The New Orleans Saints rode the perfect storm of emotion and the arrival of great talent all the way to the NFC Championship Game, enchanting a nation and helping to lift the spirits of a beleaguered region at the same time. Atlanta had problems last year after a fast start, and now more and bigger problems to begin this year. Tampa Bay watched a bad start turn into a disaster and nearly a tragedy. And Carolina struggled to keep their heads above water. Will the trend continue?

From bottom to top, the NFC South in the 2007-08 season:

Atlanta Falcons: There are two reasons why this was not a good year to trade QB Matt Schaub away to Houston. The first is the whole Michael Vick situation, which has been well-reported elsewhere, so there’s no real need to go into that. The second is now new coach Rick Petrino’s best option at quarterback is two-time castoff Joey Harrington, who, in his career, has shown signs of color blindness, since he’s thrown to the wrong team so often. Signing WR Joe Horn was a great move, but there’s no one to throw to him, and the passing game as it was was the worst in the league last year. To top it off, on defense, the Falcons let DE Patrick Kerney walk, hoping first-round pick Jamaal Anderson is a quick study. It’s going to be a rough season all around, to say the least. Prediction: 5-11, fourth place

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jon Gruden spent the offseason playing Collect The Quarterbacks. He had Chris Simms (trying to come back from a ruptured spleen) and Bruce Gradkowski. He felt, perhaps rightly, an upgrade was needed, and got Jeff Garcia from Philadelphia. Then, he tried to talk Jake Plummer out of retirement. However, it may not matter if he builds a time machine and signs Joe Montana in his prime if the Bucs can’t run, so a lot falls on the shoulders of RB Cadillac Williams. But, to their credit, Tampa Bay didn’t forget the defense, signing Kato June away from the Colts and Kevin Carter from Miami to go with Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber. So, time will tell if all the quarterbacks in the Western Hemisphere will help the Bucs win. There will be improvement, but not enough to make the playoffs. Prediction: 7-9, third place

Carolina Panthers: Last year, Carolina ended up 8-8, and were near the bottom of the league in offense (24th overall, 24th rushing, 16th passing) and near the top in defense (seventh overall, 11th rushing, fourth passing), so the course seemed clear as to where improvement was needed. And the Panthers made two OK moves, bringing in former number-one-overall draft pick David Carr to push incumbent Jake Delhomme at quarterback, and drafting a good wideout in Dwayne Jarrett, but the question is, will it be enough? The answer will determine the fate of the Panthers. Defense wins championships, but offense wins the games to get a shot at the championships. It may still be another year off for Carolina. Prediction: 8-8, second place

New Orleans Saints: It would be awful hard to make a case against the Saints to win this division. On offense, you have Drew Brees at quarterback, capable of going for 500 yards in a game. RB Deuce McAllister is a near lock to go for 1,000 yards every year. Even with losing Horn, they still have last year’s surprise wideout Marques Colston, who should only get better this year. And, of course, there’s Reggie Bush, Mr. Everything, who also should only improve, which is frightening. Then, there’s the matter of adding solid veterans Kevin Kaesviharn and Brian Simmons to what was already the league’s 11th-ranked defense, and the case is that much stronger for New Orleans to go marching into the postseason. Prediction: 12-4, division champions

The other three teams have a lot of work to do to catch up to the Saints. It just doesn’t look like their year to do it.