NFL Preview 2006 - NFC South

2005 Standings – NFC SOUTH
Tampa Bay ----------- 11-5
Carolina ------------ 11-5
Atlanta ------------- 8-8
New Orleans --------- 3-13


2006 Outlook:

Carolina (12-4) – The Panthers lost the division to Tampa Bay in a tiebreaker last year although I felt they were a much better team. That won’t happen this year. Carolina is pretty much returning the same team from last year. They also added Keyshawn Johnson at WR to compliment Steve Smith, and drafted DeAngelo Williams to back up the oft-injured DeShaun Foster at RB. These additions should help them run away with this division and also make them a top contender to win the NFC.

Tampa Bay (8-8) – Somehow last year the Buccaneers pulled off 11 wins and won the division in a tiebreaker over Carolina. This year, the Bucs come back down to earth with one of the toughest schedules in the league. Chris Simms will go into the season as the starting QB for the first time in his career, and although he has potential, he’s not as good as his father (Phil Simms) was…yet. The Bucs record falls to around 8-8 and this time they beat out Atlanta in a tiebreaker for 2nd place.

Atlanta (8-8) – How many times can we hear “Is this the year that Michael Vick has a breakout season?” Well, once again, many experts seem to think that this will be the year…and once again, it won’t be. Michael Vick is a great athlete and exciting to watch when he runs with the ball. The problem is that he’s a quarterback…and an average quarterback at that…with an average receiving corps. It’s a good thing he has a top-notch TE in Alge Crumpler, as well as Warrick Dunn out of the backfield to throw to. Otherwise, Vick would be running on every play. A good defense will keep them in games, but they still only get about 8 wins if they’re lucky.

New Orleans (3-13) – What can I say about the Saints? They started out with a spirited 2-2 record last year before losing 11 of the next 12 and ending up at 3-13. Then they received a gift from Houston in the draft in the form of RB Reggie Bush, who is one of the most talented players to come out of college in a long time. Bush will bring excitement back to the city of New Orleans, but the Saints have a long way to go before they will become a winning team again. There are still too many problem areas that need to be addressed. New Orleans is heading in the right direction, and getting a top 5 draft pick again in 2007 will help. They could be a pesky opponent because of the “Bush factor”, but I still think they’ll end up in the 3 win range.