Christmas is a time of wonder; a time of joy; a time of wishing; a time of giving. While I, nor Santa, can give each NFL team what they need this year, there's certainly no question as to what the fans are wishing for. So for Christmas 2015, let's take a look at what every NFC South fanbase -- the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- is wishing for this year.
Panthers:
Perfect season and/or Super Bowl.
Carolina fans have so much to be thankful for this year, but this is a post about greed -- err, wishing. Sorry.
Anyway, this team has been the best team in football this year. That's essentially indisputable at 14-0. But what do Panthers fans really want? Do they want to go 16-0, or do they want the Super Bowl? As we've seen in the past, it's pretty damn hard to run the table and end up winning it all. So my question to any fan reading this: would you be happy winning the big game even if you lost one of the final two regular season games?
If I were of Panthers Nation, I'd just want the ring; the first in franchise history.
Falcons:
Man, the Falcons are such a weird team to break down. Is Matt Ryan a good quarterback? Is their defense like what we saw early in the year or what we saw later? Don't even get me started on the offensive line...
Ultimately, this team is just pretty average. So what should a Falcons fan be wishing for? Some freaking answers.
The easiest one to find may be Matt Ryan. His career was trending upward for the first five seasons of his career, but he's stalled the last three, with this being his second-most mediocre season yet. Let's see what he does the last two games of the season, and then decide if the Falcons should be looking to draft a quarterback in the first few rounds to push him, or if he's the guy for the future.
Either way, this team has a too much averageness in them with the exception of Julio Jones and maybe -- maybe -- Devonte Freeman.
Saints:
Defense?
Yep, definitely defense. Drew Brees has done nothing but set record after record for years with this Saints offense, but only one Super Bowl to show? The defense has always been the downfall of this team, and it's clear as day that Mickey Loomis' time as GM may be coming to a close. Three losing seasons in four years with a guy like Brees at the helm is simply inexcusable, and he's wasting his quarterback's final prime years.
Bring in a new GM who can adequately build that defense that's been missing since BountyGate (coincidentally...).
Buccaneers:
Pass defense.
How about that pass defense, huh? I didn't know Case Keenum was such a great NFL quarterback until last Thursday night. It's not even that they give up an inordinate amount of yards, as they rank closer to the middle of the league than the bottom, but they're allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete over 69 percent of their passes, and have a 28:11 TD:INT ratio. That's been a major factor in the team's overall mediocreness this year at 6-8.
Now, I would've had this Jameis Winston-related because he's been wildly inconsistent all year. However, he's a rookie and still has some decent numbers. Let's give the guy another year or two to develop. Though, under Lovie Smith's tutelage, that's easier said than done.
