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Who would have ever thought before the season began that through six weeks, every team in the NFC South would be at or better than .500? On Sunday, Drew Brees continued his pursuit of Dan Marino’s record for most passing yards in a season and Falcons rookie QB Matt Ryan led Atlanta to a jaw-dropping last second victory over Chicago. The division deserves a closer look and perhaps, some accolades.
Tampa Bay (4-2)
Starting in place of injured Brian Griese, Bucs QB Jeff Garcia secured the starting job for at least one more week after Tampa Bay’s dominant performance in a 27-3 win over Carolina. Garcia returns to the starting lineup after being benched in favor of Griese following a season-opening loss to New Orleans. Head Coach Jon Gruden isn’t Garcia’s biggest fan as demonstrated by his quick benching after week one and by Gruden’s rather public pursuit of Brett Favre in the offseason. With that in mind, it’s hard to imagine Garcia starting the rest of the season unless he makes it impossible for Gruden to make a change with his play and the team’s performance. Continuity at the quarterback position is a key factor to a team’s success in the NFL. Tampa Bay’s lack of a clear number one QB concerns me but a stout defense and a favorable schedule that includes Seattle, Kansas City, Detroit, and Oakland down the line gives reason to believe that the Bucs will vie for a second consecutive division title.
Carolina (4-2)
Wow, it’s hard to overstate just how bad Carolina was Sunday in Tampa Bay. The Bucs blocked a punt (the third time Carolina has had a punt blocked this year!) and returned it for a touchdown early in the first quarter and Jake Delhomme tossed three interceptions, all of which went off the hands of intended receivers, in a lopsided 27-3 defeat. Much like the Bucs, the Panthers depend upon a normally stingy defense and steady turnover-free football from their quarterback. This season, Jake Delhomme has thrown five touchdowns and five interceptions. He must protect the football and get the ball to play-makers Steve Smith and DeAngelo Williams for Carolina to have success on offense. Last year, good defense and consistent play from the quarterback was the key to Tampa Bay’s division title run. The Panthers will need to follow the same strategy. But Carolina’s division aspirations will ultimately be decided in December when they’ll host Tampa Bay and Denver before taking on the Giants and Saints on the road to end the season.
Atlanta (4-2)
I have to admit that I didn’t give the Falcons much of a chance against the Bears at home Sunday. I thought I had Atlanta figured out. Entering week six, the Falcons had won games against the 27th, 31st, and 32nd ranked run defenses in the league and their two loses had come against teams with rush defenses ranked in the top half of the league. With the Bears ranked fourth (now fifth) against the run, I figured the Bears would shut down Michael Turner and Matt Ryan would struggle against an athletic and opportunistic defense. I was partially right; Michael Turner rushed for just 54 yards. However, rookie QB Matt Ryan threw for 301 yards and led the Falcons to a thrilling victory on a last second field goal by Jason Elam. More impressive, the Falcons had lost the lead, and what looked like the game, when the Bears went ahead 20-19 with 11 second to go in the fourth. But the Falcons received the ball on their own 44 after a squib kick and Ryan, standing tall in the pocket under pressure, made a perfect throw to Michael Jenkins for a 26-yard pass as he went out of bounds with one second to go to set up the winning kick. Head Coach Mike Smith is the coach of the year thus far in 2008 and Ryan is the hands-down rookie of the year. As for the rest of the season, the only thing you can say about Atlanta is that anything is possible, and as future opponents should take note, the team believes it too.
New Orleans (3-3)
Dan Marino threw for 5,084 yards in 1984, an average of just under 318 yards per game. In 2008 through six games, Drew Brees is on pace to break Marino’s fabled record, averaging more than 332 yards per game. Brees completed his first 16 passes Sunday and finished 26-30 for 320 yards and three touchdowns, another workman-like performance for the MVP of the first half of the season. Brees who is on his way to eclipsing 4,000 yards passing for the third consecutive season has been putting up impressive numbers ever since his arrival in New Orleans prior to the 2006 season. The problem with the Saints always seems to be whether or not they have enough defense to win games when the offense isn’t scoring thirty points. Turnovers also tend to be a problem as last week’s loss against Minnesota proved. The major issue with the Saints is the chemistry of this team is just like the 2007 squad that missed the playoffs: a mediocre defense buoyed by a high-scoring offense. Another concern is the team’s inconsistent special teams play. Martin Gramatica was placed on IR last week after converting just six of ten field goal tries this season, including critical misses in the final minutes in defeats against Minnesota and Denver earlier this season. Unproven rookie Taylor Mehlhaff converted two of his three kicks Sunday against the Raiders but I am not sure the Saints have a team formula in place that will take them very far in the playoffs, if they can even get there.
# posted by Nate @ 2:12 PM
