Wednesday, July 9
This is the second of my NFL division quick sketch, first-look division predictions. Today: NFC South.
1. Saints - Sean Payton, Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham keep this offense prolific - especially at home where they averaged 34 points - while Rob Ryan has elevated the defense from terrible to good. The Saints proved last season they could win tough games on the road knocking off the Bears at Soldier Field and the Eagles in the playoffs in cold weather.
2. Panthers - I can't see the Panthers matching their franchise-best 12 wins of last season. Cam Newton will have new wide receivers and won't have steady left tackle Jordan Gross protecting his blind side. The dominant defense of last year will have to fix key pieces, including several spots in the secondary.
3. Buccaneers - The Bucs have the disadvantage of being the one team in the division without an elite quarterback. However, Lovie Smith has brought in what looks like an excellent coaching staff so things should be more stable now. Smith always had good defenses at Chicago and has a solid defense here. Josh McCown has tall receiving weapons with Vincent Jackson and rookies Mike Evans and Austin Seferian-Jenkins.
4. Falcons - The Falcons aren't as bad as last year's 4-12 record, but they're in the wrong division to try to skate by with a soft defense and bad offensive line. The Falcons gave up 6.1 yards per play last season, second-worst in the NFL. Julio Jones is a receiving monster. But Tony Gonzalez retired and Roddy White and Steven Jackson are going downhill.
On the handicapping front, I have a Triple Star MLB Total of the Week going today. I have cashed my last six Triple Star plays and am 9-2-1 run on my past 12 overall paid over/unders. Also my 7 and 30-day packages are reduced by 20 percent through Thursday. My play can be found here: /pregamepros/pro-bettor/bettor.aspx?id=7746#capper.
As always, no bad luck!