This is the seventh post of a two-week series I will be doing, discussing every team by division and how I see their 2008 NFL season playing out. Today, we are discussing the NFC South division, which is populated by the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Let’s get started!

New Orleans Saints
The Saints are undoubtedly and undeniably the favorite to win the division this season. They did so much to increase their offense and defense this off-season. We’ll get to that in a moment.
Drew Brees was the offense’s most consistent and productive player last season. Now, he has all of his targets, and then some, all 100% healthy and ready to go. Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister will both be solid, but I think they will contribute most of their game in different ways.
I expect Bush to line up in the receiver slot, or as a receiver out of the backfield, where he can maneuver around defenders and should get 500+ yards receiving.
I expect McAllister to donate most of his production to the running game, which makes sense considering he’s a running back. I like his every-down rusher ability better than that of Reggie Bush’s. Bush is better off being a 3rd-down back and the afore mentioned slot wideout.
Marques Colston, Robert Meacham and Jeremy Shockey have easily one of the Top 5 QBs in the league throwing to them, and if everyone can keep away from injury, the offense will be one of the most powerful in the league.
The defense also upgraded. LB, Jonathan Vilma came over from the Jets, and I expect him to be a solid contributor. He should get anywhere from 70-90 tackles this season, and I see him playing a big role in the passing defense also. He can be fast when he wants to be, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him running an interception into the endzone.
The Saints play in an increasingly tough division, but I see them pulling it off.

Regular Season Prediction: 11-5, 1st in NFC South, #2 seed in NFC playoffs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers made a good move in drafting Aqib Talib to enhance their already powerful pass defense. I think that’s a problem, though. They got into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth, and if they were playing in any other division in football, they wouldn’t have even gotten a wild card last season. They drafted the wrong guy in my opinion.
Jeff Garcia is getting too old to efficiently lead a team on a playoff run. Of course, the same argument could be made for Brett Favre, but Favre is great. Garcia is average at best. Let’s be honest, he won’t take any team to the Super Bowl throwing only 13 TDs a year. He needs to step it up, and get 20-25 touchdowns. At least then, he gives his team a lift in the passing game.
Earnest Graham came in to start for the injured Carnell Williams, who is now injured again, and will not be playing until at least week 6. In one year, he lost his starting spot. Is it safe to call him a bust? Not yet? Mark my words, in two years, we can and will be able to.
The Bucs missed out on picking up Pro Bowl DE, Jared Allen. If they had gotten him via trade from the Chiefs, I would pick the Buccaneers to win the South. But since they didn’t their running defense has reason to worry.
I can still see them making the post-season, but they’ll need to win just one more game than I have them winning.

Regular Season Prediction: 9-7, 2nd in NFC South, no playoffs

Atlanta Falcons
Matt Ryan is the scheduled Falcons’ opening day starter, and this was the best move they’ve made in a long time. I don’t believe in the whole voodoo thing about waiting for your rookie QB to be in the system for a year before starting him. Ryan has obviously adjusted to the system just fine, and they made the best move for the future of their franchise by starting him immediately. Ben Roethlisberger was a starter by week 3 in his rookie season, and he ended up in the AFC Championship Game. Better things happen if you start your new quarterback stud quickly.
Michael Turner has to be the question mark of the offense right now. It seems to me he is built more to be a punt returner and 3rd-down back. How he’ll do as a starter is yet to be seen, but I can’t go out on any limb and make the call one way or another. Eh, yes I can. I expect him to be decent, and he’ll progress as he gets older. Turner should also be a strong option on screens and passes to the RB.
The release of WR Joe Horn will ultimately hurt the production of the offense, even though he didn’t do a whole lot in 2007. It’s now Roddy White and only Roddy White. He’s the only major target the QB has downfield. Ryan and White should combine for a pretty good duo in 2008, but nothing serious as of yet. They need to get another big-time wideout to compliment White before they can talk about the playoffs.

Regular Season Prediction: 6-10, 3rd in NFC South, no playoffs

Carolina Panthers
Jake Delhomme is always on my DO NOT KNOW list. I simply can’t place what this guy will do each year. Some seasons, he’ll get you to a Super Bowl, and some seasons, he’ll throw 20 interceptions, and of course, some years, he’ll get injured and not do anything.
Jonathan Stewart is a strong ROTY candidate and favorite. I expect him and Williams to be another good NFL RB duo, and he could be the Rookie of the Year. I see Stewart doing good, especially if Delhomme goes down, because the Panthers will then have less to do in the passing game, and would help out the running game big time.
Steve Smith also needs to be sensational, and hope that Delhomme stays healthy. If Delhomme goes down, the entire team, player by player, is affected. Smith’s production will go down, and he’s the most productive player on that offense. This team will be in a world of hurt if Delhomme can’t stay healthy.
Dan Morgan, quite possibly the greatest Panther of all-time, retired in the off-season after being traded to New Orleans. To replace him, the Panthers drafted Dan Connor, a strong linebacker from Penn State. In a few years, he could be the leader of that defense.
But, as of now, the team’s playoff chances all rest on Delhomme’s staying injury-free. Matt Moore has potential, but he won’t be the next QB to lead the Panthers to a Super Bowl. If Delhomme stays healthy, this team can be a force to reckon with in that division, but since I doubt he will stay healthy for 4 long months, I see this team losing double-digit games.

Regular Season Prediction: 5-11, 4th in NFC South, no playoffs

Let me hear what you think. Check back in tomorrow for my NFC West preview!

-Mike Greenspire

These are my predictions on each NFC team’s 2008 campaign. I will say below each team their record, whether or not they make the playoffs, and what seed they are if they do make it. Here are my predictions for the 2008 NFL regular season! (If two teams in the same division finish with the same record in my predictions, the team higher in the standings wins the tie-breaker)

NFC North
Minnesota
10-6, NFC North Champs, No. 4 seed
Detroit
10-6, NFC Wild Card, No. 6 seed
Green Bay
7-9, no playoffs
Chicago
4-12, no playoffs

NFC South
Tampa Bay
11-5, NFC South Champs, No. 3 seed
New Orleans
11-5, NFC Wild Card, No. 5 seed
Carolina
6-10, no playoffs
Atlanta
5-11, no playoffs

NFC East
Dallas
15-1, NFC East Champs, No. 1 seed
New York Giants
9-7, no playoffs
Philadelphia
8-8, no playoffs
Washington
5-11, no playoffs

NFC West
Seattle
12-4, NFC West Champs, No. 2 seed
Arizona
6-10, no playoffs
St. Louis
4-12, no playoffs
San Francisco
2-14, no playoffs

Let me hear your thoughts! Don’t forget to check out the AFC post as well!

-Mike Greenspire

The move was inevitable, and everyone knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Brett Favre was traded late last night to the New York Jets.

Even though I knew this was what was going to happen, it still shocked me senseless. I cannot imagine Brett Favre playing with anyone but the Packers.

I think that if I catch a Jets game this year, and I see him wearing any shade of green but that of the wooded hills of Wisconsin, I will be stunned beyond imagination. I can’t put enough emphasis on how hard this is or me to watch. I have always been, and always will be a Brett Favre fan, no matter what happens.

Green Bay management was so disrespectful to Brett it was disgusting. How can you simply treat your franchise’s best player in history like a has-been after a 14-4 season? How can you just throw out everything he has given you? How can you just shun him away like a plague upon society? It was purely horrible the way that Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy can just pass him up for a player who has not proven himself for one second.

Well, anyways, the main point of this blog is to dissect how this will affect the three tea involved here. The Packers, the Jets and the Buccaneers.

The Packers now have a lot of work to do. Aaron Rodgers does not have my confidence yet, and even though the 58 passes we have seen from him were good, he hasn’t started a game. There is a difference between a starting QB and a QB that comes in for 2 plays every once in a while.

The Packers still have all the weapons they did last year. Ryan Grant should have another spectacular season. Donald Driver and Greg Jennings are one of the greatest wideout duos in all of football, next to only Welker-Moss and Wayne-Harrison. It doesn’t really matter if it is Brett or Aaron throwing the ball to them, because you can expect them to make the catch, get extra yards, and plenty of TDs. The defense has their work cut out for them, with a tough bunch of running backs in the NFC North division this year, but I expect them to stop them cold with the exception of Adrian Peterson of the Vikings.

The Jets now are at least twice as good today as they were yesterday at this time. It started with of course, trading for Bret Favre, which makes them a hell of a lot better, but another move I like is the releasing/trading of Chad Pennington. He will be receiving one of the two today. Good move, Man-genius, does this mean I have to get off your case now? I guess so… for now.

Chad was past his best days anyways, and they drafted Kellen Clemens in the second round of the 2006 draft to replace Pennington if the 2006 season went bad. Fortunately for Pennington, he just delayed the inevitable and put together a miracle 10-6 season that was abruptly ended in the wild card round against the division foe Patriots.

The Jets drafted Clemens to be the next Pennington, because they knew he was nearing his end. But, now that Chad is gone, and Clemens doesn’t resemble Pennington’s playing style, could Favre take this up-and-coming QB under his wing and make him great? The answer at this point is no. Bret didn’t seem to have that great of an off-field relationship with Rodgers, so why would he have one with Clemens? At the same time, if you are Clemens, you just have to stand back, and watch, because Favre could potentially turn this kid into a playoff regular like Manning or Brady. We’ll have to see what happens next.

The Jets have plenty of weapons to accommodate Favre in the campaign attempt. Jones at RB, Cotchery and Coles as wide receivers is not a bad offensive core. The O-Line has also been intensely upgraded with Pro Bowl Guard and Super Bowl Champ, Alan Faneca. He can handle any defender on any play. Brett has some work to do, but the offense is good enough that he won’t have to fire 50 yard bombs every play to win a game.

The Buccaneers have now been the losers of the off-season, there is no question about it. First, they miss out on Jared Allen, who would have helped their run defense (which is good either way, but would be severely more potent with Allen), then in the draft, they (in my opinion) blunder and draft a cornerback. There were better players available for what they needed, which was a solid defensive end.

Then, they really screwed up and allowed the Jets in the Favre sweepstakes, and eventually, missed out entirely.

Let’s be honest, okay? Jeff Garcia is not going to win you a Super Bowl throwing only 13 touchdowns a year. It is not happening. Favre, however, threw 30+ last year, and had a chance at the Super Bowl. The Bucs are the biggest losers from April to August, and to be quite honest, I don’t have much confidence in this season for them, either. Both the Panthers and Saints are back on the rise, and aren’t afraid to play smash-mouth football with the Buccaneers. The Falcons are in no position to come out and win 10 games, but they could pull off a couple of upsets that may have you shaking your head.

Bottom line is this: The Jets now have the best chances to get to the post-season. The Bucs have too much competition in the NFC South to seriously get out there and have a repeat performance of last year’s playoff appearance.

The Packers need terrific play from Rodgers in the first quarter of the first game of the season if they hope to pull off a playoff berth. Detroit and Minnesota are both lurking in the mist, waiting for someone to slip up.

2008 Predictions:

Packers: 9-7, No. 6 seed in NFC
Jets: 10-6, No. 6 seed in AFC
Bucs: 7-9, no playoffs, lose division to Saints

-Mike Greenspire

The NFC is a question mark as of right now, and as I see it, is completely up for grabs. So, I have decided to take the task of deciding the NFC’s team to beat this year. For the next week, I will be looking at each NFC team in alphabetical order to find out who really is the NFC favorite heading into the 2008 season.

I will rank each team’s chances on a 1-10 scale, 1 being the worst chance of winning the conference, 10 being the best chance of winning the conference. The team with the worst chance will get a 1, while the team with the best chance will get a 10.

Today, I will be discussing the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys.

Bears
The Bears have some huge question marks heading into the season. The biggest in my mind is the decision to flip a coin for the starting QB job. Rex Grossman won the toss, making bad even worse. Rex had 4 TDs and 7 INTs in 2007, as well as a 66.4 and only a 54.2% completion percentage.

To make things worse, they lost the only QB that actually did okay on their team, Brian Griese, who threw 10 TDs and 11 INTs. Kyle Orton had 3 TDs and 2 INTs. That’s stellar for a Bears QB, apparently.

The RB situation has been bad for years. Kevin Jones was a late off-season signing to fill the void left by Cedric Benson. Matt Forte was also taken in the draft, so the Bears have seemingly taken care of their running problem.

The wideout core is one of the weakest in the league. When you are forced to say that Marty Booker is your strongest wide receiver, there’s a problem. The offense will not do good without a young, break-free receiver.

The defense has to be th highlight of the Bears at this point because they are so poor in everything else. Brian Urlacher got a nice shiny new contract, and I expect him to play like he earned, like he always does. I think that this Bears D could well be one of the Top 10 in the nation this year.

So, now that I have covered the Bears, it’s time to give out my first ranking of Super Bowl berth possibility.

Scale: 4

Buccaneers
The Buccaneers are a good team on the rise, but Garcia has more than likely this one year left in him before he has to call it quits. Chris Simms hasn’t had the highlight-like career many expected of him, but I think if they gave him a chance to start with as good of a team the Bucs have assembled, he’ll do good. Better than 13 TDs at least, which is how many Garcia had last year.

The offense did better without star RB, Cadillac Williams last year, but I think that they will do much better this year with him. They also can apply that envied one-two punch that very few offensive systems have in the league. Williams, followed by breakout player, Earnest Graham, can definitely tear apart opposing defenses, which would take a lot of pressure off of the Tampa Bay QB. The addition of Warrick Dunn should help them out as well. The retirement of FB, Mike Alstott is bound to hurt their yards per carry.

The wideout core as some question marks in my mind. Joey Galloway isn’t getting any younger. Jerramy Stevens has always been a solid tight end, and you can trust throwing to him in a pinch. Ike Hilliard is starting to age, but is still a good wideout to throw way downfield to if need be.

The defense was ranked 2nd overall last year behind the Steelers. Finishing second to Pittsburgh’s D is nothing to be ashamed about, either. The Bucs could have picked up Jared Allen from the Chiefs, but decided not to, probably because of his alcoholic history. No matter, the defense is still one of the toughest in the NFL, and opposing offensive coordinators will be hard-pressed to beat them.

Scale: 6

Cardinals
The Cardinals QBs are both quite good, but apparently Matt Leinart is the starter. Now we will see what he is made of at the pro level. I think he has all the weapons to turn this team into a serious contender.

Larry Fitzgerald is an incredible receiver. I’m not totally sure what is going on right now with Anquan Bolden, but if he were to return, that would make the Cardinals a team to watch out for in the NFC.

Edge James is losing strength it seems, but I think it’s safe to expect another 1,000+ yard season from him.

The defense is still questionable, but if the Cards’ offense does enough, the defense won’t have to worry about being stellar.

Scale: 5

Cowboys
Dallas is probably the best team in the NFC, but the only thing holding them back is Tony Romo’s lack of concentration on football. Don’t anyone try to deny it or argue with it, he has too much focus on being a celebrity. He is dating Jessica Simpson, he tries out for the US Open Golf Championship, and he can’t seem to stay off TMZ during the season. If he gets his head where it should be, the Cowboys will win a playoff game.

The loss of Julius Jones will hurt the overall production of the offense, but not the morale in the locker room. He seemed like he would be a bad presence, and I’m sure that Seattle is glad to take another whiny overpaid baby onto their team (stab. LOL). Marion Barber is the best breakout running back in the league, except maybe Adrian Peterson, so don’t expect little form him this year. If the Cowboys get the #1 playoff seed, keep in mind, it’s because this guy ran hard all year. If they lost him and kept Jones, we’d be talking about whether or not Dallas would even win their division.

Terry Glenn was finally cut from the team last week after failing to come up with an agreed-upon contract that would cut his salary in three if he got injured, and he would only take one third. No matter, the Cowboys went 13-3 without him most of the year, this will not hurt them in the long run. As long as T.O. is on that team, they will be contenders.

Scale: 9

Lemme hear your thoughts. Keep your comments clean, please. I don't like having to listen to things like "Nice prediction, dumb ####..."

-Mike Greenspire