State of the NFC South after Week 1 was messy in the way only this division can be: every team took a loss, but most of them at least put points on the board. The Falcons were the clear outlier there, while the rest of the group spent the opener trading punches and still coming up short.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got the first crack at the week, and it was a rough one. Cincinnati’s defense made life miserable for Baker Mayfield, forcing four fumbles, taking three from him directly, and erasing Tampa Bay’s run game altogether.
Mayfield never really settled in, either, and he was sacked four times. The Buccaneers’ defense did its part by completely shutting down Ja’Marr Chase, but Joe Burrow still had full control of the game.
It wasn’t a disastrous loss, but it also didn’t do anything to quiet the noise around Todd Bowles. Next up, Tampa Bay should be in position to beat the Cleveland Browns.
Carolina’s defeat looked different on the surface because Bryce Young delivered the best offensive line of the week for the division. The problem was that the Chicago Bears piled up 59 points, and that eventually swallowed everything else.
The game stayed competitive for much of the afternoon, but once the Panthers slowed down, the Bears were clearly the better team and the outcome stopped feeling in doubt. Young finished with 361 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, and he looked like a quarterback capable of making high-level throws.
That was a strong opening for a player entering a crucial season. The defensive side was a different story entirely.
Allowing 59 points is simply not good enough, even against a dangerous Bears offense, and Chicago ran straight through the Panthers. The challenge does not get any easier next week against the Bijan Robinson-led Falcons.
Atlanta had the worst showing in the division. With Michael Penix unavailable and Tua Tagovailoa also ruled out because of injury, the Falcons had to lean on Cooper Rush, and the result was predictable.
Rush threw two interceptions, including a pick-six from T.J. Watt, and he was sacked four times.
Bijan Robinson was the engine for Atlanta in both the run and pass game, but even that wasn’t enough to pull them through. The defense kept the Falcons in range, but the offense could not do enough to take advantage.
Against Carolina, Atlanta is going to need Robinson again, and the defense may face an even bigger test than it did in Pittsburgh.
Then came New Orleans, which played in what was probably the most dramatic game of the week. The Saints mounted a near-comeback and got all the way to overtime, only to fall short after a failed two-point conversion.
The offense started badly, then flipped the script after the second interception and looked outstanding in the second half. Kellen Moore has to be better at adjusting, because the Lions came in with unscouted looks that New Orleans simply did not handle early.
Once the Saints figured things out, Detroit’s defense was on its heels.
New Orleans’ defense also held up well for long stretches. Jahmyr Gibbs is never easy to slow down, but the Saints did a good job overall, and Detroit’s passing game was quiet until its final drive in overtime.
The two-point try will get the most attention, but the argument that the Saints should have kicked the extra point does not hold up. Moore’s reputation already includes criticism for being too conservative, so settling for the tie would have looked bad.
And even if the Saints had tied it, the Lions still had three timeouts and about a minute and a half to move into field-goal range, especially after New Orleans’ defense had already been worn down and beaten through the air.
And then there was the call that should have gone the other way - the “incomplete pass” that should have been ruled a fumble.
The Saints’ next assignment is another tough one: the Baltimore Ravens. They will need to keep that game from getting away from them early.
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