Over the last couple of years, the NFC South has been one of the worst divisions in football. Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon said the worst case scenario is nothing changing. The New Orleans Saints are looking to change and every team in the division has the same intention.
Even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers likely walked away from the season unsatisfied. A divisional title couldn’t elevate them from being a mediocre team. The champion barely having a winning record is an indictment of the division of itself. Here’s Kenyon’s take:
As much as optimism is fun, that’s tougher to muster here. Carolina is very much in a rebuild, while New Orleans continues to kick the average-talent can in salary-cap hell. Tampa is believing Baker Mayfield’s rise wasn’t a fluke, and Atlanta is banking on Kirk Cousins to successfully bounce back from an Achilles injury in his age-36 season.
If you think the South won’t have a 10-win team for the third consecutive year, I’d entertain that opinion.
The division’s public perception has taken a nosedive since 2022. The Buccaneers have won the division unimpressively in each of the last two seasons. Still, a division title is a division title.
However, the division having another 8-9 or 9-8 record would change nothing for the NFC South perception. The division needs a double digit-win champion. Maybe it’ll be the Falcons with the addition of Kirk Cousins or Tampa Bay can continue to pull out titles.
The New Orleans Saints look to get their offense in order and pair that with a strong defense. These are all best case scenarios that only the Saints achieve.
[lawrence-auto-related count=4]