How ridiculous is the NFCS?

[Moorgan]

1 hour ago, saints4lifeagain said:

I have a love/hate relationship with the competitiveness of this division. Part of me hates you all and wants you to go 0-16 every year, but I also take pride in the NFCS being one of the best divisions in football.

I mean, I understand what you're saying...but I want NO, ATL and TB to go 0-16 every year, well you guys play each other so...0-13-3 every year.

[Khyber53]

I think the salary cap and minimum spending levels were the biggest factors in the NFC South coming to prominence. I know it sounds crazy, but it really did level the playing field and caused some major changes. Couple that with ownership changes in Tampa and Atlanta since the realignment and you have a recipe for rebuilding along with the new (relatively at that time) blood in Carolina.

The Saints, well, it's Brees, isn't it?

Growing up as a Falcons fan in the 1970s and 1980s, I got familiar with the bargain basement teams like the Falcons, Saints and Rams in the old NFC West. Each year they would draft some guys and then just basically roll over for the 49ers to have their way with them. It was almost like "come to the Falcons game, you'll eventually be able to watch your favorite team play us!"

The change that brought about new ownership, the salary cap rules and an expansion Carolina team really gave the group a shot in the arm. Realignment did the rest as the group of four "never was" teams had to fight it out among themselves. And man, it sure has been interesting. The Falcons and Saints eventually improved, Carolina played like a mean kid brother and Tampa (lowly creamsicle uniformed losers) was actually the first to take the Superb Owl under Jon Gruden. Since then, the Saints have won the Lombardi, the Panthers have been to the big dance twice and Atlanta even made a historic/hysterical appearance there.

In the meantime we've seen entire divisions in the NFL become laughingstocks or have one team dominate their division to the point of futility. And we've now got the most watchable football in the league. Can't wait for the season to start!

 

[Skack25]

Our division is super tough now, but let's not forget about the time we made the playoffs with a losing record.

[Moorgan]

1 minute ago, Skack25 said:

Our division is super tough now, but let's not forget about the time we made the playoffs with a losing record.

Oh I definitely forget about that as often as possible.

[Mistuh Jones]

NFC west between rams and 49ers but the cards and Seattle suck

[BigSyke]

And Cam has been the only qb to win the division 3 times in a row and should have won last year if not for the mishap at Atlanta.LOL

The Panthers have a good record in December under Ron/Cam for the most part though, the trick is to not start out slow. 

If this team oline is at least as good as it was in (2013/2015) and they can luckily stay healthy they are guaranteed to go to playoffs.

[Shocker]

NFCs time is now...nasty all the way around. 

[j2sgam]

Toughest division in the NFL, hands down... and there’s only 3 teams...

[Devil Doc]

On 5/17/2018 at 12:57 PM, Jimmy said:

That's the difference between the NFCS and let's say the AFCE...if the Pats had this much competition year in and year out: #1 they wouldn't always get the #1 seed, they wouldn't always win their division and at least one of those SBs wouldn't have happened just from a competitive 17 game season when people get injured and the like.  We kill each other before the playoffs.

This... one thing that pertrubes me is that Saints and Falcons get credit every year for powerhouses, but Panthers get none. Our division is riddled with injuries, and competition, and talent. 

[MadHatter]

Not sure the Bucs are going to be better.  Vincent Jackson announcing he is retiring and Winston has regressed pretty much every year.

Their D should be better (was horrible last year)...but not sure their O will be good enough to stay with the Panthers, Falcons, and Saints.

[saints4lifeagain]

On 5/17/2018 at 1:35 PM, Khyber53 said:

I think the salary cap and minimum spending levels were the biggest factors in the NFC South coming to prominence. I know it sounds crazy, but it really did level the playing field and caused some major changes. Couple that with ownership changes in Tampa and Atlanta since the realignment and you have a recipe for rebuilding along with the new (relatively at that time) blood in Carolina.

The Saints, well, it's Brees, isn't it?

Growing up as a Falcons fan in the 1970s and 1980s, I got familiar with the bargain basement teams like the Falcons, Saints and Rams in the old NFC West. Each year they would draft some guys and then just basically roll over for the 49ers to have their way with them. It was almost like "come to the Falcons game, you'll eventually be able to watch your favorite team play us!"

The change that brought about new ownership, the salary cap rules and an expansion Carolina team really gave the group a shot in the arm. Realignment did the rest as the group of four "never was" teams had to fight it out among themselves. And man, it sure has been interesting. The Falcons and Saints eventually improved, Carolina played like a mean kid brother and Tampa (lowly creamsicle uniformed losers) was actually the first to take the Superb Owl under Jon Gruden. Since then, the Saints have won the Lombardi, the Panthers have been to the big dance twice and Atlanta even made a historic/hysterical appearance there.

In the meantime we've seen entire divisions in the NFL become laughingstocks or have one team dominate their division to the point of futility. And we've now got the most watchable football in the league. Can't wait for the season to start!

 

The salary cap completely changed football.

[Bj-Monster23]

On 5/17/2018 at 9:19 AM, Cyberjag said:

This post came out of a discussion on Reddit on RB duos, but it's something to think about. 

• QBs: Brees, Ryan, Cam, and Jameis
• RBs: Kamara/Ingram, CMC/Anderson, Freeman/Coleman, and Jones/whoever
• WRs:  Jones/Sanu, Evans/Jackson, Thomas/Ginn (lol), and Funchess/whoever

That's three top-10 QBs (with two former MVPs and Breesus), and three top-5 running back duos in the same division.  Three of the teams have very solid WR corps as well.  And the Panthers and Falcons had top 10 defenses last year.

Is there any other division in football that's this crazy competitive?  

Not one but the  AFC South will be another fun division to watch this season. Actually in my honest opinion, I  think the NFC South and AFC South is loaded and we will could see two teams from these division end up in the Super Bowl this season! 

[shaqattaq]

On 5/17/2018 at 1:58 PM, Moorgan said:

I mean, I understand what you're saying...but I want NO, ATL and TB to go 0-16 every year, well you guys play each other so...0-13-3 every year.

actually, 0-12-4, but I hear what you're saying.