Saints should be strong contender in changing NFC South

(Crescent City Sports is counting down to the Saints season opener against Tennessee on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome with a week-long series of feature stories. Here’s Part 6: The NFC South.)

METAIRIE – Drew Brees retired.

So did Tom Brady – twice.

Sean Payton went on hiatus – though he’s back as head coach of the Denver Broncos. But the AFC West doesn’t play the NFC South until next season so for 2023 Payton is irrelevant to the division that he dominated as New Orleans Saints coach from 2006-2021.

The NFC South looks much different than it did for the last decade and a half.

The Saints won seven of the 16 division titles since Payton and Brees arrived in 2006, but haven’t made the playoffs since Brees left after the 2020 season and Payton left a year later.

The Bucs won just two division titles in that time – both behind Brady, who led them to the Super Bowl title as a wild card in the 2020 season.

The Panthers won four titles and the Falcons won three.

But this is 2023 and all four teams are reshaping their identities.

Every team in the division had a losing record last season as Brady’s final team snuck into the playoffs with an 8-9 record and was quickly dispatched by Dallas, 31-14.

The Saints, Panthers and Falcons all were slightly less average than Tampa and finished 7-10.

It remains to be seen whether the 2023 version of the division is any better. The season begins Sunday with the Saints hosting Tennessee in the Caesars Superdome, the Panthers visiting the Falcons in the only game featuring two NFC South teams and the Buccaneers visiting the Vikings.

Last season the AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8) were the only division winner other than the Bucs that failed to win at least 10 games.

The consensus seems to be that the NFC South won’t be significantly better or worse in 2023 than it was in 2022 and will again be the division that produces the weakest champion.

But it’s rare that an NFL season ends without the consensus being that a few teams exceeded the consensus of preseason expectations and a few others fell short of the consensus of expectations.

So perhaps the consensus of expectations in early September won’t be consistent with the reality of early January.

For now there seems to be a dividing line that places New Orleans and Atlanta in the category of first-place contenders and Carolina and Tampa Bay as last-place contenders.

That is largely but not exclusively based on the quarterbacks of each team.

The Saints made one of the most significant free-agent acquisitions of the off-season when they signed former Raider Derek Carr, a nine-year veteran and four-time Pro Bowl selection.

Atlanta is counting on second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder, Tampa is counting on talented journeyman Baker Mayfield and Carolina is counting on rookie No. 1 draft choice Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner.

No team has a coach with a resume matching that of either Payton or Bruce Arians, who led the Bucs to that Super Bowl title.

But Frank Reich takes over in Carolina after a five-year stint as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts during which he compiled a 40-33-1 regular-season record and a 1-2 record in two trips to the playoffs.

The Saints’ Dennis Allen and the Bucs’ Todd Bowles are entering their second season and the Falcons’ Arthur Smith is entering his third.

The Falcons visit the Bucs on October 22, host the Bucs on December 10 and visit the Panthers on December 17. The Bucs and the Panthers meet December 3 in Tampa and January 7 in Charlotte.

The Saints’ divisional schedule features a home game against the Panthers on September 18, a home game against the Bucs on October 1, a visit to Atlanta on November 26, a home game against the Panthers on December 10, a visit to Tampa on December 31 and a home game against the Falcons to complete the regular season on January 7.

If New Orleans and Atlanta are indeed the two best teams in the division and the division remains as tightly contested as it was last season and given the impact of head-to-head tie-breakers, the Saints could easily find themselves facing their most bitter rivals in the Dome with a division title on the line to end the regular season.

And that certainly would spice up an otherwise bland division.

(Next: Titans-Saints preview.)

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