TAMPA, Fla. — How many victories will it take to win the NFC South Division this season?
A losing record was good enough twice in the past four years, and no team in the division has won more than 10 games since Tom Brady quarterbacked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 13-4 record in the 2021 season.
The Carolina Panthers ended Tampa Bay’s four-year reign atop the division by winning a tiebreaker among three 8-9 teams last season.
A strong finish to the season didn’t save Raheem Morris after his second year with the Atlanta Falcons ended up yielding their eighth straight losing record. They ended up hiring two-time NFL coach of the year Kevin Stefanski, who was fired after a six-season run in charge of the Cleveland Browns.
The New Orleans Saints went 4-1 down the stretch after a 2-10 start, and during that turnaround, they may have found a franchise quarterback in Tyler Shough, who made an impression as a 26-year-old rookie.