Best franchise in the NFC South
The NFC South has produced Super Bowl champions, legendary quarterbacks, and heartbreaking collapses, making the debate over its best franchise a spirited one among fans. Whether you value historic success, passionate fanbases, or recent dominance, each team has a case to make. Cast your vote and help settle which franchise truly reigns supreme in the NFC South.
What counts: Seeded with approximate real-world figures — the crowd's votes decide the order from here.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers▲ Rising
A franchise that spent decades as the league's punchline before Jon Gruden's 2002 defense throttled Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII, then reinvented itself in 2020 by luring 43-year-old Tom Brady to town and winning it all again in his very first season, this time in their own building. Two Lombardis, a Hall of Fame quarterback signing off with a title, and a defense-first identity that never fully disappeared make this the clear top seed in the division. No NFC South team has topped one championship, let alone matched the Bucs' two, and that gap is the whole argument.
Super Bowls: 2SB trips: 2
added by IJRin 3 rankings
53
New Orleans Saints▲ Rising
Post-Katrina New Orleans found its soul again when Drew Brees and Sean Payton built a Super Bowl XLIV champion in 2009, capped by a daring onside-kick call that still gets replayed as pure audacity, and the Superdome shook like it hadn't since before the storm. A decade-plus of Brees-led dominance, five division titles in six years at one stretch, and a fanbase that turned '09 into civic identity gives them a real case for second, even with the haunting NFC Championship no-call still lingering.
Super Bowls: 1SB trips: 1
added by IJRin 2 rankings
41
Atlanta Falcons▼ Falling
Matt Ryan's MVP season and a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI should have been Atlanta's crowning moment — instead it became the most infamous collapse in Super Bowl history, and that single number has followed the franchise ever since. Michael Vick's electric scrambling era and a Georgia Dome that once rocked for the 1998 'Dirty Bird' Super Bowl run add flashes of brilliance, but zero championships and a habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of history keep them mired in the bottom half.
Super Bowls: 0SB trips: 2
added by IJRin 4 rankings
-18
Carolina Panthers▼ Falling
Cam Newton's unicorn 2015 MVP season carried Carolina to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl 50 appearance, the closest this expansion franchise has come to glory, only for Peyton Manning's Broncos defense to smother them in Santa Clara. Add Jake Delhomme's gutsy run to Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2003 and you've got a franchise of thrilling near-misses but no hardware, which is exactly why the youngest team in the division sits at the bottom of this ranking.
Super Bowls: 0SB trips: 2
added by IJRin 3 rankings
-38
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Comments (6)
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Longevity has to count for more than peak. This order underrates it.
No debate for me — Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the top is exactly right.
- VVera OkaforJul 27, 2026
You can't compare eras like this, but here we are, and I love it.