NFC South
New Orleans Saints: 9-8
Yeah, let's send it - the New Orleans Saints will win nine games this year and capture the NFC South title. Tyler Shough played quite well down the stretch and does appear to be trending in the right direction. The Saints also added key pieces on offense to help a year two breakout in guys like David Edwards, Travis Etienne, and Jordyn Tyson.
The defense was also sneaky good last year, and with the NFC South being a wide open, winnable, division, the Saints have a path to what some may consider a shocking division title this year.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 8-9
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won eight games in 2025, the same record as the NFC South-champion Carolina Panthers, but the Bucs lost out on the division race and failed to make the playoffs. Tampa Bay has been able to take ownership of the NFC South in recent years, but they have not won more than 10 games in a season in quite some time, proving that this current era of football is rather maxed-out.
Until something major changes - whether it be a head coaching or quarterback change, the Bucs will continue to hover around 8-10 wins most years. My best guess here is that if the team does again finish 8-9 or misses the playoffs, head coach Todd Bowles could be shown the door.
Carolina Panthers: 6-11
I just cannot buy into the Carolina Panthers much. Bryce Young played the best football of his career in 2025 yet was still rather mediocre, only passing for 200 yards or more in four games. He went 8-8 as a starter, but there is just no way this team again wins the NFC South with an 8-9 record, right?
Unless Young takes another major step forward, Carolina won't accomplish anything of note this year. But to give Young credit, he did take a sizeable step forward from 2024 into 2025. Perhaps his third year with Dave Canales yields even better results, but I am wary of that taking place. He's a very limited player at the position and might have a ceiling as a top-20 guy.
Atlanta Falcons: 4-13
The Atlanta Falcons did win eight games last year, but a ton of change did hit the franchise this offseason, and the quarterback position is still shaky, at best. Ideally, Tua Tagovailoa is able to channel his 2022-2024 Dolphins form, or, better yet, Michael Penix Jr figures out how to takeoff in year three.
But with both quarterbacks having injury concerns and not really playing well in 2025, it could be a major uphill battle for the Falcons to not finish in last place.
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