The NFC South has become a mess, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the team standing tallest in it.
That’s the takeaway after the Bucs handled both the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons in back-to-back weeks, leaving ESPN to project Tampa Bay as the division winner despite a 3-5 record.
The Panthers and Falcons each had a chance to seize control, and each got flattened by the same team. Tampa Bay opened with a 43-13 rout of Carolina, a game in which Bryce Young was sacked five times, turned it over three times and watched the Bucs pile up 258 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground. A week later, Atlanta got the same treatment in a 16-0 loss, with Michael Penix throwing four interceptions and the Falcons getting pushed around for 324 rushing yards allowed.
Through it all, Baker Mayfield has only needed to throw 14 total passes across those two games. Tampa Bay has been winning in the ugliest way possible, but it has been winning.
ESPN said picking the Buccaneers is not an overreaction, noting: "Tampa Bay is the only team in the division that has scored more points than it has given up so far this season. The Bucs were the preseason favorites, won the division four years in a row before last season and know how to do it.
Again, somebody has to win this division, and the Bucs look like the best team in it since Week 5. Nobody ran away with it in the first four weeks, so the Bucs absolutely have a shot."
Tampa Bay started 0-4 and looked like it might be buried early. Instead, the Bucs have clawed back into the race and now appear to be the best option in a division that hasn’t given anyone a real grip on it.
The road ahead is not simple. Tampa Bay faces the Chicago Bears and then the Detroit Lions, with a bye week in between.
After that, the schedule eases up. The Falcons, meanwhile, have a brutal stretch coming, and the Panthers are staring at a tough December run.
For now, the smart money is on Tampa.
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Falcons Loss Raised A Bigger Concern Than Just The Weather
The rain in Tampa made for an ugly afternoon, but the conditions only explained part of what went wrong for the Falcons. Atlanta lost to the Buccaneers in a game where the passing game never found footing, and Michael Penix Jr. struggled badly as the offense sputtered through a storm-soaked script.
The deeper concern was how thoroughly the Falcons were beaten at the line of scrimmage. Tampa Bay barely needed to throw, yet still controlled the game on the ground, piling up 324 rushing yards while Atlanta managed less than 100 of its own. For a team trying to establish a more balanced identity, that kind of gap is harder to dismiss than the weather. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Suddenly Have A Tua Tagovailoa Decision Fans Didnt Expect
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What makes the idea even more interesting is the team on the other side of it, with Baltimore suddenly searching for help under center. The Ravens quarterback situation has been thinned by injuries, which is why a potential move involving Tagovailoa has started to surface as a possibility, even if it remains only a speculative one for now. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Fans Should Resist One Easy Kirk Cousins Overreaction
Kirk Cousins has wasted little time making Atlantas decision look more complicated in hindsight. After the Falcons signed him to a four-year deal and then moved on after two seasons, he landed with the Las Vegas Raiders and has been productive enough to keep the conversation alive around the league. For Falcons fans, it is the kind of development that naturally invites second-guessing, especially when a quarterback the team once committed to is still performing at a high level elsewhere.
But the bigger question in Atlanta is not whether Cousins can still play. It is whether the Falcons made the right long-term call by turning to Michael Penix Jr., whose early run has been uneven and included a rough outing in Week 8. Penix remains the player many around the organization view as the better bet for the future, which is why Cousins success in Las Vegas should not automatically turn into a referendum on the Falcons direction just yet. [Read more 🡒]