Atlanta is the favorite, but thats based off last year. The SB curse is real and losing the way did will damage that team this year. They are out of the running to win the South. I dont care who they added they arent winning the division after that let down. That offense will not run the same after losing Shannahan to SF. They may drop to last place. I would take under 11 wins also. I feel like that is a gift.
Carolina added some great weapons in CMAC and Curtis Samuel. That offense could potentially be pretty good. Kelvin Benjamin is reported to be 180lbs and out of shape. That will hurt them some if they are relying the rookies to do it all. I believe they will tone down Cams runs and this is why they drafted those 2 players. To keep him from getting beat up. Losing Sean McDermott to the Bills will hurt that defense more than they realize. They also have to play SF and the Bills to open the first 2 weeks. They could start 0-2 and implode from there. I dont see them better than 1-1 to start the season and we will have to see what the offense looks like with the new additions.
Tampa is improving without a doubt. Will they make a jump this year? Who knows. Every year they are supposedly improving and will finally get over the hump only to disappoint. Their offense should be improved and I feel they could win the South or go 2nd. I dont keep up with them as much as I should and Im not finished my early season capping.
Lets get to the Saints. We have sucked the last 4 of 5 years with a 7-9 record. Alot of that has to do with the Front Office gambling on over paid FA that never saw the field after they got paid, or weren't worth the price of admission. Brees isnt getting younger. The window of opportunity is closing faster than if a dust storm was rolling in. We lost 3 games last year due to FG getting blocked and returned for TDs. We were starting UDFA in the secondary by week 3 due to every starting CB either on IR or injured for a good amount of the year. Our starting rookie DT was out before the season started, as well as right DE. We had the worst LBs corp on the league.
The Saints drafted Stephone Anthony in the first rd of 2015 and he had an ok rookie season. The Saints then take him and put him at SAM which he never played before. We signed Lauranaitis to man the middle. Craig Robertson was the only bright spot as Ellerbe cant stay healthy.
The coaching had alot to do with it. We fired the ST coach. I dont see this team getting 3 blocked FGs this year. We fired the DL and LB coach which was long overdue. Mike Nolan should get something out of these guys as thats his specialty. We brought back Curtis Johnson to coach the WRs. he will help Ginn and the other tremendously.
We sign Adrian Peterson to a $3mil deal. Everyone thinks it $7mil but thats heavily incentive based. If he is healthy and shows 80% of what he did in 2015, this offense will be a juggernaut. If he doesnt live up to expectations we can cut him for hardly nothing. He is ready to roll from all accounts. Ingram will benefit having someone like that to push him after a great year last year. Adding Kamara is what this offense has lacked for the last 3 years since Sproles was released. Losing Cooks hurt but Brees made him. He is a one trick pony in this offense and Ginn can replace that with the targets.
We beefed up the depth on the OLine adding rookie RT Ramczhk. If Strief goes down he will step in. There might be some growing pains but this Oline is pretty good. We do run some 3 Tackle sets so the rookie will get playing time right off the bat. He was the best in this class and if healthy he will man the line for years.
On the defensive side, we resigned Fairley, and Rankins will finally get to play. He was lost for the first 8? games with a broken leg. Oppsoite Jordan we have plenty guys to choose from this year. Kikaha has ahd 3 torn ACLs so we cant expect much from him but signing Okafor should help.
The LBs should improve under Nolan and rookie Analzone if healthy adds a nice boost to a subpar unit. We have plenty depth here which we didnt have before
The secondary finally has depth behind every starter. Breaux is healthy after a broken leg last year and PJ Williams should be good to go after a bad concussion. We drafted Lattimore and with Aaron Glenn coaching them we should be alot better vs the pass. Sterling Moore was the bright spot in the CB dept. last year.
Drafting a true ball hawk FS in Marcus Williams is something we lacked since rapist Darren Sharper. This kid has the range and playmaking ability to do his thing. Vaccaro and Bell will be the other 2 SS on the field. We run alot of 3 Safety sets so they will all be on the field together.
I believe 8-8 is the floor with this team. The defense improved in the second half of the year once we got a few pieces back from injury. They will improve on that if the majority stays healthy. We wont be losing 3 games to ST BS like last year. All of these improvements are worth at least 1 more win. Brees is getting older but we beefed up the line and should incorporate a power running attack to go with his elite passing. AD has never been on a team where they didnt stack the box. Teams cant do that here. It will be fun to watch.
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Division Odds released -- NFC South crapshoot
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