The NFC South was disastrously bad in the 2025 NFL Season. Three of four teams finished with an 8-9 record, and the Carolina Panthers ended up winning the division. To the credit of the Panthers, they did give the Los Angeles Rams fits in the Wild Card Round, but even now, this team is far from contending.
The same can be said for the three other teams, too. While each team does have some nice pieces here and there, all of them are a ways away from actually competing for deep playoff runs and Lombardi Trophies. As we have done with the rest of the divisions across the league, we've ranked the NFC South one more time before the regular season begins.
Let's dive into those rankings here and rank the teams based on how we think they will perform in 2026.
Final NFC South power rankings before the 2026 NFL Season
4. Atlanta Falcons
Earlier in the offseason, I was genuinely higher on the Atlanta Falcons than most, as I saw the pairing with Tua Tagovailoa and thought that it could work out, given Atlanta has a solid offensive line and elite weapons. Tagovailoa was also no slouch back in the day and has finished with a winning record each year of his career but one.
With that said, though, it's clear that he's done next to nothing to prove himself worthy of being named the QB1 of this team, as the Falcons have not announced that yet, and it seems like this is already a lost season. The Falcons are also down their two best pass-rushers in Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr, so even in the worst division in football, the Falcons stand out as being the worst.
3. Carolina Panthers
One team I will not buy into for the 2026 season is the Panthers. Despite winning the division last year, Carolina didn't do anything particularly well, and despite playing the best football of his career, QB Bryce Young was largely mediore and only threw for at least 200 yards in four of his 16 starts.
On paper, the Panthers don't overwhelm you much anywhere, and I am not sure the physically-limited Young has a higher ceiling than what we saw last year, and I'd not be shocked if he quickly emerged as the third-best QB in this division.
I would sell your Panthers stock for the 2026 season.
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