What a weird NFL season this has been. In the midst of surprise success stories and personal conduct violations, the 2014 NFL campaign has certainly been a bizarre one, but few cases are more curious than that of the NFC South.
Last season, the NFC South sent two teams to the playoffs; the 12-4 Division Champion Carolina Panthers, and the 11-4 New Orleans Saints. Twenty-three combined wins between any two teams in a division is always impressive, and this year, the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were supposedly reloaded and poised to compete as well.
Through eleven weeks of the 2014 season, all four NFC South teams have combined for 13 wins, just one more than the Panthers’ total last year. That is to say the least, quite surprising, and remarkably disappointing..
Currently, the 4-6 Falcons sit atop the South based on tiebreakers and a 4-0 record against their divisional opponents. The 4-6 Saints are right there as well, the Panthers are 3-7-1, and stunningly, the 2-8 Bucs are a mere two games back. It truly is anyone’s division for the taking.
With six games left on the schedule, the situation will sort itself out and some club will emerge, but the real story here is how shocking these events have been. All four of these teams have solid to high talent levels, and all entered the season with lofty goals and expectations. It’s difficult to pinpoint where things have gone wrong for these four struggling clubs, but certainly not impossible.
For one, the NFC is loaded. There are many legitimate contenders in the conference. While it might seem easy to look at the AFC right now and identify the Patriots as the best team in the conference, there are several clubs that are vying for that honor in the NFC. It could just be that the NFC South teams are struggling against the elite competition provided by their NFC counterparts, especially when one considers that they must face all the teams in a strong and talented NFC North.
Another contributing factor is that the NFC South goes head to head with the AFC North this year in inter-conference competition, and that the AFC North has proven to be the toughest, grittiest division in football. The North is the only division in the league that has all of its teams sitting above .500. Indeed, the Bengals, Steelers, Browns and Ravens have all rattled of six victories in 2014. Name the last time the Ravens were 6-4 and sat in last place in the division. It’s insane.
Whether it’s superior competition, rotten luck, or just disappointing play, it’s time for one of these NFC South clubs to make a run. This division is anyone’s for the taking and there’s a lot of football left. It’s easy to pick the New Orleans Saints as the presumptive winners because of their history of success and all-around pedigree, but make no mistake about it, there is no certainty with these teams. How remarkable would it be to see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers make a run after the horrible start they suffered?
Stranger things have happened in the NFL, and while many view the NFC South as a disappointment, these teams must view it as an opportunity. For better or for worse, this will be one of the most interesting races to play out down the stretch. One of these four team is going to host a playoff game. It’s just a matter of who wants it the most.
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