josh McCown has the offensive weapons needed to take this team into the playoffs. McCown has to be able to get by with a rough O line in order to do so. If he can manage to take the hits without getting taken out of the game and make accurate throws under pressure he can still pull it off.
