NFL: 3 of the Best QBs Will Not Be Playing Postseason Football in 2011

The Indianapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints...three teams with a history of always being competitive, of always hanging in and pulling off the unexpected. If you had to put money on a team, these would be the obvious choices.

But in 2011, it is my belief that for the first time in recent memory, all three of these teams could be missing from the playoffs.

Why? The weak in their division are no longer weak.

Let's take a look at the NFC South.

Atlanta is a strong contender; we all know. But with the rise of the young Bucs from Tampa comes a conundrum. Two possible spots available, division winner and wild card. Three teams vying for spots...

Last year, we saw some holes in the Saints armor. The resilience of their team and leadership from Drew Brees overcame the Bucs last season. But in 2011, a good record won't be enough for Tampa.

Why will the Saints fall short? Youth and explosion. The teams in the division have styled their own clubs after the Saints in order to duplicate their success. What we know about football is that it's a young mans game. The Saints are the older dogs now.

Moving on to Green Bay.

The NFC North is facing the same issues as the South. Chicago is the obvious choice to contend for the division with Green Bay.

But a healthy Matthew Stafford in Detroit and with the right free agent pick up for their secondary, we could be looking at a team too overwhelming to handle.

Chicago will keep the division, and a team other than Green Bay will come out of the North with the wild card.

In this case, the Packers are a much better team than New Orleans. But the fourth team in the North presents a threat that the Panthers don't in the South. Minnesota can win games with their veterans and may be in the hunt themselves. At the very least, we know they play the Packers hard, which could cause Green Bay to lose tiebreakers in the North.

Let's get into the AFC South.

Indianapolis is perhaps the most well entrenched team in the league within their own division.

Now I assume you're catching onto a certain theme in this article. The team of dominance is being pushed by two younger teams. One who has proven that they can contend, the other on the verge of doing so.

In the AFC South, the Jaguars showed last year that they have what it takes to win games. Houston showed what they didn't have to win, but in the draft alone, they have addressed that.

The Colts are one of the older teams and didn't do anything last year worthy of winning that division. Jacksonville and Houston handed it to them on a platter. Not this year.

In my opinion, the weakening Colts will experience what the Saints and Packers are going to experience.

That being...the devil they already know taking the division from them. And the devil they don't know stealing the wild card and leaving them empty handed.

Three of the best quarterbacks in the NFL will not be playing meaningful games this postseason.