Brady made his mark on the NFC South after winning Super Bowl 55. Now, he and the Bucs are ready to do it again.
Carolina Panthers
Offense Overview: Sam Darnold was traded from the Jets to the Panthers in order to revitalize his career. He put up 2,208 yards with 9 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He is in a slightly better situation so I would expect the number 3 overall to have a resurgence in Carolina. Christian McCaffrey should be able to help Darnold out. McCaffrey put up 2,392 scrimmage yards in 2019 and when healthy should be able to take a lot of pressure off of Darnold. He has a good receiving core to work with too including DJ Moore, an old teammate Robby Anderson and rookie Terrance Marshall Jr. Matt Paradis is in the last year of his contract and besides him, the entire offensive line is going through a rebuilding process.
Defense Overview: Brian Burns is coming off a 9 sack season and Derrick Brown but that is the only notable contributor on the defensive line going into the 2021 season. Shaq Thompson is a nice weakside linebacker and Hassan Reddick is reunited with Matt Rhule. In the secondary, I really like the addition of Jaycee Horn. He had some good preseason performances including one against the Steelers. I’m excited to see what he can do moving forward.
Overall Assessment: I think this team has pieces to work within a long rebuild ahead of them. Hopefully, Darnold turns out well for them because they are going to need good quarterback play. As for this year, I don’t see them making too many strides in the win column and I expect another down year. Projected Finish: 5-12, 4th in the NFC South.
Atlanta Falcons
Offense Overview: Matt Ryan might be 36 but I really like him going into this year. He doesn’t have Julio Jones anymore but he does have a new Head Coach, Arthur Smith. Smith turned Tannehill into a top 10-15 quarterback last season. Ryan is a former MVP and I expect him to have a bounce-back year. His running back is Mike Davis who stepped up for the injured Christian McCaffery last year and played his role very well. He still has Calvin Ridley to throw to and the exciting Kyle Pitts to throw to as well. Jake Matthews is still there to protect Matt Ryan but they lost Alex Mack in free agency. Chris Lindstrom had a solid year last season but the rest of the spots leave a lot to be desired.
Defense Overview: Grady Jarrett has been the main man on this defensive line the last few years. Hopefully, Dante Fowler can produce on his one-year prove-it deal. Deion Jones mans the middle alongside Foyesade Olukon which should prove to be a serviceable unit. The secondary is almost brand new considering no safeties are returning. Erik Harris and Duron Harmon are the new tandem with AJ Terrell being the number one corner.
Overall Assessment: I like this team’s offense especially behind Arthur Smith and first-round draft pick Kyle Pitts. The defense doesn’t give me much of a reason to believe that they can contend for a playoff spot at this time. Matt Ryan isn’t getting any younger and rebuild is on the way. Projected Finish: 6-11, 3rd in the NFC South.
New Orleans Saints
Offense Overview: Drew Brees is no longer the man in town as Jameis Winston takes over the quarterback duties. Jameis seems like he has improved a lot in the past year under Sean Payton. Alvin Kamara is a huge piece in that offense. He put up 1,668 scrimmage yards in 15 games last year. I expect to continue his production this year. Michael Thomas is out for at least 6 weeks but I like Marquez Callaway to step up in a big way. He has impressed in preseason and I think he will continue that success into the regular season. Another reason why I like Winston to succeed is that he is behind one of the better offensive lines in the league, Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk.
Defense Overview: Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport had only 9 sacks combined last season. They need to pick it up and I think they can. Pete Werner is a nice fit for the defense that the Saints run alongside Demario Davis. Marshon Lattimore is one of the best press corners in the league and he usually performs well against the opposing best receiver. Malcolm Jenkins is a veteran presence in the secondary and is always worth keeping an eye on.
Overall Assessment: The team was built around Brees and that’s why it was able to succeed for so long. Now, Winston should be able to step and help this team make a playoff push but I think they will fall short. They already have lost two home games to hurricane Ida and Winston has improved but can be wildly inconsistent. I think this team will be in a lot of games but not good enough to make a playoff push. Projected Finish: 8-9, 2nd in the NFC South.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Offense Overview: Tom Brady is defeating father time and is proving everyone wrong. He is playing at an elite level and he has an elite team around him. It is a running back by committee that includes Leonard Fournette, Ronald Jones, and Giovanni Bernard. The weapons at receiver include the consistent 1,000 yards man Mike Evens, breakout star Chris Godwin, and the revitalized Antonio Brown. He also has Cameron Brate, OJ Howard, and his good buddy Rob Gronkowski. Brady sits behind a top 10 offensive line that includes Triston Wirfs who was a protecting monster only allowing one sack against Brady.
Defense Overview: The good news on the defensive side of the ball continues. Vita Vea is a top 10 most tackle when healthy and Ndamukong Suh is another interior pass-rushing animal. Then they have Shaquil Barrett and JPP coming off the edge with Devin White and Lavonte David at the two interior linebacker slots. The secondary may raise the only question mark but that didn’t seem to hurt them too much during the season besides giving 200 yards to Tyreek Hill in the regular season. However, the Bucs got the last laugh in the Super Bowl.
Overall Assessment: This team is great. Plain and simple. Great coach, the GOAT quarterback, great weapons, a solid offensive line, an elite front seven, and a secondary that gets the job done. No reason this team can’t dominate again with all 22 starters returning and Drew Brees out of the division. This team is legit. Projected Finish: 15-2, 1st in the NFC South.
CloudZeroSports Team Prediction
Stephen’s Pick: Bucs I predicted the Bucs would miss the playoffs last year. I was proven wrong. I am not going to make the mistake again. They are miles ahead of the other teams in their division and with all 22 starters returning, there is no reason they can’t take the division this year go back to the Super Bowl if they remain healthy.
Dante’s Pick: Bucs Champa Bay will be the kings of the NFC South for the second straight year. This is the first time in the Super Bowl era where a team returned all 22 starters returned. Devin White will take another step as the leader of that vaunted defense and become an all-pro this year and the offense will be more consistent in the regular season. starters after winning the Super Bowl. Tom Brady is defying Father Time and will yet again lead his team to the playoffs.
Puggy’s Pick: Bucs Is there really a reason why I should explain this. The Bucs literally have the G.O.A.T and they were able to retain everyone that was on the Super Bowl team from last season.
Zach’s Pick: Bucs Personally, I think the NFC South goes to the Buccaneers this year. The defending champs obviously have the momentum after last season. They got many weapons on offense and their defense almost matches it. In terms of the other teams, the Falcons aren’t going anywhere and the Panthers could do some work if Sam Darnold performs, and even with all their weapons, I can’t see the Saints doing as well without the leadership of Drew Brees.
Ryan’s Pick: Bucs The Tampa Bay Buccaneers is my prediction for the NFC South. After looking at stats and the fact that Drew Brees had retired, I do not think the Saints have a shot at making it past the playoffs. With this said, they would’ve been my second pick for the division. While doing some research, I haven’t seen any teams that might contend the top spot for this division. So the Buccaneers should easily have it.
Micky’s Pick: Bucs The NFC South belongs to Tom Brady this upcoming year. To put it simply I don’t believe that Sam Darnold will be the answer for the Carolina Panthers, Jameis Winston will need to prove he learned the difference between his receivers and the other teams’ cornerbacks (which is scary when talking about a quarterback), and Matt Ryan lost his best target in Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans this offseason. Tom Brady will look to go back to back this year and I think at the very least he will find himself in the Superbowl if not winning it.
Dustin’s Pick: Bucs There really is not a point to discuss this. All 22 starters are returning and one of them is Tom Brady. This should be an easy division for the Bucs to win.
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