NFC South mid-season report cards

By pantherwoods  |   Wednesday, November 04, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

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The NFC South has been flying high on explosive offenses and also getting stomped on. Here are the mid-season report cards for the division

Atop the halfway point power rankings are the Saints. Where the only disasters seen in New Orleans this year have been opposing defenses. With no losses tarnishing their record yet and only two games remaining that raise red flags on their schedule it almost seems feasible for them to be the second team to go undefeated through the regular season. Since no team is perfect the Saints get an A-. Their defense is looking great, scoring more points than the Cleveland Browns offense so far this year, and Drew Brees is having an MVP season. However, how long can the entire team keep up this frantic pace of play?

On a two-game skid are the Atlanta Falcons. Coming off a playoff run as a rookie last year, Matt Ryan is looking at his sophomore slump. He is still on a very high trajectory in his career, but has some work ahead of him if he wants to improve on last years end to his season. Burner Turner is averaging 4.0 yards a carry. Rowdy Roddy Wright is on pace for his third consecutive 1,000 yard receiving year. Were the playoffs to start today, the Falcons just don’t make the cut. Overall grade: C-

Next up, Carolina. I can just hear the collective grimace of all Panther fans. This is one enigmatic team. One of the most highly talented teams, although you’d never know it looking at their record, that just can’t seem to get it together this season. Jake Delhomme is playing like Ryan Leaf, their running game is inconsistent at best and their defense just looks atrocious. Everything is not all bad, though. Steve Smith is still one of, if not the, most unstoppable wide receivers in the game. They have that two headed running attack that can scorch a defense. Coming off a bye week is usually good for a team, but Carolina gets New Orleans. Don’t look for the Panthers to ditch their losing trend just yet. Overall grade: D

Lastly the London Buccaneers, whoops sorry that’s next year. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the absolute bottom of the bottle. I don’t even know where to start. Their quarterback issues are worse than the Browns, their running game is more like a walking game and the defense just all around stinks. Winless, and seemingly directionless Tampa still has to face New Orleans and Atlanta twice. We could see two consecutive seasons with winless teams. Overall grade: if there were such thing as a G they would get it. Obviously an F.
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