All 32 teams have reported for the start of training camp for the 2021 season, which means a brand new season is right around the corner! Last time, we took a look at the highly competitive NFC West, which had some rising temperatures in the front offices. Now, there are reports of Matthew Stafford dealing with a thumb injury, so that is something to monitor there. While the NFC West teams go through their own training camps, we take a trip down south to look at the NFC South, a division that has gone through some metaphorical facelifts, from front office personnel to new quarterbacks. The reigning champions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are back with all 22 starters from their Super Bowl game last season and are looking to win their first division title since 2007. Let’s take a look at the NFC South!
Atlanta Falcons: GM Terry Fontenot and Head Coach Arthur Smith
Hotlanta, as they call the city of Atlanta, has never been so cold! If you have a weak stomach, I would advise against watching the rerun of Super Bowl 51… it will make you sick seeing a team lose a 28-3 lead in the second half… I’ll admit, I rooted for Matt Ryan (a.k.a. Matty Ice) to win his first title, only to witness a comeback of the ages. Of course, it was led by none other than Tom Brady, who went on to claim his fifth ring. Even with a divisional round appearance the following season, it has been downhill for this Falcons franchise since then. They’ve followed up their last playoff appearance with two 7-9 records, and they struggled to a 4-12 season last year. Changes were needed and they were needed fast, as the firings came after a 0-5 start to both long-time GM Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Dan Quinn. This past offseason, the Falcons kicked off a new era by bringing in former Saints executive Terry Fontenot to handle GM duties and poached former Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to be the head coach. Many “draft experts” and media talking heads felt the correct direction for the franchise would be to draft a QB with the fourth overall pick in this past year’s draft to sit and learn behind an aging Matt Ryan. Instead, they aimed to add more weapons to Ryan’s disposal and maximize the time he has left with Atlanta by drafting tight end/wide receiver Kyle Pitts out of the University of Florida with that pick. You can look at his odds to win the OROY award here. On paper, WR Julio Jones, WR Calvin Ridley, and TE Kyle Pitts is a respectable trio for defenses to respect… that is until the Falcons traded Julio Jones to the Titans and a 2023 sixth-rounder, in exchange for a 2022 second-round pick and 2022 fourth-rounder. This brings up the question: should the Falcons have just drafted QB Justin Fields at number four knowing that he would be on a cheap contract and able to learn the Arthur Smith offense behind Ryan?
Seat Temperature: Cold. Fontenot and Smith will get the time and opportunity to build the team in their vision (a common theme in this series) for whoever the next QB is in Atlanta. Their defense doesn’t leave a lot to be desired, due to poor drafting in recent years, but their offense might be able to keep them in games, especially with an underrated offensive line. Time will tell if they made a costly mistake by skipping a selection of a QB which might speed up their hot seat, but they can definitely still compete with Matt Ryan.
Carolina Panthers: GM Scott Fitterer and Head Coach Matt Rhule
Last season, the Carolina Panthers welcomed in former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule as their new head coach after the Panthers parted ways with Ron Rivera after eight years that was rewarded with a Super Bowl appearance. Similar to the Falcons, the Panthers have gone to the playoffs once since their trip to the SB and have produced mediocre seasons after the fact. Last year, Carolina had a new face at QB as well, after Teddy Bridgewater was brought in through free agency as the team also parted ways with long-time starting QB Cam Newton. Former GM Marty Hurney was fired in December 2020 after having differences with the owner, David Tepper, as well as HC Matt Rhule, and the search for a new GM was underway. Scott Fitterer was brought in the offseason from the Seahawks to be the franchise’s new GM, and he made a splash when he traded away Bridgewater after one season to the Denver Broncos after having below-average results. In a separate deal, he also acquired former Jets QB, Sam Darnold to be their new franchise QB. Much like the Falcons, there was still speculation that Carolina would pounce on an opportunity missed by Atlanta to take a QB. Anytime a new GM and HC start with a franchise, they always want to take “their guy”. Instead, they took rising cornerback Jaycee Horn from South Carolina with the eighth overall pick, further solidifying Darnold’s place as QB1. With offensive coordinator Joe Brady, a solid plethora of WRs, and (hopefully) a healthy RB in Christian McCaffrey, this offense could be explosive if Darnold proves that he was worth that third overall pick investment, with the alternative being that he’s out of there if it doesn’t work out. Their defense has a young nucleus that should be taking the next step, with players like LB Shaq Thompson, DE Brian Burns, DT Derrick Brown, LB/S Jeremy Chinn, rookie CB Jaycee Horn, and free-agent acquisition LB Haason Reddick. They were competitive in almost every game last year, so I can easily see that 5-11 record from last season looking more like an 8 to 10 win season and even a playoff appearance possibly!
Seat Temperature: Cold. This is one of the more promising teams that have a chance to make some serious noise in the near future if things go as planned. Fitterer brings a ton of experience over from Seattle and is already making his mark on the franchise. Rhule is going into his second year of the seven-year deal he signed before the 2020 season so, as long as this team continues to improve, he won’t be going anywhere. The Panthers are coming, and y’all better watch out!
New Orleans Saints: GM Mickey Loomis and Head Coach Sean Payton
When you think of horror novels, I’m sure Stephen King comes to mind. When I think of horror stories and heartbreak, I think of the New Orleans Saints. The Saints have won the NFC South in four consecutive seasons (2017-2020) following three straight years (2014-2016) of 7-9 finishes. The winning window that the Saints had with HOF bound, and now retired, QB Drew Brees was shutting down fast, and they made zero SB appearances in those last four seasons. Let’s quickly recap: in 2017, you had the Minneapolis Miracle in the NFC Divisional round, which had WR Stefon Diggs running into the endzone for the game-winning TD as time expired on one of the wildest finishes I’ve ever seen. In 2018, the sports world almost burst into flames after watching CB Nickell Robey-Coleman commit a blatant pass interference play which, controversially, was not penalized. Instead of having new possession and the clock on their side, the Saints had to settle for a field goal. The Rams ultimately tied it and won in OT to book their trip to the SB… what a horror show it was in New Orleans! In 2019, after a 13-3 season, the Saints looked for revenge as they hosted the Vikings in a wild card matchup, only to lose once again in OT 26-20. Last season, they swept the Bucs in the regular season only to be beaten by them in the divisional round by Brady and company, suffering another premature exit from the playoffs. Following the season, QB Drew Brees announced his retirement after a prolific career. This now adds an incredible amount of pressure on the rest of the team and, more notably, HC Sean Payton to prove that he can still win without a HOF passer. The QB competition comes down to Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill, which doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence heading into the season. A lot of credit goes to GM Mickey Loomis for constructing a very good roster while managing the salary cap in some Houdini-like fashion to keep this team in a competitive window. With that being said, however, I believe their SB window has closed now.
Seat Temperature: Warm. The pressure is at an all-time high for this franchise to still make noise in the playoffs, if they can even get there to begin with. The defense, offensive line, and playmakers still give this team a chance every week, but it will all come down to how Winston and/or Hill will perform weekly. If Winston remains turnover-prone and Hill can’t handle the role for 17 games this season, the franchise may be forced to begin developing a young signal-caller (possibly recently drafted Ian Book?) rather quickly to avoid a potential rebuild. Even with their recent division titles, it’s been a house of horrors in New Orleans come playoff time, and no one knows if they’ll be able to escape out from it.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: GM Jason Licht and Head Coach Bruce Arians
“Champa Bay” is what they’re calling the city of Tampa Bay now, as it seems like it’s become a bit of a title town in recent times! In the MLB, the Tampa Bay Rays made the World Series last year, even if they lost. In the NHL, the Tampa Bay Lightning have won back-to-back titles the past two years. Now, we have the Bucs in the NFL returning as the defending Super Bowl champions after demolishing the Kansas City Chiefs in SB 55. GM Jason Licht built a very deep roster and assembled a very solid coaching staff, but the sore that was holding the team back was QB Jameis Winston (who is now a New Orleans Saint). In his last season with the team in 2019, Winston threw for 30 touchdowns and 30 interceptions, which was a first! Even with a QB whisperer in head coach Bruce Arians, Winston’s carelessness with the football was one of the reasons why Tampa continued to have below-average seasons. This is why they were heavily involved in the market for Tom Brady, who saw his time end with the Patriots, and look at how that turned out! One season of Brady under center translated into the Buccaneers’ second-ever SB victory, further cementing his status as one of the greatest players to ever step on a football field. Many thought that the Bucs wouldn’t be able to re-sign most of their starters from the SB, but Jason Licht proved them wrong when he was able to bring all 22 of them back for another potential run for a SB. On top of free agency, Licht has also struck gold with recent picks in the draft such as LB Devin White, OT Tristan Wirfs (who had a solid rookie year at RT), NT Vita Vea, WR Scotty Miller, and S Antoine Winfield Jr. (who made a big impact in the playoffs). Time will tell if he struck gold on second-round QB Kyle Trask, once he has the opportunity to play full time. A young nucleus with an experienced veteran roster is certainly a recipe for big-time success and a deep postseason run, especially with some question marks within the division, and I would expect to see the Bucs sitting on top of the NFC South.
Seat Temperature: Ice bath cold. This team is loaded and should be the favorites in the entire NFC unless another challenger proves to be more worthy (Packers? Rams?). There is a slight chance that coach Arians could retire from the league if they repeat, which would leave defensive coordinator Todd Bowles as a worthy candidate to replace him. Licht has a chance to cement his status as one of the top GMs in the league with the way he has managed and maneuvered this roster into a winning window. They’re set up perfectly after Brady walks away to continue on the path to consistent winning, so fire those cannons!
That covers the NFC South and, with that, I’ll be back next time to conclude this eight-part series with the division closest to my heart, the NFC East.
Sources
- Cover Picture: https://ngscsports.com/2021/07/20/nfc-south-what-will-this-season-look-like-after-some-changes/
- Atlanta Falcons GM Picture: https://www.atlantafalcons.com/terry-fontenot-general-manager
- Atlanta Falcons HC Picture: https://www.audacy.com/929thegame/sports/atlanta-falcons/arthur-smith-is-an-innovative-mind-with-old-school-approach
- Carolina Panthers GM and HC Picture: https://www.panthers.com/news/panthers-nfl-draft-day-2-wrapup-trades-scott-fitterer-matt-rhule
- New Orleans Saints GM and HC Picture: https://www.si.com/nfl/saints/gm-report/sean-payton-saints-success-since-2006
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM and HC Picture: https://thepewterplank.com/2021/03/03/buccaneers-five-takeaways-bruce-arians-jason-light/
Edited By: Rupayan “Abs” Samanta.
