The NFC South

THE NFC North: Hopefully Reggie Bush is more concerned with playing running back than playing with Kim Kardashian's ass

S.D.C.: I have decided this whole division comes down to running backs.

Oz: Oh, you decided this, huh? Well, I've decided that the NFC South doesn't even deserve a playoff spot.

New Orleans - Does the addition of Jeremy Shockey make the Saints contenders? Was last year just an aberration? Is Reggie Bush more concerned with Kim Kardashian's ass and being a celebrity than being a superstar in the NFL?

S.D.C.: Shockey will do well here, and he will help the offense, but he won’t make them contenders unless Duece McAllister is healthy. He came back from one knee injury and looked good, lets hope he can do it again. I think last year was an aberration, and I think this team is good. I haven’t seen their schedule, but I think they have a solid year. I am glad that my Chargers play their road game in London instead of New Orleans, that is a steal.

Oz: The good news for New Orleans is that they don't play any tough games all season except for San Diego, and that game is in London, which could go either way. This year will be the test year to see if it was last year or the year before that was a hoax. I agree on McAllister. It's going to be tough to come back from a second surgery. Because Reggie Bush hasn't fulfilled his big-play potential, Deuce is a crucial part of seeing that come to fruition.

The Saints should be better defensively, and will benefit from not having such lofty expectations cast on them this season. They just weren't ready - or used to being called legit contenders - yet.

Carolina - Does a healthy Jake Delhomme make the Panthers credible again? For God's sake, they went to the Super Bowl four years ago!

S.D.C.: Key word there was “four.” Delhomme to me is one of those guys that throws the ball up in the air and when his receivers are coming down with it, he looks good, but that doesn’t always happen. Although they have a ton of receivers this year. We all know Steve Smith is a stud if he doesn’t blow a hammy, after that we have Muhsin Muhammad, DJ Hackett and Dwayne Jarrett. I think this should help Delhomme and Steve Smith a lot.

Once again, who knows if they will be able to run the ball. Deangelo Williams hasn’t shown he can handle a full load, and Jonathan Stewart is unproven, but I think he helps DeAngelo out. They should be a good combo.

Oz: What I've always liked about Delhomme is that he's a competitor. There's a great clip of him when, after throwing the touchdown pass in the Super Bowl against the Patriots to get the lead, when he's mouthing off to Rodney Harrison. It wasn't him being a piece of crap (like, ahem, Phil Rivers against the Colts in the playoffs last season), it was Delhomme being a fiery competitor. I liked that.

The Panthers should be solid, but they're not spectacular anywhere, with the exception of Steve Smith, who'll probably catch another 85 balls this season. Right now, I see them as a .500 team.

Tampa Bay - They made the playoffs last year, but can you name five players on their roster? Is Chris Simms really a good pro quarterback? He's got the tools, but seriously? I'm at a loss for words for this division.

S.D.C.: Haha, and what’s up with Jeff Garcia? He tells us he likes women and parades around with hot super models, but does anyone really buy it? Earnest Graham stepped in for Cadillac last year and did really well. He got rewarded with a contract and a perennial starter to chase, haha. Warrick Dunn comes and is sort of given the starting job. Graham should challenge and I think it will be interesting to see how this plays out. We can’t forget Michael Bennett there too, and Cadillac should be back around mid-season…maybe. Joey Galloway is old, but he had a great year last year with our man Jeff, and behind him is a plethora of receivers all competing for field time. Ike Hilliard is the obvious choice, but Michael Clayton and Maurice Stovall will take a shot along with Antonio Bryant and Dexter Jackson. They won’t be the best receiving core in the world, or the NFC North for that matter, but they have guys to work with, and we know how Jeff likes to work with guys.

Oz: It's funny you mention Jeff Garcia because I saw him on the NFL All Access on NFL Network (best channel on TV, with the possible exception of National Geographic) and he just does not fit the part of Pro Bowl quarterback with supermodel Playmate wife. Do you think she befriended him thinking he was a gay fashion designer and thought that she'd like a gay shopping buddy? Either way, he might be my idol.

The Bucs have been pretty inconsistent the last few years. They went from winning 11 games to winning four then winning nine last year, so they're tough to predict. You're right about Cadillac. They need him on the field to be successful.

Atlanta - Worst division in football? Let's debate that. Will Michael Turner make any difference here? How long before Matt Ryan takes over at quarterback and starts fighting dogs?

S.D.C.: Hahahaha, I love it. I don’t know if I can say worst division because all three teams above Atlanta are solid. I don’t think any have a shot at the NFC Championship, but they are all tough. I don’t think Turner makes a difference, I think he benefitted from coming in when LT was out. When he got more playing time then a carry here and there he was pretty average. We will see of course, but I don’t have a ton of faith in him. Should be interesting to see how they work Norwood in with him too.

I think Atlanta was talking about going after Chris Simms, although I could be making that up. The truth is, Atlanta is terrible. They can’t throw the ball, they can barely run the ball and their defense sucks. They aren’t trying to win this year, so I guess going out and getting a QB when you used your #2 pick on a QB doesn’t make sense. I always wonder, though, how a clearly terrible team handles a rookie QB that they just picked up in the top 10. Do you start him right away and risk him getting beat up and never really recovering from being really bad? Or do you sit him behind a vet and give him a couple of years to learn and rebuild the team? I feel like the second is the safest personally. Chris Redman though?

Oz: There's no way Atlanta finishes out of the basement this season, but as long as they continue to make the right choices via free agency (Turner) and the draft (Ryan and USC OT Sam Baker), they'll be okay. I saw let Ryan take his lumps like the Colts did with Peyton Manning. Why the hell not, right? He's tough, he played all four seasons at Boston College, he's a smart player, strong arm, good decision-maker. I say Ryan is a starter by week six.

Maybe not though. Let's not forget, Clay, that Chris Redman was a hell of a prospect coming out of high school.

Prediction:

S.D.C.:

New Orleans: 11-5

Tampa Bay: 9-7

Carolina: 7-9

Atlanta: 3-13

Oz:

New Orleans: 10-6

Carolina: 8-8

Tampa Bay: 7-9

Atlanta: 3-13

Next Up: NFC West

NFC North Preview

Can second-year sensation Adrian Peterson propel the Vikings passed the Green Bay Packers?

The NFC North: Where Favre will be a DB for at least another year

S.D.C.: Green Bay – Great team last year that fell short in the playoffs. They won at the beginning of the year with great defense, and few mistakes on offense. They couldn’t run the ball at all until Ryan Grant came around and made you wonder why no one else could do it. Favre made his receivers look great and led an offense that complimented the defense at the end of the year. I thought they were the best team in the NFC last year.

This year I think things will be different. Rodgers is very capable, but only time will tell. I don’t thing the screens will work like they did last year because Favre was a master at that. I hope Grant is just as good, and the defense should be good again. This will be a tough team, and I really think it all lies on Aaron Rodgers head and shoulders.

Oz: Favre is doing this kid a tremendous disservice and he's a piece of crap, in my opinion. Three years ago, when the Packers drafted Rodgers, it was pretty much assumed Favre was on his way out. He had told the organization that, and subsequently Rodgers was taken out of Cal. Now, this first round pick is sitting the bench when he could have been playing for a number of teams (off the top of my head? Buffalo, Detroit, Oakland, San Francisco). Instead of grooming the kid, Favre is selfishly - and almost intentionally - making him insignificant.

With that said, I think it'll be interesting to see how this kid responds under pressure. Obviously, Favre is more revered in Green Bay than Vince Lombardi at this point and it's tough to win over a biased crowd. He's a different type of QB than his predecessor, which makes it easier to make fans forget about Favre, especially if he succeeds. Success will be tough because, unfortunately, there are no easy match-ups in the NFC North (believe it or not). The Vikings are up and coming, the Bears still can fly to the ball on defense, and the Lions, well, who knows?

I think they fall a little bit, maybe not below top in the division, but I don't think they'll have the same success with Favre under center. The opposing defenses can focus on the running game as Rodgers adapts to the offense and stifle them a little bit.

S.D.C.: Minnesota – They made a strong push for the playoffs last year, but couldn’t quite close it out. Adrian Peterson carried the team on his back, and the defense was stout against he run. They were young and played like it last year, not always winning the games they should have, and they started out too slow to make up for it. I am not convinced that Tavaris Jackson can be a winner in the NFL, but he is in a great situation to win this year. We know they will run it and stop the run, all they need to do is get enough done in the air with few mistakes (Bernard Berrian should be a help here), and this could be a very good team. They will compete for this division.

Oz: I agree. There's no reason, except a possible letdown in his sophomore season from Adrian Peterson, that the Vikings can't compete for the title. Brad Childress has done an incredible job, especially defensively with this group. Jared Allen and E.J. Henderson are both studs getting better with more seasons.

I also think the receiving corps will be better this year for the reason you mention (Berrian), but Sidney Rice out of South Carolina is only in his second year. It's going to be interesting to see how he does. The question mark is Tavaris Jackson. He proved a lot of bettors wrong (yours truly included), who bet against him a lot. If he can manage an offense, not very dissimilar to what Aaron Rodgers must do, give the ball to Peterson, and make the throws he needs to, the Vikings will win the division.

Now, let's talk about Peterson. This kid was unreal at Oklahoma, then he got hurt, came out early, and had some questions about durability (we knew he could play). It's kind of like when I saw the preview for the movie "Hitch." (Hold on ... there's a legit comparison) I was like, "holy shit that Puerto Rican girl (Eva Mendes) is hot." Then I saw the movie and she was even hotter than I thought AND she's a pretty good actress. That's like Peterson. In college, we knew he was special, but we didn't know he could do THAT (224, 3 TD's at Chicago; 296, 3 TD's against S.D.). He slowed down at the end of the season, but that's the norm for a rookie running back or a good running back with a bad quarterback. Stay tuned.

Is Peterson the #1 pick in every fantasy draft this year?

S.D.C.: I don’t know, in a league where you get points for catches I still think LT is number one, but Peterson wouldn’t exactly be a bad number one pick. With that being said, our league where you get to keep players drafted after the third round, his owner is about the happiest guy in the world.

On to Chicago – Is there anything to suggest that things will be different than last year? After two years of dominating a terrible division, we saw the true colors of the Bears last year. They have no quarterback a less than average running game, and a defense that can’t win on their own. The defense didn’t live up to expectations last year, and I think they play better this year. They got their studs signed on, and they all go into camp healthy. On offense, I don’t see anything different, except a loss at receiver. They got rid of Cedric Benson and picked up Matt Forte and Kevin Jones (who may never be healthy again) and they lost their No1 & 2 receivers. Now they are counting on Devin Hester to become a No 1 receiver and they can’t decide which crappy QB they are going to throw out there. I can’t believe they haven’t ditched these two yet, and they are going to blow another year because of that.

Oz: The Bears are an average team at best. They can't move the ball and the defense stays on the field for an average of over half the game. The best player on their team is their kick returner. The quarterback trifecta of Grossman, Griese, and Orton threw just as many TD's (21) as interceptions. Their offensive line is old and can't provide any push for the backs or protection for the passers. This may be the last year before the team is dismantled and reconfigured.

Hester will provide a spark on offense, but can he be a #1? Can he even be a #2? How will playing 40 downs on offense affect his ability to change a game on special teams?

What's going to help is the front four on defense. Tommie Harris may be the best defensive tackle in the NFC, if not the NFL. Alex Brown is a stud on the outside.

Obviously Urlacher and Briggs are going to continue to do their thing. I just don't think it's enough to put them ahead of the Vikings or the Packers. ----

S.D.C.: I completely agree. I think the defense does more than last year, but I don’t see the offense being any better…in fact, I think they will be worse. The QB situation isn’t getting any better, and I do think having Hester playing so many downs on offense will hurt his return game. At the same time, I would rather have my best player with 20 opportunities than 5. I am very doubtful of his ability to be a number one, but I am excited to see what he can do. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Detroit – A good start turned into another disappointing season for the Lions, but gave them hope that things could possibly turn around. This division was much better last year than in the past, and I think it should be even better next year. They have two capable backs this year with Tatum Bell and Kevin Smith, but neither is a sure thing. They ranked last in rushing in 06 and had the fewest attempts in the 07 preseason. Martz wanted to throw all day, things should change with his departure.

I think the offense should be more consistent as they become more balanced, and the defense will benefit from longer drives by the offense. I am not sure if the defense will be good enough to carry a team that is bound to struggle at times with a new offense, though, and I think they fall short again. They will continue to be a midlevel team and should give the people of Detroit hope that there is a little a decent look for the future.

Oz: Imagine instead of taking wide receivers in the top 5 for three straight season, the Lions took some defensive players? Their defense is atrocious at times. Do you realize they only held an opponent to less than 200 yards passing four times last season? Four! That was against Minnesota, San Diego, and Green Bay (who don't need to throw the ball), and Chicago (who can't).

The rushing game will be pivotal. Along with Kevin Smith and Tatum Bell, I'd watch for Brian Calhoun (my boy from Wisconsin) to get some reps. However, you can't run if you can't block. Jesus Christ couldn't run behind that offensive line. The receivers are (finally) pretty solid, as it looks like Calvin Johnson is the real thing.

If they can improve on defense, and find some balance on offense and find a way to run the ball, the might not finish out of the basement this season. However, that's a very big if.

S.D.C.: So now it comes time to pick the finish.

Green Bay 10-6
Minnesota 9-7
Detroit 7-9
Chicago 5-11

It is tough for me to pick between GB and Minn, but I think I just have more faith in Rodgers than Jackson, and that is all it comes down to. I think Minnesota is a wild card team, though, and that is IF they don’t win the division. Either way, I think both of these teams are in the playoffs.

I feel like Minnesota should be one of those chic picks this year. They have the biggest up and comer, and they finished strong last year, just missing the playoffs. I haven’t heard about those picks yet, though. Have you heard who is this year’s Lions, hahaha?

Oz: The sexy pick this year is Cleveland. They're mine, too. Anyway, back to the NFC North. I agree with the bottom of the division, but I'm going out on a limb and going this way.

Minnesota 10-6
Green Bay 9-7
Detroit 6-10
Chicago 5-11

And I don't think both teams make the playoffs. Whoever wins this division will be the sole representative of the North.

Up tomorrow: The NFC South