NFL Recap: NFC South

My preseason predictions:
1.Atlanta Falcons (10-6)
2.New Orleans Saints (9-7)
3.Carolina Panthers (6-10)
4.Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-10)


Actual Standings:
1.Atlanta Falcons (13-3)
2.Carolina Panthers (7-9)
3.New Orleans Saints (7-9)
4.Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9)

Atlanta Falcons: Going into the season, most people (myself included) expected the Falcons to be good, but not this good. The Falcons had a breakout season and dominated most of the competition that was thrown in their path. Matt Ryan had the best year of his career and at times, was absolutely dominating. He has never looked more poised or confident in his play and it showed with his excellent performance this season. Much of Ryan's success can be attributed to his elite receiving combo of Roddy White, Julio Jones, and Tony Gonzalez. White had yet another outstanding year and he just might be the most underrated wide receiver in the league. Jones had a breakout year after an injury-plagued rookie season and he has proven to be well worth the amount of draft picks the Falcons gave up to get him. Gonzalez was alarmingly good in his alleged final season in the league. At 36 years old, he is still creating tough matchups for his opponents and his continued strong plays proves that he is arguably the best tight end to ever play the game. The Falcons defense was decent, but they are far from scary. Asante Samuel has definitely bolstered their secondary, but they still need a lot of work. Michael Turner also had an off-year and seems to be on the decline with only 800 yards on the year. On the plus side, Jaquizz Rodgers was a productive third-down back and could be in line to become the starter if Turner continues to underwhelm. The Falcons are a great football team with a great quarterback and receiving corps, but they have a lot of room to grow if they want to win a championship.

Carolina Panthers: The 2012 Panthers were pretty much a tale of two seasons. They stumbled out of the gate going 2-7 in their first nine games. Cam Newton was playing mediocre, their defense was allowing big plays, and they were choking in close games. Fast forward to the final seven games and they are a completely different team going 5-2 over that stretch. Cam Newton was elite, their defense stepped up big time, and they didn't waver at the end of games. The Panthers are a team on the rise. Rookie linebacker Luke Kuchely and the emergence of defensive end Greg Hardy has their defense looking the best it has since it's Super Bowl run in 2003. 2012 also saw tight end Greg Olsen having the best of his career and launching himself into the top half of tight ends in the league. The Panthers desperately needed someone to step up and help out Steve Smith and Olsen rose to the occasion.  If Cam Newton plays at a consistent level, the defense continues to grow, and they get a second wideout to help out Smith and Olsen, The Panthers could be in the playoffs as early as next season.

New Orleans Saints: Everyone knew this was going to be a tough season for the Saints and it absolutely was. This year proved how valuable suspended head coach Sean Payton is to this football team. They have essentially the same roster that made the playoffs the past few years, yet this season with Payton they finish with a losing record and miss the playoffs. Despite all the adversity they faced, The Saints didn't play completely terrible. Drew Brees still played at an elite level and really carried this team through this rough patch. He utilized all his receivers incredibly well and without much help from his arsenal of sub-par running backs, he had a truly amazing season. On the flip side, the Saints defense was outright terrible. They had the worst overall defense in the league and they could not stop anyone all season. As expected, the Saints disappointed this season amidst the turmoil of the bounty scandal and the absence of head coach Sean Payton. We'll have to wait and see how the Saints do next with Payton back at the helm and this scandal behind them, but I have a feeling they will return to form next season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Buccaneers were the exact opposite of Panthers: They started strong and finished with a whimper. The whole team just underperformed down the stretch and it cost them any chance of sneaking into the playoffs. Besides the skid at the end of the year, The Buccaneers have a lot of positives to take away from this season. First and foremost, rookie running back Doug Martin and wide receiver Vincent Jackson were both excellent this year. Martin is an absolute beast that has the tools to be one of the best running backs in the league. He is a small guy, but he runs with a lot of power and is explosive with his cuts. He reminds a lot of guys like Ray Rice and Maurice Jones-Drew, which is a good sign for Martin going forward. Jackson was incredibly productive this year and gave the Bucs their first legit number one wideout in almost a decade. He averaged a staggering 19 yards per catch and opened up opportunities for guys like Mike Williams and Tiquan Underwood to thrive as well. Josh Freeman had arguably the best year of his career throwing for 4,065 yards and 27 TD's and appears to be growing more confident in his game. He's not a top-flight quarterback, but he is quite solid and you can definitely win with a guy like him. Their run defense was also incredible finishing best in the league. Gerald McCoy is an excellent, run-stuffing defensive tackle and linebacker Lavonte David had a great rookie year leading the team in tackles. The Buccaneers one major flaw is their pass defense, which is the worst in the league. Ronde Barber is just too damn old to be effective in pass coverage any more and the other young guys they have had poor years. The Buccaneers are a young team with some room to grow, but they have some promising pieces that could bring them success moving forward.