New Orleans Saints: NFC South standings heading into Week 1 of 2021
The New Orleans Saints kick off the 2021 regular season on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. While it’s technically a home game for the black and gold, they’ll be playing this matchup in Jacksonville due to damage from Hurricane Ida.
This is certainly a setback for the Saints and they’re already in a tough situation when it comes to trying to win their fifth straight NFC South title. The favorite to win the division this year is Tampa Bay, who not only won the Super Bowl seven months ago but kept their entire roster intact, which isn’t easy to do.
The Saints have a talented roster but losing Drew Brees and a few defensive playmakers over the offseason paired with Michael Thomas missing the first chunk of the season is going to hurt them. Jameis Winston might rebound since his days with Tampa Bay but we haven’t seen him start a regular-season game in two years so who knows what’s going to happen there?
As for the other two teams, it feels like a long shot for either of them to win the division or make any kind of noise whatsoever. The Falcons have a rookie head coach and continue to see their defense flounder year after year while the Panthers are hoping Sam Darnold can solve their quarterback woes. Reading that sentence is comical.
Let’s check out what each NFC South team has in store for them this weekend.