Preseason NFC Rankings

NFC Champ: Saints (1)
Division Winners:
South: Saints
North: Bears
East: Eagles
West: 49ers (2)
Wildcards:
Cowboys
Seahawks
The Rest, in order:
Panthers
Giants
Rams (3)
Cardinals
Falcons
Vikings
Buccaneers
Redskins
Packers
Lions

1-The Saints had the best offense in the NFL last year, and have only added weapons. They lost no one of significacne from last year (sorry, Joe, you were hurt) but added Eric Johnson and Robert Meachem. Johnson will be effective because of Brees' affection for TEs, while Meachem gretly improves the depth at WR. The Saints may eventually regret passing on Posluzny, especially since Keyshawn became available, and they still need help at OLB. In any case, the defense has made great strides in the secondary and lost no one. They will still have som succetiblity to the run, but the return of Roman Harper will help contain long runs, and the Saints were better up the middle with Hollis Thomas at DT last year. If the offense is working at its best, this team will not see many run plays anyway. The secondary went from one of the worst in the league to possibly the best in the conference. Inthe division, expect that no team will be able to keep up with the Saints' scoring.

2-Expect the Niners to look good this year. Alex Smith, Frank Gore, and Nate Clements give this team a strong core, and Seattle is getting older. If the secondary looks like it did last year in Seattle, this will be the year they are finally dethroned.

3- This is where it gets confusing. No one in the NFC is without their flaws, but these three teams have a lot of questions. The Rams have all of the talent, but seemed to give up on themselves last year, I never trust the Cardinals, no matter how good they look on paper, the Falcons could lose Michael Vick to suspension, and if they do that could be better or worse. I may be the last Joey Galloway fan there is. I would rather have him than Michael Vick, although that team is not really set up for him. The Buccaneers could be very good or very bad depending on how much Jeff Garcia has in the tank and whether Gaines Adams can contribute right away. I would expect that what will hold all of these teams back is the talent in their divisions. The Tampa defense will really be troubled by New Orleans and Carolina, the Falcons can't seem to figure out New Orleans, and Zona and St. Louis are stuck with SF and Seattle.