Previewing the 2022 NFL Season: NFC South Edition
I think we all know who’s winning this division. As long as Tom Brady is healthy under center the Saints, Panthers and Falcons have no chance of taking the NFC South title. That being said, there’ still plenty of intrigue amongst the three teams competing underneath the Bucs, mostly at the QB position. Let’s get to the rankings:
1. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
Just when you thought the goat was going to finally retire he comes back for one more shot at the title. The Bucs are stacked on both sides of the ball but let’s state the obvious here: none of the offensive or defensive firepower means anything if Brady wasn’t returning for his third season with the Bucs. You can have all the talent in the world on your team but if you don’t have the right QB to make use of said talent then it’s all for naught. Ask the Bucs pre-Brady how all that talent panned out for them with Jameis at the helm. The biggest change, minus Gronk “retiring” for the second time, is that former head coach Bruce Arians has been kicked up to the front office and former defensive coordinator Todd Bowles has taken over head coaching duties. Time will tell how much the team’s identity will change, if it does at all, but Bowles is a solid replacement for Arians. Continuity is incredibly important in the NFL and the Bucs have that on their side. Now it’s time to see how Brady performs at age 45. They say father time is undefeated but Brady keeps handing him losses year after year. Still, the man has to hang them up for good at some point and it could very well come at the end of this year. Savor this season, everyone. Once Brady does finally retire the league will never be the same.
2. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Despite the insane amount of adversity on and off the field last year the Saints damn near made it into the playoffs at the last minute regardless. It was a testament to Sean Payton and his coaching staff’s efforts that they were able to overcome their various injuries, including losing Jameis Winston for the year, and finish with a 9-8 record. Now, for the first time since the 2006 season, the Saints will be without Sean Payton on the sideline. Former defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, whom had served in that capacity for the Saints since November of 2015, has taken over as head coach. One of the highlights of last year’s Saints team was Allen’s smothering defense and that figures to continue to be their identity for this coming year. Remember that the Saints swept Brady’s Bucs both in 2020 and in 2021, mostly due to their fearsome defense. Oh yeah, and stud wide receiver Michael Thomas is also back from injury. It remains to be seen just how effective Jameis Winston will be less than a year removed from tearing his ACL but the Saints figure to be one of the most fascinating teams in the league this season all the same. First year head coaches tend to struggle with their new squads right out of the gate for the most part, but Allen brings plenty of coaching experience and a continuity with him that should pay immediate dividends with his current core of players down in the bayou.
3. ATLANTA FALCONS
The Saints are not the only team that will embrace a new era this season. For the first time since 2008 the Falcons will have a new starting quarterback under center as franchise icon Matt Ryan was traded to the Colts in the off-season. Under center for the dirty birds is former number 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota who has earned his way back into a starting role after serving as a valuable part of the Raiders’ offense for the last several years. Mariota is the one of the main reasons to watch the team this year because his mobility adds a dimension to Arthur Smith’s offense that Matt Ryan couldn’t bring which obviously makes them a much more dangerous team on the ground. Still, excluding star tight end Kyle Pitts and versatile running back/receiver hybrid Cordarrelle Patterson, the Falcons offense is devoid of any truly threatening weapons. The Falcons don’t even have Calvin Ridley this season due to a ridiculous season-long suspension placed on him over him placing bets on the Falcons while he was injured. On the other side of the field the defense hasn’t made many strides in free agency or the draft either. All that being said, the roster is still the third most talented in the division as far as I’m concerned and, unfortunately, with the team being in the NFL equivalent of limbo, it’s likely that they will be remain in there for a while to come, especially with their questionable drafting in recent years.
4. CAROLINA PANTHERS
Speaking of limbo, the Panthers are on the verge of slipping out of limbo and sinking straight into NFL hell. So far it’s looking like the Matt Rhule era in Carolina has been nothing but a gigantic waste of time and effort in terms of putting together a truly competitive football team over the last two seasons. Look no further than their current QB situation. Four short years ago Baker Mayfield went first overall to the Cleveland Browns and Sam Darnold went third overall to the New York Jets...now they’re both competing for the starting job on the same talent-depleted Panthers team. Both quarterbacks were discarded by their original teams for things that were mostly out of their control but at the end of the day both failed to live up to the lofty expectations placed on both of them when they were drafted as high as they were. Now Darnold and Mayfield are fighting to start on a team that has continued to regress ever since David Tepper took ownership of the team in May of 2018. Consider that the Panthers’ best player, Christian McCaffrey, spends more time on the IR list than he does on the football field. Rather than trade him to a legitimate contender for draft capital they choose to keep him on the roster despite his injury history indicating this will be a problem for the rest of his career. Frankly, this organization needs a complete overhaul from the top on down. The depths that this team has sunk to in the last five years is astounding considering that they used to be one of the elite teams in the NFC back when Ron Rivera was leading the charge, especially on defense. Still, the QB battle between Darnold and Mayfield should prove to be intriguing because if the team gets off to a rough start Rhule might start switching out QBs in a desperation move to light a spark and save his job. Who knows, maybe this change of scenery will be exactly what Mayfield needed and his career will rebound in a major way. You never know.
