2017 NFC South Preview

Happy Friday and Happy September! We're celebrating by moving on to the second half of our NFL prediction series for 2017.

I've worked my way down to the south now as I go division by division picking how I think the season will go. So far, only one wild card has been claimed, and that was yesterday in the AFC, so there are still plenty of spots up for grabs.

Speaking of spots up for grabs, there are plenty of those still in my annual Pigskin Pick 'Em contest. Adam Quinn will join me once again starting next week as we pick every game against the spread. You can join us here.

Let's take a look at the NFC South.


NFC South

Common opponents on schedule: NFC North, AFC East

1. Atlanta Falcons
2016: 11-5 (1st), lost Super Bowl LI

I know, I know; the NFC South champion almost never repeats and the Falcons are recovering from arguably the biggest choke job ever in sports. But the league's best offense from last season returns pretty much everybody, Matt Ryan has proved he's an elite quarterback, at least for now, Julio Jones is still an elite receiver, and other than being a turnstile, Devonta Freeman is a good running back. The question, fair or not, is how good the defense will be. They weren't particularly good last year either, but the offense hid those problems. For most of the regular season, they will again.
2017 Prediction: 12-4

2. Carolina Panthers
2016: 6-10 (4th), missed playoffs

Carolina had a major Super Bowl hangover last year, which you would think they'd be recovered from by now. As long as the offensive line doesn't implode from the presence of multile Kalil's, they should be able to protect Cam Newton and open holes for Jonathan Stewart and rookie Christian McCaffrey just fine, while Kelvin Benjamin should be a nice target for Newton. Their defense was average last year though after having been overwhelming in 2015. As long Luke Keuchly continues to lead the way though, they should be fine, and good enough to make the postseason again.
2017 Prediction: 10-6, Wild Card

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2016: 9-7 (2nd), missed playoffs

Jameis Winston helped lead this team to respectability last year, and they'll probably stay fairly respectable again this year. Their offense is decent, with Doug Martin at running back and Desean Jackson and Mike Evans out wide, though Jackson might be washed up at this point, hard to say. The thing that bugs me... and I mean, really bugs me is that this team is starting Chris Conte at safety still. Combine that with it only being a matter of time until Brent Grimes becomes a distraction because his wife is batcrap crazy, and you have something of a ticking time bomb here.
2017 Prediction: 8-8

4. New Orleans Saints
2016: 7-9 (3rd), missed playoffs

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that it doesn't really matter who Drew Brees' receivers are, he's still going to put up 5000 yards and there's not a thing you can do about it. But you replace Brandin Cooks with Ted Ginn and... hell, he'll still throw for 5000 yards. The addition of Adrian Peterson does make this an intriguing team, but it's hard to say how much of an impact he'll have. And that doesn't change the fact that this defense is a sieve. Brees can only do so much.
2017 Prediction: 5-11