2009 NFL Preview Part 1: NFC South

Greetings all...I will be going through a 9-part NFL preview...8 divisions...and a Playoff/award prediction section...enjoy it...

1. New Orleans Saints (10-6) - This one may surprise some people...but hear me out...first things first...the NFC South is down from last year...plain and simple....now let me tell you why I like NO....that offense is simply dynamic...Brees is a top-flight QB...I'm a big Pierre Thomas fan (now that they've settled on him as the primary ball carrier), and the receiving corps with a healthy Colston, an established Lance Moore, and the almost-forgotten Robert Meachem (on the outside, I've been hearing good things)....this is a 30-point offense... but the O is never the problem here...they've brought in numerous guys (including a new DC) on the other side of the ball...Malcolm Jenkins is an impact guy at Corner, and Darren Sharper solidifies the safety play....add in guys like Jabari Greer at corner and Paul Spicer on the D-line to compliment Sedrick Ellis, Will Smith, and company....I like the D alot too....I'm sold...
2. Carolina Panthers (9-7) - You can't, and never will be able to, sell me on the Jake Delhomme experience....add in the obligatory Steve Smith injury (already), Muhsin Muhammed on the other side (ew) and the fluke potential of Deangelo Williams....and I'll say 8-8...I do like Jonathan Stewart emerging a bit though... Honestly the defense is pretty solid behind Jon Beason and the one-year-tendered Julius Peppers, but the secondary is fairly shaky and counting on some young guys in a division with Brees and Ryan...not good enough to overcome the offense....
3. Atlanta Falcons (8-8) - The streak of non-back-to-back winning campaigns continues...and it breaks my heart too, don't worry....there's alot of optimism in the fan community about this club this year...but if you look deeper, it should be reserved a bit....yes, the offense has the potential to be lights-out good with Ryan, Turner, White, Jenkins, and Gonzalez forming one of the most complete batteries in the league....but Turner toted the ball 370+ times last year (usually an indicator of a return to earth) and the O-line leaves a little to be desired...that being said, I like the offense....but the other side of the ball is ugly....very ugly.... yes, you have John Abraham and 2 top draft picks...but losing the best corner, 2 of the 3 linebackers, and best d-tackle from an already bad defense....yikes... Von Hutchins and Chris Houston isn't a starting NFL corner tandem... and that's before getting into Stephen Nicholas and the aging Mike Peterson at LB....I'm not exactly sold....but I hope I'm wrong (obviously)
4. Tampa Bay Bucs (6-10) - Josh Freeman, Byron Leftwich, Luke McCown....yikes.... I'm actually a Leftwich fan...but he's not a legit starter and I'm about as opposed to the Freeman pick as anybody could be.... Derrick Ward could be a 1400 yd. rusher, but the receiving corps remains bad (Bryant's breakout aside, he's not consistent)....there are questions on defense as well (Barber is old, replacing Derrick Brooks, Gaines Adams' production among them)...One more year and a QB away....