Grading Each 2012 NFL Team: NFC South Edition

Since it's a little too early to look forward--and don't let all this free agency and draft talk fool you--let's look back at how all 32 teams did in 2012.  These grades are quite obviously subjective, but I assessed a few things in my mind: 1) Did this team improve, maintain or decline in performance from previous years?; 2) Did this team maximize the talent level on its roster?; and 3) What does the quality of wins and losses say about these guys?

We now continue our series with the NFC South:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 7 - 9

Overall Grade: C+
Although not without his critics, Greg Schiano made good progress with a very difficult locker room turnaround situation in Tampa in this year.  The crystal ball is still a bit murky with this team's collective abilities, however, as the Buccaneers followed a 5 - 1 hot streak with a 1 - 5 slide against most of their more competitive components on the schedule.

High Points: Tampa's got talent with some recent acquisitions that are looking good for the long haul.  Rookie RB Doug Martin earned his first-round keep with a great debut performance and WR Vincent Jackson has [mostly] made Josh Freeman seem more capable under center than he's looked in three years.  On the other side of the ball, the Buccaneers made huge strides from one of the worst teams against the run in 2011 to the very best rushing defense in the league with Gerald McCoy stepping up in a big way.

Low Points: Unfortunately for Tampa, that No. 1 rush defense was complemented with the very worst pass defense in the league, and a schedule full of Matt Ryan, Drew Brees and the Mannings was unkind to the Buccaneers.  Greg Schiano's also still sorting through the locker room ghosts that made his predecessor Raheem Morris go from a young-ry team reformer to a mutinied lame duck who ended his short tenure on an 0 - 10 slide.  Given multiple anonymous rumblings from the 2012 roster, it sounds like Schiano could be walking a thin line between discipline and micromanagement with more than a few players.

Homework for 2013: Do lots of trust falls at training camp?  But more importantly, make some upgrades in the secondary to make it serviceable again, be it on the field or on the sidelines.  The loss of Aqib Talib looks bigger in retrospect than the Tampa front offense may want to acknowledge, and far too many teams were able to exploit these holes in 2012.

Atlanta Falcons, 13 - 3

Overall Grade: A
For all of the consistently impressive regular season performances from these Falcons over the past five years, 2012-13 will be remembered as the season that they finally got over that first playoff hump in the Matt Ryan-Mike Smith era.

High Points: Starting out the season with a franchise-best (and season-best) 8 - 0 is pretty darn good.  Even though Michael Turner's production dropped off enough to get voted off the island at the end of the season, Matt Ryan's three-headed receiving monster of Jones, White and Gonzalez more than made up for it on this never-better offense.  No moment captures this better than the Falcons' resurrection from certain playoff death in the divisional round with the Seahawks.  Down by 2 with half a minute to go, Ryan drove his team 50 yards down the field with a timeout to spare to set up the game-winning field goal against a very hot Seattle team.

Low Points: There aren't very many for this Atlanta team, but their near-collapse against the Seahawks and then actual collapse against the 49ers in the playoffs still raise questions about their mettle under pressure in the postseason.  They started out both games with 20+ point leads only to look hapless and panicky for most of the second half.  It's hard to say whether fans are feeling more or less confident going into 2013 since Atlanta's fate seemed tied to chance more than start-to-finish dominance in the postseason.

Homework for 2013: The Falcons appear to be making good progress in retaining their most valuable player, Tony Gonzalez, for one more shot at a ring next season.  With vets John Abraham, Dunta Robinson and Michael Turner being released, however, the Falcons will have some other assignments to take on during the offseason.  RB Jacquizz Rodgers looks ready to take on a starting role, but there are presently bigger holes on the defense that Brent Grimes alone cannot plug.

Carolina Panthers, 7 - 9

Overall Grade: C-
Without question, the Panthers did not live up to expectations this season by starting out 2 - 8.  Cam Newton took a step backward on and off the field as a young player just learning what it's really like to lose.  Even so, the youthful Panthers and Newton fought through their growing pains and now look more poised to crawl up the NFC totem pole next season.

High Points: Credit the Panthers for finding new life after a very disappointing start.  Unlike the downtrodden Chiefs and Jaguars, Carolina picked up the late season pieces and went on a 5 - 1 run to close out 2012.  Defensive ROY Luke Kuechly will only get better and better on his side of the ball, but right now this team clearly rests on the shoulders of Cam Newton.  During the first 10 games, Newton tossed 9 TDs (and 4 rushing TDs) to 10 INTs.  Over the next 6 games, he threw 10 TDs (and 4 more on the ground) to just 2 picks.

Low Points: On the whole, this season was not kind to Carolina, and the team didn't exactly take it all in stride.  Coach Ron Rivera barely slid off the hot seat while GM Marty Hurney did not.  During the season's dark ages, Cam Newton looked about as poised as Kristen Stewart trying to shake off her mom at the mall.  Who could forget this gem of a press conference quote?: "The past couple of games have been the same script, by the same director.  It's kind of getting boring... I'm going to bring in a suggestion box.  And I want your suggestions in that suggestion box, because I sure don't know." We should have known this entertainer and icon would be absolutely bored by the 2012 season given that he bears no personal obligation to lead his team through its struggles.

Homework for 2013: The biggest question mark for the Panthers right now is how to go forward without OC Rob Chudzinski, who recently took a head coaching position with the Cleveland Browns.  If Cam Newton's late season performance (and stellar 2011 rookie year) is any indication, the Panthers found serious momentum on offense under Chud's watch that will be difficult to replicate under just any leadership.  The new front office should make this a top priority now that Carolina has a stable core of talent on the field.

New Orleans Saints, 7 - 9

Overall Grade: C-
Depending on your expectations for the scandal-trodden Saints going into 2012, you were likely either severely disappointed or just watching the inevitable, discombobulated par for the course unfold.  After going 13 - 3 in 2011, New Orleans was never able to string more than three wins together at a time with a revolving door of head coaches and the worst defense in the NFL history under one-and-done DC Steve Spagnuolo.

High Points: Misery loves company.  The one true high point for Saints fans this season had to be stopping the undefeated rival Falcons dead in their tracks in the Superdome in Week 9... and maybe also watching Atlanta's Super Bowl hopes crumble in the NFC Championship before they could print their February plane tickets to New Orleans.

Low Points: Speaking of the Falcons, they did what no other team in over 50 weeks of football was able to in Week 13: prevent Drew Brees from scoring a single touchdown and intercept the increasingly flustered QB 5 times.  That would have taken more of the Saints' sad spotlight in 2012 if it wasn't for the team's beleaguered defense that allowed more yards in a season than any other team in NFL history and ranked 31st or 32nd in every major statistical category.

Homework for 2013: To say the Saints have their work cut out for them is an understatement, but at least they have Sean Payton back to restore order to this organization.  In addition to addressing a big salary cap challenge, the team quite obviously needs to put most of its effort into defensive turnaround.  Although in the minority, I'm actually a fan of NOLA picking up ex-Cowboys DC Rob Ryan to do the job.  His, erm, emotional style and 3 - 4 proclivities should win this roster over fairly easily, especially one with nowhere to go but up.  And looking back on previous first round acquisitions like Sedrick Ellis and Cam Jordan, GM Mickey Loomis would do well to lean on Ryan to help identify young talent needed for this team to rise back into contention.