All the teams in the NFL have played 11 games now, and one thing sticks out as far as the divisions are concerned – the entire NFC South Stinks! Right now, the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints are tied at the top of the division with a 4-7 record. Yes that’s right, 4 wins and 7 losses.
This marks the first time in NFL history that a division leader is 3 games below .500. None of the teams even have a winning record at home. The Saints, who are normally almost unbeatable at home, since Drew Brees has been their quarterback, are 3-3, which means they only have 2 more home games remaining.
Last year’s division winner, the Carolina Panthers have taken a big step backward to 3-7-1, because their defense isn’t even close to as good as it was last year. Those of you who think Cam Newton is a great quarterback, think again. Without the great defense, Newton has proven to be a weak leader, and a mediocre passer, but he is a good running quarterback, for what that’s worth. Ask Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins how long you stay healthy running the ball a lot at quarterback.
The last place team in the NFC South, which is really saying something in this division, is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which some including Sports Illustrated, picked to win the division, surprisingly. The Buccaneers are at 2-9, but are just 2 games out of first place, with 5 games to go.
While the Saints are 3rd in passing offense, and 2nd in total offense in the NFL, they are 27th in total defense. This is the short-coming of the whole division. The best total defense in the NFC South belongs to the Buccaneers at 22nd, out of 32 teams. The Panthers are at 25th, and the Falcons are dead last.
One thing that Atlanta does have going for them, is their 4-0 record in the division, which is the first tie-breaker should they end up tied with any of these other bad teams at the end of the season. Because of head-to-head match-ups in remaining games, the Falcons or Saints might actually make it to 7 wins by the end of the season. Each team plays division foes at least twice the rest of the way. Somebody has to win when they play each other, unless they tie, like the Panthers have already done once this season.
With 8 divisions in the NFL, sometimes this disparity in divisions occur, but never has it to this extent before. In the 2010 season, the Seattle Seahawks won their division at a 7-9 record, and actually upset the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints in the first round of the playoffs. The Seahawks had home-field advantage because they were a division winner, while the Saints were a wild-card, with a much better record.
It’s too bad that a few good teams will probably miss the playoffs in the NFC, while the best of the worst division in football, with a losing record, will host a first-round home game, but that looks like what will happen. When there was 6 divisions, a losing record never won a division title, but those days are gone.
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Sports With Frank Thomas
