n Week 7, the New Orleans Saints put up a monster number on the winless Indianapolis Colts by lighting up Dwight Freeney and company for a season-high 62 points. Not only was the Saints’ offense unstoppable, but superstar quarterback Drew Brees appeared to be on track with more touchdown passes (5) than incompletions (4). This performance was impressive considering that Brees was coming off his worst game of the season against the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which he threw three interceptions.

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Coming into Week 8, the consensus around the league was that the New Orleans Saints would put on another offensive display for the record books as they were set to go up against another winless team in the St. Louis Rams. With the Rams not having starting quarterback Sam Bradford under center in Week 8 due to an ankle sprain and the St. Louis defense being one of the worst team in the league, the Saints should have cruised to victory.

Drew Brees

Unfortunately for Drew Brees and company, that didn’t turn out to be the case as the St. Louis Rams came to play in Week 8. Without Sam Bradford, the Rams were thought to seriously struggle on offense as they would try to ride Pro Bowl running back Steven Jackson the whole way. Even though Jackson has been injury prone over time and can’t really support an entire offense by himself as a result, the Rams franchise back really stepped up in Week 8 with his best performance of the season.

With 191 total yards (159 rushing, 32 receiving) and two touchdowns, Steven Jackson was much better than anticipated against the New Orleans Saints as he was able to single-handedly lead the St. Louis Rams to their first win of the season, 31-21.

This first win of the year for the St. Louis Rams might be a little too late as it would be hard to rebound from the six losses on the season, but there might be an outside chance that the Rams could get back into playoff contention if they can continue to win football games from here on out. The main concern for the Rams as of right now is the health of starting quarterback Sam Bradford. St. Louis needs to get Bradford healthy and back on the gridiron or Steven Jackson will almost certainly go down with yet another injury that might keep him out for the rest of the season.

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Besides two divisional games against the 6-1 San Francisco 49ers (Week 13 and 17) and perhaps the toughest game of the year against the Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 16), the St. Louis Rams have a relatively easy schedule from here on out with games against the Cleveland Browns (Week 9), Arizona Cardinals (Week 9 and 12), Seattle Seahawks (Week 11 and 14) and Cincinnati Bengals (Week 15).

With that kind of remaining schedule, the St. Louis Rams could possibly win seven or more games and be right back in the hunt in the NFC West division!

Chicago Bears @ New Orleans Saints Sun. Sept. 18, 2011 1 p.m. EST

In Week 1 of the NFL regular season, there were quite a few surprises around the league in terms of players and teams stepping up and playing much better than anticipated. The one player that made more headlines than any other in Week 1 was rookie quarterback Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers as the former Heisman trophy winner set a rookie record with 422 passing yards while throwing for two touchdowns and running for one.

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Brian Urlacher

Even though everyone was talking about Cam Newton after Week 1 and the fact that the kid could be the next superstar quarterback in the NFL, the one team that pulled off a big upset and proved that they might be one of the best teams in the league once again was the Chicago Bears. With an unbelievable performance against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 in which they held that potent offense to just six points, the Chicago Bears were officially a legitimate Super Bowl title contender with a great defense and a surprisingly potent offense both on the ground and through the air.

In Week 2, the Chicago Bears will have their work cut out for them once again against another great team out of the NFC South division in the New Orleans Saints. Much like the Bears, the Saints put on a show in Week 1 as well as they played much better than anticipated against the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. Even though Drew Brees and company weren’t able to beat the Packers in the season opener last Thursday night at Lambeau Field, they gave the champions a run for their money and almost pulled off the unlikely comeback in the second half.

This week the Saints will have to go head-to-head against yet another lockdown defense out of the NFC North division by taking on Brian Urlacher and company. The one thing that the Saints have going for them heading into this matchup is the home field advantage at the Superdome in the Big Easy.

New Orleans Saints

Personally, I believe the New Orleans Saints have come into this NFL regular season with a chip on their shoulder and the goal of proving to everyone that they are still amongst the elite class in the NFL. After Week 1’s impressive performance against the Packers, the Saints seem like the real deal and ready to get back on track by taking control of the NFC South division.

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As of right now, the New Orleans Saints are favored to come out on top in this showdown of NFC Conference heavyweights with a -7 point spread. That does sound a bit high considering the fact that the Bears absolutely dominated the Falcons in Week 1, but the Saints should get the win in my opinion as I do believe they are the better team.

Take the Bears at +7.

#1 Green Bay Packers

The defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers will start the NFL regular season as the league’s top dogs and the favorite to win it all at season’s end. Whether or not Aaron Rodgers and company can live up to the hype and dominate the NFL remains to be seen, but this season they will get off to quick start against one of the league’s elite in the New Orleans Saints.

With a potent and a lockdown like the Packers have, this team has the potential to be a great team for a longtime, but this season they will have to deal with the pressure of a being a defending champ and if they can continue to play well they might be Super Bowl bound once again.

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#2 New England Patriots

The New England Patriots were arguably the best team in the NFL during the regular season last year, but dropped the ball against the division rival New York Jets in the playoffs. This season Tom Brady and company will be back with a vengeance and some upgrades on both sides of the football with the additions of Pro Bowl wide receiver Chad Ochocinco and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.

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If Ochocinco and Haynesworth payoff, the Jets will be in trouble in the AFC East division and the Patriots will be incredibly tough to stop once again this season.

#3 Pittsburgh Steelers

Last season the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to become one of the league’s elite teams once again as they dominated the competition in the AFC Conference and got all the way to the Super Bowl. Despite losing to the Green Bay Packers in the big game last February, the Pittsburgh Steelers will come into this NFL regular season looking to get right back on track and become a dominant squad once again.

The competition has only gotten tougher for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they will have to face an improved Baltimore Ravens team within their own division (AFC North), but Big Ben and company seem confident they can compete with the best of the best this year.

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#4 Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles made a lot of noise in the NFL offseason by adding multiple Pro Bowlers and becoming the Miami Heat of the NFL. Now that they have tons of weapons on both sides of the football and have re-signed superstar quarterback Michael Vick to a $100 million dollar deal, the Eagles are built to win now and will have extremely high expectations heading into the NFL regular season.

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#5 New Orleans Saints

Last year was a disappointment for the New Orleans Saints as they failed to win the NFC South division title and lost in the first round of the playoffs against the lowly Seattle Seahawks. This year they seem to be ready to turn things around with a new-look in the backfield with rookie running back Mark Ingram.

Whether or not the New Orleans Saints can get the best of the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South remains to be seen, but they will definitely be looking to bounce back with a vengeance this season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6)

As perhaps one of the most surprising teams in the NFL last season, the future of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is looking bright to say the least. Coming into last season, the Bucs weren’t considered to be in the conversation for the playoffs in the NFC Conference, but that quickly changed after quarterback Josh Freeman and company got off to a great start.

Even though everyone was waiting for the Bucs to fall flat on their face and turn back into one of the worst teams in the league, that never happen and Tampa Bay actually gave the New Orleans Saints and the ev

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entual NFC South division champion Atlanta Falcons a run for their money in the division.

Making the playoffs this season is a very good possibility for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they have relatively the same team intact and now have the experience needed to make the next step. Winning the NFC South is a stretch for the Bucs playing in the same division as the Saints and the Falcons, but they might be able to contend for the NFC Wildcard.

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New Orleans Saints (11-5)

Last season the New Orleans Saints were the defending Super Bowl champions and seemed like they hadn’t lost step during certain times in the year. Around midseason though, the consensus was that the Saints weren’t the best team in the NFL anymore and needed to do that much more to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Fortunately, the New Orleans Saints were able to clinch a playoff spot and keep hopes of repeating alive, but then they were dominated by the lowly Seattle Seahawks in the first round. This surprised everyone and made q

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uite a few people believe that the Saints might need to make some moves in order to get back to Super Bowl title contender status next season.

The move that this team made to get back in contention was drafting Heisman trophy winning running back Mark Ingram out of Alabama and cutting their ties with former Heisman trophy winner Reggie Bush by trading him to the Miami Dolphins. Whether or not these moves are just what this team needs to get back on top remains to be seen, but I believe the Saints’ running game will get a boost with Ingram instead of Bush this season.

Atlanta Falcons (13-3, Division title)

Much like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, the Atlanta Falcons were one of the most surprising teams in the league as they went from a promising young team into a legitimate Super Bowl title contender in just one season.

With quarterback Matt Ryan looking like a perennial Pro Bowler and both Roddy White and Michael Turner becoming dominant forces in the Falcons offense, Atlanta was able to have a breakout season and become arguably the best team in the NFC Conference.

This season I believe the Atlanta Falcons will repeat as NFC South division champions and will see a new star emerge in rookie wide receiver Julio Jones playing across from Roddy White.

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Carolina Panthers (2-14)

The Carolina Panthers were the worst team in the NFL last season with little or no hope for the future. Even though the Panthers thought they had drafted the future face of the franchise in quarterback Jimmy Clausen, Carolina were disappointed with their draft pick and decided to top it this time around by drafting Heisman trophy winning quarterback Cam Newton with the number one overall pick.

Whether or not Cam Newton turns out to be what the Carolina Panthers had hoped for remains to be seen, but the rookie quarterback will almost certainly get some much needed time under center this season.

Division Winner Prediction: Atlanta Falcons