Football Outsiders early NFCS prediction

[Ricky Spanish]

I really don't see how the Saint's offense has improved/stayed the same. They lost Jimmy Graham. The nightmare matchup that you have to account for on every play...

 

Their offense will take a hit. 

[juliosantos]

Any one else feel that we are the most underrated team in the nfl? we got a power house defense which got better from last year and better from 2013. Our defense in the last 5 games and playoffs was better then it was in 2013 but people are simple minded.

We added alot of defensive players this offseason . Kurt coleman, teddy williams, jason trusnick, peanut tillman and not to mention the players we drafted.

Now offense on the hand , cam has the best wr core he ever had since becoming a panther , we are so deep at wr , the outsiders all think we have a trash oline but they are so damn wrong our oline is a strength with kalil turner norwell and remmers and people are sleeping on oher, which is already an upgrade over bell And we also drafted a beast in dayrl williams.

Our run game is also improved stewart will enter the season the heathiest he been and we all know stewart has potential to be a top rb when healthy and we also drafted the sec leading rusher cameron artis payne which has a similar running style to demarco.

At last one of the most important things , we did not lose anyone this offseason . I see us as a top 5 powerhouse team this year these so called experts well be eating crow once again

[Panther53521]

People really dont look into draft picks the way they should

 

Atlanta -- Beasley can not stop the run .. guess what Carolina RUNS the ball and now do the Saints also .. Beasley will have a small impact this year. Their second pick is already in the NFL drug program.

 

New Orleans -- Rookie Tackles never make a team better their first year. Their second round pick was a combine workout warrior.

 

It may be the Homer in me ... but I think the Panthers did the best in the draft ... We got a piece that will make our Defense top 5 for many years to come and we got another WR to play opposite of KB.

[UpstatePanther]

i notice that no one is talking about Tampa Bay in this thread. it would behoove all of you to not write off the talent in Jameis Winston and the weapons he is inheriting. its true that he's a rookie and will make rookie mistakes. and its true that the Bucs have a fresh, young offensive line that will need time to gel together in the NFL. but one thing Lovie Smith is good at is defense, and so long as the Bucs' offensive line plays adequately, Jameis Winston will keep them in games. i dont think they will challenge for the division title or even a wild card spot, but they may well be a thorn in our side this season. 

 

before you all flame me for talking up the Bucs and Winston, i cant stand Winston and the Bucs are still at least a season away from being anything close to a real contender. But i think they are better than the Falcons right now. and i think they could challenge the Saints for #2 in the division. 

 

that said, the Panthers are the class of this division. anyone who says otherwise is simply reading talking points or posting click-bait. anyone who says otherwise is also ignorant about the Panthers and the NFCS... in other words, they are a moron. 

 

IMHO, the Panthers can realistically win 10-11 games this season. 2013's luck may come to visit us again and we could win up to 14 games. i think our floor is 8-8. 

 

but screw all that. we're going 19-0 baby! KeepPounding!

[Krucid]

Our defense alone would get us to 7-9. Dumb article.

[SCP]

USA Today knows more than these clowns!!!!!!!!!

[thunderraiden]

ATL 10-6

NO 10-6

CAR 7-9

TB 6-10

 

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/fo-espn-feature-columns/2015/espn-early-nfc-projections-2015

 

 

 

 

Explanation as follows;

 

 

Kind of makes sense. NO and ATL still had very good offenses despite those small wins, any slight improvement in defense and these teams are top again. However I take comfort in the fact that we were able to shut down those offenses in their respective domes. If our defense can show like it did towards the end of the season, we should not have to worry.

But... how did the Saint's offense get better? Did I miss something? They don't have any playmakers outside of Brees and he ain't gettin any younger.

[MadHatter]

i notice that no one is talking about Tampa Bay in this thread. it would behoove all of you to not write off the talent in Jameis Winston and the weapons he is inheriting. its true that he's a rookie and will make rookie mistakes. and its true that the Bucs have a fresh, young offensive line that will need time to gel together in the NFL. but one thing Lovie Smith is good at is defense, and so long as the Bucs' offensive line plays adequately, Jameis Winston will keep them in games. i dont think they will challenge for the division title or even a wild card spot, but they may well be a thorn in our side this season.

before you all flame me for talking up the Bucs and Winston, i cant stand Winston and the Bucs are still at least a season away from being anything close to a real contender. But i think they are better than the Falcons right now. and i think they could challenge the Saints for #2 in the division.

that said, the Panthers are the class of this division. anyone who says otherwise is simply reading talking points or posting click-bait. anyone who says otherwise is also ignorant about the Panthers and the NFCS... in other words, they are a moron.

IMHO, the Panthers can realistically win 10-11 games this season. 2013's luck may come to visit us again and we could win up to 14 games. i think our floor is 8-8.

but screw all that. we're going 19-0 baby! KeepPounding!

Not impressed with Winston's 18 turnovers and consistent bad decision making....and against bad competition.

They finally played a good team in the bowl and got rocked. FSU was massively over rated last season.

[CPantherKing]

1. He doesn't see a difference in the team from last year at this time to now..

2. Offenses usually stay good year after year but defenses don't.. Which I know I've learn that to be the other way around.. Usually good defensive teams stay good for longer than good offensive ones.. Steelers, Ravens, Seahawk, and Bears, were good longer than some of the best offenses.. Greatest show on truff was good for 3 years right??

3. Thought our special teams were avg. Last year and won't improve much.

[Shadow]

The guy was on local radio.. And was spewing so of the dumbest poo..

1. He doesn't see a difference in the team from last year at this time to now..

2. Offenses usually stay good year after year but defenses don't.. Which I know I've learn that to be the other way around.. Usually good defensive teams stay good for longer than good offensive ones.. Steelers, Ravens, Seahawk, and Bears, were good longer than some of the best offenses.. Greatest show on truff was good for 3 years right??

3. Thought our special teams were avg. Last year and won't improve much.

[gettlemanjack]

Aaron Schatz is making himself look really dumb with those predictions, like a guy who doesn’t watch football. But to be fair, he says those predictions aren't based on watching football, but rather on "objective EQUATIONS":

Abel Luna Jr @ Yes_Im_Abel

May 13

@FO_ASchatz Cardinals at 6-10? You have no clue about the

leadership and make-up of this team. Idiot.

Aaron Schatz @ FO_ASchatz

May 13

No, objective EQUATIONS have no clue.

Aaron Schatz @ FO_ASchatz

May 13

My piece actually notes that Bruce Arians teams have outperformed numbers for 3 years.

The main problem is you can't look at the 2014 Panthers as one team. The 2014 Panthers were one team that went 3-8-1 (losing to both the Saints and Faclons in BOA). Then they were a whole different team with a whole different starting roster that went 5-0 (including a 41-10 beatdown of New Orleans and a 34-3 beatdown of Atlanta). "Objective EQUATIONS" aren't being very objective if applied to the 2014 Panthers as a whole, as the 2014 Panthers were two completely different teams

The other problem is how are "objective EQUATIONS" supposed to evaluation the players each team added and lost over the offseason?

with all the new additions, the Panthers got better in every phase of the game: offense, defense, special teams.

As for the Saints, their passing attack easily got worse. The Saints lost 3 of their top 5 receivers from last year:

*their #1 WR in speedster Kenny Stills (who was #1 on the Saints with 931 receiving yards last year) - gone to the Dolphins

*TE Jimmy Graham - gone to the Seahawks

*RB Pierre Thomas (who is devastating on screen passes which was a big part of the Saints' attack) - also gone

The Saints still have aging 32-yr-old Marques Colston and young Brandin Cooks, but other than those two, they HAVE NO proven WRs or TEs. Just a bunch of scrubs they are hoping can step up:

*WR Joe Morgan (471 CAREER YARDS)

*WR Nick Toon (283 CAREER YARDS)

*WR Jalen Saunders (7 CAREER YARDS)

*some WRs that were on their practice squad last year: WR Seantavius Jones, WR Brandon Coleman, WR Andy Tanner, WR Willie Snead

*TE Josh Hill (220 CAREER YARDS)

*TE Orson Charles (109 CAREER YARDS)

*age 35 TE Ben Watson (in his two yrs with the Saints: 226 yards in 2013 and 136 yards in 2014)

With such a weak group of receivers, the Saints better hope their running game and defense are both on the level of the Seahawks if they want to make the playoffs or contend for a division title

[UpstatePanther]

Not impressed with Winston's 18 turnovers and consistent bad decision making....and against bad competition.

They finally played a good team in the bowl and got rocked. FSU was massively over rated last season.

 

yea i suppose you have a point Hatter. let me ask you though... do you think any of the rivals will be a thorn in our side this season?

[TN05]

How on earth would we win only 7 games? We play Jacksonville, Houston, Tennessee, and Washington... plus Tampa Bay twice. That's six games we should win right there. What this basically presumes is that we lose pretty much everything else. 

[AceMan]

Our offense should be better just because Bell, Chandler, & Silatolu aren't starting