NFL Divisional Power Rankings: NFC South not the worst

[Arkansas Bengal]

NFL Divisional Power Rankings: NFC South not the worst

 

By John Breech | CBSSports.com

 

July 3, 2015 12:08 pm ET

 

If you watched the NFL at all last season, you're probably still having nightmares about any NFC South game you were forced to watch. The division was a bigger disaster than the Greg Schiano-era in Tampa Bay.

The Panthers weren't good. The Saints were bad. And the Buccaneers were literally the worst team in football.

Then there was the Falcons, who seemed to somehow find a new way to lose every week. I mean, who can forget that Week 8 loss in England, where Atlanta blew a 21-0 halftime lead to Detroit and ended up losing 22-21.

That loss was one of 29 losses that other divisions handed NFC South teams in 2014. Overall, the NFC South went 10-29-1 in 2014, which is the second worst division record since the divisions were realigned in 2002.

That one tie -- by the Panthers -- is the only thing that kept the NFC South from dropping to 10-30 in 2014, which would have tied the 2008 NFC West for worst non-divisional record.

So clearly, the NFL South is going to be dead last in our divisional power rankings heading into 2015. Right? RIGHT?

Wrong.

The NFC South checks in at No. 7.

Let's get to the rankings to see where every other division checks in.

 

NFL Division Power Rankings

 

Breech: The AFC North is pro football's best division because of ... Andy Dalton. Don't laugh. He has the Bengals on par with the Ravens and Steelers.

 

1. AFC North: If these rankings were based only on winning playoff games, Andy Dalton alone would have the AFC North in last, but thankfully for Dalton, the regular season matters here, too. The AFC North went 26-13-1 in non-division games in 2014, thanks in large part to the Bengals, who went 7-2-1 out of division. The AFC North also sent three teams to the playoffs in 2014, which is the second time that's happened since 2011. The only other division to send three teams just once in that span is the AFC West, which did it in 2013. (AFC North vs. NFC West and AFC West in 2015)

 

2. NFC West: The NFC West could eventually tumble in the rankings if the 49ers can't overcome the loss of Jim Harbaugh. Although the 49ers won't have a shirtless Harbaugh running around San Francisco, they will have the next best thing: A head coach who wears a kilt.

If the NFC West is going to implode anytime soon, this year seems like the one where it might happen. The Seahawks are dealing with a distraction in the form of Russell Wilson's contract, the Cardinals are relying on a quarterback who's coming off a torn ACL (Carson Palmer) and the Rams are giving the keys to their offense to Nick Foles. The NFC West gets bonus points though for being the NFC's Super Bowl representative for that past three years. (NFC West vs. NFC North and AFC North in 2015)

 

3. NFC North: The NFC North is one of only two divisions -- along with the NFC East -- that's sent all four teams to the playoffs at least one time over the past five years. That means the division has been consistent, but for some reason, consistent also means crazy in the NFC North. The Bears, Vikings and Lions were unable to crack the .500 mark in the season after they made the playoffs and all three of those teams have hired a new coach since the beginning of 2014. The reason the NFC North is ranked so high is because there's no horrible team and there's one really good team. I'll let you guess who that is and remember to answer in the form of a question. (NFC North vs. NFC West and AFC West in 2015)

 

4. AFC West: This actually seems like it could be an awkward year for the AFC West: Peyton Manning is slowly falling apart, half the teams want to move to Los Angeles, Philip Rivers isn't sure if he wants to move to Los Angeles and a team coached by Andy Reid seems to have the most stability. This might be the final year we see the AFC West ranked this high. This division is the only one that hasn't produced a Super Bowl champion since 2002, when the NFL realigned its divisions. (AFC West vs. NFC North and AFC North in 2015)

 

5. AFC East: The AFC East is the hardest division to rank heading into 2015 because every team seemed to get better this offseason. However, the Bills and Jets still don't have a starting quarterback and the Dolphins have proven over the past six years that they're not capable of producing anything over eight wins. If the Patriots can win one game for every fun thing Gronk has done this summer, then they might go undefeated this year. (AFC East vs. NFC East and AFC South in 2015)

 

6. NFC East: It's hard to gauge where the NFC East is going to be this season: The Cowboys have already lost two players to suspension, Tom Coughlin may or may not believe in modern medicine and Eli Manning hasn't been putting the "E-L-I" in Elite recently. The only sure thing seems to be the Eagles, but who knows how they'll play after getting rid of Evan Mathis, Nick Foles, Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy over the offseason. (NFC East vs. NFC South and AFC East in 2015)

 

7. NFC South: Let's just blame Mike Smith for everything that went wrong for the NFC South in 2014 and move on. The Falcons did that, so I'm going to also. (NFC South vs. NFC East and AFC South in 2015)

 

8. AFC South: Unless the Jaguars clone Andrew Luck and then trade the clone to the Texans for J.J. Watt, it's hard to see any AFC South team but the Colts being good this year. The Texans are the second best team in the division, but that's not saying much since they seem content to go into every season without anyone who actually resembles a starting quarterback. The AFC South's 13-27 non-division record in 2014 was the fifth-worst for any division since 2002. (AFC South vs. NFC South and AFC East in 2015)

 

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25232334/nfl-divisional-power-rankings-nfc-south-not-the-worst

[Dautcom08]

Yet the NFC East crap team matchups will pull 80% prime time games every year.

[scharm]

The GRIND you have to go through to win the North has not proved to be valuable for the Bengals in the post season.

 

Last season the AFC North struggle doomed the top 2 teams with Bell and Green knocked out.

 

 

The AFC North champ will likely have to fight it out until the final weeks and have no more than 11 wins.   3 seed is the highest most likely.   Then you are suffering through road game scenario with these 3 Broncos/Manning.   Patriots/Brady.   Colts/Luck.

[|SF2|]

The GRIND you have to go through to win the North has not proved to be valuable for the Bengals in the post season.

 

Last season the AFC North struggle doomed the top 2 teams with Bell and Green knocked out.

 

 

The AFC North champ will likely have to fight it out until the final weeks and have no more than 11 wins.   3 seed is the highest most likely.   Then you are suffering through road game scenario with these 3 Broncos/Manning.   Patriots/Brady.   Colts/Luck.

I am not sold on the Colts and their home field advantage yet.  I don't think they are all that but their HORRIFIC division makes it much easier to get that bye and/or  home game.  At worse I see a home WC game for them.