1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: For the first time since 2007, they won the NFC South. It’s been a long time coming. It’s been an entertaining off-season for them. On February 1st, Tom Brady announced he was retiring after 22 legendary seasons. March 13th, the future Hall of Famer announced he was unretiring and returning for a 23rd season. On March 30th, Bruce Arians announced he was stepping down as the head coach and Todd Bowles was his replacement. Let’s talk about their 2021 season. This offense is finally clicking on all cylinders. Tom looked comfortable and he was firing the ball all over the field. On the other side, the defense took a step back. The secondary was a struggle all year long, look at what happened to them in the playoffs against the Rams. The Buccaneers will be looking to make another run at a Super Bowl in 2022.
2. New Orleans Saints: For years, they ran the NFC South. Up until last season. Last year was an adjustment for them as it was the first full year without Drew Brees. Jameis Winston had the Saints in a nice spot at one point. After seven games, they were 5-2 and in contention for the division title it appeared. Then, Jameis tears his ACL and the team could never recover from that. This off-season, Sean Payton announced he was stepping down as the head coach after 16 years. The Saints decided to stay in house and promote defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to head coach. They should be entertaining to watch in 2022. Jameis comes back, Alvin Kamara is still in the mix and they signed Jarvis Landry along with safety Tyrann Mathieu. The Saints defense will be one of the best in the league again. If all goes well, this is a playoff team.
3. Atlanta Falcons: It’s been such a struggle for them since Super Bowl 51. Last Summer, they traded Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans and I said to myself Matt Ryan is next after that transpired. A year later, Matt gets traded to the Indianapolis Colts. It’s safe to say the Atlanta Falcons are rebuilding now with Arthur Smith. The young talent is there. They drafted Kyle Pitts last year out of Florida and this Spring, they selected Drake London, the standout wide receiver out of USC. Marcus Mariota is expected to be the starting quarterback in Atlanta this year. Look for them to clinch another top ten pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
4. Carolina Panthers: They’ve shown absolutely no progress since parting ways with Ron Rivera. In two seasons under Mat Rhule, the Panthers have won a total of ten games. Matt was hired to create a winning culture, but the only thing he’s shown is inconsistency and has done nothing to prove he belongs in the NFL. Their quarterback situation is awful. Sam Darnold isn’t the answer. He showed flashes early on last year, then came back down to reality. Christian McCaffrey can’t stay healthy at all and hasn’t played much since receiving that contract extension. There’s no reason to believe in this team this year.
2022 Predictions
1. Buccaneers (13-4)
2. Saints (10-7)
3. Panthers (4-13)
4. Falcons (4-13)
The Buccaneers are the class of the NFC South and they will win the division for the second consecutive season. With Brady returning, the offense will remain one of the best in the league. Chris Godwin returns after tearing his ACL last year. I feel he’s their most important offensive piece because he does so much with and without the ball in his hands. I’m worried about the defense because they haven’t done much to improve it. If you know anything about a Todd Bowles team, he loves to blitz. Blitzing can either help you or hurt you. The only team I see challenging them in the South is the Saints.
