The NFC South was a rough division in 2025, with three teams tying for first place with an 8-9 record. Those three teams were the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Atlanta Falcons — with Carolina being crowned champion because of tiebreaker rules.
The lone team in the division who found a way to separate, in the wrong direction, was the New Orleans Saints. The Saints finished 6-11, and were alone at the bottom of the division. Despite that reality, New Orleans has been a team this offseason that has been discussed with so much excitement and optimism.
The reason why that’s the case is simple: people believe the Saints found a quarterback in Tyler Shough. The way New Orleans is being talked about because of Shough should send a message to Atlanta ahead of its training camp battle.
The NFC South is sending Falcons another reminder about finding the right quarterback
New Orleans drafted Shough in the second round of the 2025 Draft, and although he lost a training camp battle to Spencer Rattler, he found his way into the starting lineup by Week 9. In his action last season, Shough completed 67.6% of his passes for 2,384 yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions, and in his starts, New Orleans was 5-4.
Four of those wins came in the Saints’ final five games, before Atlanta sent them into the offseason with an L. The point, though, is that New Orleans ended the year with momentum, and with people feeling good about Shough. The belief is that will carry over into 2026.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, the Falcons have a really talented team, on both sides of the ball. Still, there are questions surrounding the franchise. The biggest question is who will be the team’s quarterback, and how well will they play. That will be decided in a training camp in a battle between Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa.
If Atlanta lands on the right guy, a guy capable of helping the team win games in 2026 and beyond, the Falcons will be talked about in a fashion that recognizes all the talent on their roster.
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