The run that the Saints went on took us by surprise. Indeed, from the pre- and off-season Graham and I both fancied the Panthers to be the err, big dogs of the division. As it happened, they were pussycats and the Saints went marching on and it’s now history. But enough of me murdering metaphors…

This NFC South has been particularly well balanced in recent years, with all four teams making the post season and each team has made the championship game and all but the Falcons made the Super Bowl since 2002. That could make things hard, but could make them fun too!

So let’s take a look…

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To start with we’re back to New York. Less than a week after releasing Thomas Jones (who has since signed with the Cheifs) the Jets have added LaDanian Tomlinson to the line-up. He’s got a fair deal to be a backup and although I think Jones was a better option, they’ve got LDT for a lot less than Jones was due. It would essentially be a crime not to use this as an excuse to post Electric Glide as unlike running backs that never gets old.

Carrying on with aging running backs, Larry Johnson is now a Redskin. He’s signed a surprisingly sensible 3 year deal that makes things interesting and has certainly improved the squad. If we can sort the line out, we might be able to actually make some yards now. Will Montgomery has resigned in this area.
Johnson has 2 years on Portis, but considerably less mileage. Hopefully he can contribute.
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So it all kicks off in a matter of hours! Week 1 is here, so this is our last chance to get our picks for the season published.

These are based on what we’ve been watching, what we’ve been following, some blind faith and our guts. These are are our predictions for the 12 post-season teams of the 2009 season.

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This isn’t a complete look at everything that happened this week. Just some tit-bits to keep us going as week two has now wrapped up.

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Continuing with our Favourite Four series, currently on running backs, we look at the third player on our list.

We reiterate that these are some of our favourite players. We can’t vouch that these will be the best players in absolute terms, have the biggest fantasy football upside or even be any good (though they might be)… but they’re players that we like to watch.

DeAngelo Williams of the Carolina Panthers gets the call this week.

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As we mentioned before, we’re keeping an eye on what’s happening in the pre-season. In case there’s anything that will affect our predictions for the 12 post-season teams (coming soon!)

Well, there have been a whole load of injuries… here are just some that could have wider impact.

Note that this update does not cover the four games that took place on the 13th August.
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Our second look at the NFC South Predictions, now just a few weeks before training camps open.

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This isn’t really a surprise, not once free agency got underway and there was so little interest in him, but he’s getting paid to the tune of nearly $17 million dollars for the 2009 season.

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On paper the NFC South has the toughest schedule of any division. They’re matched against the ever-tough NFC East and the AFC East who all (well, nearly all) had really good 2008 seasons. Whilst the schedule strength is measured against last year’s performance, it’s still an indicator worth paying attention to.

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