The New Orleans Saints finished the 2014 season just 3-5 at home and 7-9 overall, though they did lose four of those games by three points or less. They gained more yards than any other team in the league, but they also had one of the worst defenses. They will be happy with the progression of running back Mark Ingram, who had 964 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in 13 games.

If the Saints make some much-needed adjustments to their defense, they could shoot up the standings thanks to a pretty weak schedule.

Home: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans

Away: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts

Here are three of the matchups to keep an eye on:

Carolina Panthers: The Saints have one of the top offenses in the league and the Panthers are solid defensively, which makes this series very hard to predict. Over the last four years, both teams have won four games with a good mixture of tight contests and blowouts. What makes this matchup even more intriguing is that the NFC South is there for the taking and these two games could make the difference in deciding who wears the crown.

Indianapolis Colts: On paper, this is New Orleans' toughest road game of the season. The Saints have been able to win their last two games against the Colts, but they haven't played each other since back in 2011.

Atlanta Falcons: The Saints would have won their division had they not been swept by the Falcons in 2014, so they will certainly have revenge on their minds. This an odd series in that one of the teams has swept in 7 of the last 10 years.

Read more articles by Tony Sink