Atlanta Falcons
NFC South Draft
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NFL Draft is April 26, 2018. So, it is approaching soon.
This can change the fortune for several franchises. The best division in 2017 was the NFC South because they had three playoff teams. Let’s take a look at the division and their 1st round picks.
No. 7 Tampa Bay: The Buccaneers (5-11) were the only team in the division with a losing record. They took a step back because they were 9-7 in 2016. We expected them to improve and make the playoffs. They also added speedy wide receiver DeSean Jackson to pair with Mike Evans but it obviously did not work.
The biggest team needs are defensive back, running back and offensive guard. Alabama DB Minkah Fitzpatrick would be a great pick. He played both safety and corner in college. He can cover and he’s physical and can make tackles. He also has very good size at 6’1, 201 pounds.
No. 24 Carolina: The Panthers (11-5) rebounded last year after regressing in 2016. They addressed a need by drafting running back Christian McCaffrey in the 1st round last year. He was very good as a pass catcher but he did not run the ball well. He only rushed for 435 yards and averaged 3.7 yards per carry.
The biggest team needs are wide receiver, offensive line and defensive line. The Panthers traded their #1 receiver Kelvin Benjamin to Buffalo on Halloween.
Cam Newton needs a good WR so I think they will go in that direction. Courtland Sutton from SMU should still be available. He’s 6’4, 225 lbs. so he’s a big target.
He caught 68 passes for 1,085 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2017. Newton struggles with accuracy so having a tall receiver with a big catch radius is a good move.
No. 26 Atlanta: The Falcons (10-6) had an up and down year coming off last year’s heartbreaking Super Bowl meltdown. They did win in the first round of the playoffs against the LA Rams. They came very close to beating the eventual world champion Philadelphia Eagles in the second round, losing 15-10. Atlanta should return to being an elite team if they make the right personnel moves.
The biggest needs are defensive line, WR and offensive guard. Michigan defensive tackle Maurice Hurst would be a good fit. Putting him next to Grady Jarrett might give the Falcons one of the best young defensive lines in the league.
No. 27 New Orleans: The Saints (11-5) had a great season. They have the best running back duo in the NFL and an elite veteran quarterback. They lost to Minnesota in the divisional round of the playoffs on the last play of the game. The defense ranked 16th in total D and 17th in run defense.
They need to improve the defensive front seven, WR or slot corner. Boston College defensive end Harold Landry might be selected here. He showed he could rush the passer in 2016 when he recorded 16.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss. Landry is a bit of a one-year wonder though because he did not have a season with more than 5 sacks outside of 2016.
The Super NFC South
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
At the beginning of the season it looked as though a battle would be taking place between the AFC West and the NFC South for NFL dominance.
As we approach the final stretch of the season it looks like the AFC West will only get one team into the playoffs and that basically because they have to have at least one representative.
On the other hand, the NFC South has held up their end of the preseason bargain and are looking to be the toughest division in football.
The question regarding the division isn’t whether or not they’ll get two teams into the playoffs, but could they possibly get three?
For the sake of argument let’s go ahead and assume that Philadelphia (East), Minnesota (North), Saints (South) and the Los Angeles Rams (West) will all win their respective divisions.
Obviously, anything can happen over the next few weeks, but my brain is fried on college football playoff hypotheticals, so I’m taking the easy way out on this one.
Were this scenario to play out, that would really leave only four viable teams for the remaining wild card spots: Seahawks, Lions, Falcons, and Panthers.
Seattle has probably the second easiest schedule of those four teams, but I just don’t have the confidence in the Mom to make a legitimate run at the playoffs.
Their offense has resorted to Russell Wilson running around in the backfield and making some sort of ridiculous throw to Doug Baldwin, off of a busted play.
With injuries plaguing the defensive side of the ball the “Legion Of Boom” has turned into the Legion of “We’d like to hit you hard, but we’re a little fragile right now, so we’re just going to push you and hope that you fall down.”
Could Seattle make the playoffs? Absolutely. Will they ultimately make me regret saying that they won’t make it? Without a doubt.
So, that leaves Detroit as the main threat to the NFC South sending 3 teams to the playoffs.
There are two things the Lions have going for them. First, they have a much easier schedule from here on out. of their remaining games, Detroit doesn’t play a single team with a winning record.
It’s almost the exact opposite for Atlanta and Carolina. Secondly, and this could be what propels Detroit into the playoffs, is that Carolina still has one more game against Atlanta and New Orleans, while the Falcons and Saints will play each other twice. Did I mention they both have a game with Minnesota still on their schedules, too?
The one thing that both the Falcons and Panthers do have on the Lions though, is that they are currently one and two games ahead of Detroit in the standings, respectively.
Not to mention, both teams hold the tiebreaker due to victories earlier in the season. So really, Atlanta has a two game lead and the Panthers’ lead is three. That’s difficult to overcome when you only have a handful of games left to make it happen.
The entire division has their work cut out for them is they hope to get three teams into the playoffs.
Detroit is in prime position to run the table while the entire NFC South will be dueling it out amongst themselves- reminiscent of what the SEC West used to be years ago.
Regardless, ¾ of the NFC South has lived up to the hype, which is pretty damn impressive, when you think about it.
Falcons 3-0 Start A Mirage?
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There were a lot of similarities between last year’s Falcons team and the Panthers team from the year before.
Both were NFC South teams that started the season off as afterthoughts when it came to Super Bowl contenders, yet wound up playing in the title game. Both had high octane offenses, led by MVP winning quarterbacks, maximizing the potential fans had been yearning to see.
So, after the Panthers took a nose dive last season, it was almost in the cards for the Falcons to follow suit. If last season was Atlanta’s version of “The Wall”, you couldn’t blame fans for wondering if this would be “The Final Cut.”
Funny thing about sports, and I imagine it’s one of the reasons you enjoy it, is even when things work out almost exactly as you expect them to, the outcome somehow winds up to be completely different.
NFC South: Best In Football
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Go ahead and stop me if you’ve heard this before: everything in the NFL is cyclical. I know, it’s been more times than Stephen A. Smith yells about someone having the “unmitigated gall”, but it’s also extremely accurate.
Five years ago the NFC West was a disaster. Two years ago it was the toughest division in football. This year the entire division, outside of Seattle, will be as inept as the Florida Gator offense.
The past few years the NFC South hasn’t had much to brag about. Obviously, the last two NFC representatives in the Super Bowl have come from the division, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at; it’s just that there hasn’t been much else to get excited about.
That should change this year as the South looks to be the toughest division in the NFC, if not the entire NFL. (The AFC West may have something to say about that last part).
Greatest Falcons Of All-Time
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’m from Atlanta so of course I’m a Falcons fan. The franchise has had some pretty consistent success over the past decade being a perennial playoff team.
They aren’t as prestigious as San Francisco, Dallas or Pittsburgh but they have had some great talent. Who are the best Falcons of all time?
Falcons Offseason
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2016 season ended in heart break for the Atlanta Falcons. I don’t need to go into it, we all know what happened. On the bright side, I think they were a year ahead of schedule based on the results.
Now the question is can they at least get back to the Super Bowl in 2017? The last team that lost the Super Bowl and reached it the following year was the 1992 Buffalo Bills. I’m saying that to just put it out there that it’s going to be a difficult journey.
The Game May 6
Falcons Draft Grade
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Falcons exceeded expectations in Dan Quinn’s second year as head coach.
They finished with an 11-6 record, 2nd seed in the NFC and advanced to Super Bowl LI. As you all know they blew a 28-3 3rd quarter lead and lost to New England in overtime.
Best Case Scenario
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I’ve mentioned before how little faith I put into mock drafts and after this year’s first round you can see why. If there was a NFL Draft Bracket, similar to March Madness, predicting the events of Thursday night would’ve been like predicting South Carolina to make it to the Final Four.
Well, I put about as much stock into the post-draft grades as I do the mock drafts. So, rather than give each team a grade that will surely come back to bite me at some point, I’ve listed each team, along with the best and worst outcome they can expect from their drafted players. Some of these may or may not be realistic. I’ll let you decide.
NFC South Draft Preview
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2017 NFL Draft in Philadelphia is on the horizon. We get to see where future stars will land and get to see if teams will address their needs. I’m going to take a look at the NFC South and look at some possible landing spots for the 1st round of the draft.
