The NFC South has become the league’s 'old reliable' where franchise stability and familiarity are concerned, with long-term coaches, MVP winners and future Hall of Famers gracing all four corners of the division.

First-ballot HOF candidate Drew Brees and Sean Payton have been fixtures at the New Orleans Saints for more than a decade. Matt Ryan has quarterbacked the Atlanta Falcons since 2008, been to a Super Bowl and collected an MVP trophy along the way. Cam Newton is also a former-MVP, as well as having taken his Carolina Panthers all the way to the NFL’s showcase event.

Even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - who have long been the division’s whipping boy - have opted for a franchise re-direction, continuing the familiarity theme by replacing former head coach Dirk Koetter, with 66-year old Bruce Arians. Arians has worked in the NFL for more than thirty years and is revered for being something of a 'Quarterback Whisperer,' owing to his incredible work with the likes of Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Carson Palmer.

With just over 30 days left until the start of the 2019 NFL Season, Stats Insider will be previewing each of the NFL’s eight divisions while asking one pertinent question for each team. 

Today’s division, the NFC South.

UPDATED: Every Division Preview (as they are published)

- Inside the NFC NORTH: Bears, Vikings, Packers, Lions
- Inside the NFC EAST: Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, Giants
- Inside the NFC WEST: Rams, Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals
- Inside the AFC SOUTH: Colts, Texans, Titans, Jaguars

Can Drew Brees keep the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl contention?

Sometimes you have to pinch yourself:  at 40 years of age, New Orleans QB Drew Brees is still very much at the peak of his powers.  

Last season, the 12-time Pro Bowler had one of his strongest (if not his strongest) campaign to date, posting a career-high 115.7 QB rating which, if not for Patrick Mahomes’ stunning sophomore season in Kansas City, would have been enough to win the legendary signal-caller his first ever MVP.

Brees’ incredible 32-TD x 5-INT 2018 campaign was the driving force behind the Saints’ posting a 13-3 regular season win-loss record, a mark tied with the LA Rams for the best in all of football.

New Orleans hosted the NFC Championship - which they went on to lose in the most agonising of circumstances, in part, due to one of the most controversial pass interference calls (or lack thereof) in NFL history. When the Rams’ Greg Zuerlein hit a sudden-death, over-time field goal it was the only time the Saints were behind on the scoreboard all match.

How the Saints respond to such a cruel playoff exit will be the defining theme of New Orleans’ season. Not once in franchise history have the Saints contested consecutive conference championships, however, this roster is as stacked as ever which will provide them with a mighty chance of doing just that, as well as potentially hoisting their second-ever Lombardi Trophy.

Can the Atlanta Falcons return to the NFL’s peak?

Speaking of post-season heartbreak, the Falcons have an even greater playoff sob story to tell, having famously blown the unloseable 2017 Super Bowl, after enjoying a 28-3 second-half lead over the New England Patriots.

The stunning collapse denied Atlanta it's first-ever franchise NFL Championship, with the scars still being felt throughout Georgia today being a contributing factor behind their two subsequent pedestrian campaigns which have returned an underwhelming 17-16 record.

Thankfully for Atlanta, they have one of the sharpest NFL minds running the ship in GM Thomas Dimitroff, who can always be relied upon to keep his franchise on the cusp of contention. 

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The 2017 Super Bowl collapse has resulted in Atlanta pushing more resources into the defensive side of the ball, through both the NFL Draft and salary cap expenditure.

Over the past five NFL Drafts, the Falcons have used no less than seven of it’s 1^st and 2nd round selections on elite defensive talent, while significantly increasing overall defensive spending.

On offence, the Falcons will continue to rely on QB Ryan’s arm, which last year tossed 35 touchdowns to just seven picks, while posting a career-best 1.2% interception rate. Ryan still has plenty of weapons on offence to look for, including future Hall of Fame wide receiver, Julio Jones, as well as Calvin Ridley, whose 821-yard, ten touchdown rookie campaign was one of the most impressive from the 2018 draft class.

If the Falcons are to return to NFL prominence they’ll have to negotiate one of the league’s most brutal early-season schedules which will see them play four of their first six games on the road, with difficult home matches wedged in against the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans.

Is Ron Rivera still the right man to lead the Carolina Panthers?

When a new ownership group took over in Charlotte in May of last year, it was widely expected they’d think very seriously about moving on from head coach, Ron Rivera, who’d been the lead man at the helm of the Panthers since 2011.

After Carolina lost seven of its last eight games in a ghastly second-half season collapse, a move to oust ‘Riverboat Ron’ seemed a formality, yet instead, the Panthers opted to give Rivera another season in charge.

After all, assessing just whether Rivera is the right man for the Panthers isn’t so straightforward, while ownership may well have reasoned that there simply wasn’t someone out there who could do better a job.

On the one hand, Rivera has taken the Panthers to a Super Bowl, which was off the back off a 15-1 season in 2015, capped by Cam Newton winning the MVP award.

But, on the flip side, Rivera has just three winnings seasons to show from his eight-year tenure, and if you take out the stunning Newton MVP season, Rivera boasts a rather mediocre 56-55 overall record, which has produced just a solitary top ten offence.

The big question for the Panthers front-office is whether Rivera and his coaching staff are capable of modernising the Carolina attack, extracting all of Super Cam's otherworldly talents, while also making sure Newton’s support cast is able to adapt and develop.

Last off-season, the Panthers bought in veteran offensive coordinator, Norv Turner, to work with Newton, the partnership resulting in Newton putting up his best individual numbers outside the MVP season, assisting in the Panthers 6-2 season start.

Newton’s body, however, was severely hampered in the second half of last season which no doubt contributed to the Panther collapse, with the former Auburn star requiring off-season shoulder surgery.

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If the Panthers are to make some noise in 2019 it will need to be off the back of players such as Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore taking their games to another level.

Both are first round draft picks with unique skill-sets, which will theoretically enable Newton to spend less time in the pocket where he is more susceptible to injury. The Panthers also bought in former New England Patriot and two-time Super Bowl winner Chris Hogan who should also fit in well with Newton's offensive corps.

Can Bruce Arians rectify the sins of Jason Licht?

The Buccaneers have been one of the NFC’s most underperforming franchises, with ten last-place division finishes over the past 15 seasons.

Tampa hasn’t won a single playoff game in 17 years, a time span that has produced just five winning seasons.

Head coach Dirk Koetter was sacked in the off-season after three seasons at the helm and replaced with 66-year old QB mastermind Bruce Arians who is one of the NFL’s most respected and beloved figures.

The hiring of Arians was very much grounded in Tampa’s previous investment in 2015 overall #1 pick, quarterback Jameis Winston, who, since being drafted, has been decidedly average. Last season saw his interception rate soar to 3.7% - the third-worst mark in the league.

This is also the last year of Winston’s contract, with an industry held belief that if Arians can’t get something out of the Florida State prodigy and 2013 Heisman Trophy winner, then perhaps no one ever will.

Arians will also know that the Tampa Bay front office - led by general manager Jason Licht - has hardly set the world on fire in surrounding the young quarterback with elite talent.

In fact, in the five drafts since Winston’s selection, Tampa have used just one first-round pick on an offensive skill player - Alabama’s tight end, OJ Howard, in 2017 - which has been an undeniable contributing factor regarding Winston’s stagnation.

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When Arians took over an equally moribund Arizona Cardinals franchise in 2013 it was off the back of a horrendous five-win season, with the team having participated in just two playoff matches in the previous 14 years.

Within 12 months, Arians took the Cardinals win total to ten, and a season later Arizona was back in the NFL Playoffs. In year three of Arians tenure, Arizona was playing off in the NFC Championship for a spot in the franchises second ever Super Bowl.

If the Buccaneers are to have that kind of leap under Arians, it will be because of his ability to maximise Winston’s brilliant tools, which have surely gone to waste over four seasons in the NFL.

Stats Insider will have weekly dynamic match predictions, as well as Super Bowl futures projections all throughout the NFL season. Keep an eye on StatsInsider.com.au!

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