S.I. Shows No Love to NFC South

Sports Illustrated's Peter King has already released a ranking list for the 2009 season. Yeah, it's still 10-11 weeks before anyone even enters training camp...but somehow, he's ready to call it. Nevermind that we don't know who Anquan Boldin will be playing for, or even if Brett Favre will be back this year. Still, it's never too early to start looking at how the league stacks up.

The top ten spots on his list look like this...

1. New England (please no!)

2. Pittsburgh (okay)

3. NY Giants (one of the best NFC teams...sure)

4. Chicago (are you serious?)

5. Indianapolis (will miss the playoffs this year...yeah, I said it)

6. Philadelphia (probably better than 6)
7. San Diego (nah)

8. Baltimore (will miss playoffs)

9. Dallas (hahahahahahahaha)

10. Tennessee (hit or miss)

Hmm! No NFC South teams in the top ten. That seems a little dumb to me, since this is the best division in the NFL. Well, at least is was last year.

The NFC South is like the SEC in College Football. The teams are strong, they just beat up on each other every weekend. It's tough to make it through the South as the champion and still have juice left over. If the Saints had beaten Carolina in N.O. on the last regular season game of the season, that would have completed an amazing trend in the division. When the Panthers won that game, it was the only time all year that an away team had won a division game in the NFC South.

Here's where the division teams rank on King's list...

11. Atlanta (The Falcons Suck)

18. Carolina (playoff team)

24. New Orleans (I could see them in play to win the division)

26. Tampa Bay (they had the talent to win the division last year. they won't fall THIS much)