The Buccaneers’ 0-2 start is looking less like an early stumble and more like a problem in a division that’s no longer giving anybody a free pass.
For years, the NFC South has been the league’s easiest place to find a division winner. Tampa Bay has usually been the team standing at the top, carrying the torch late in Tom Brady’s run and then into the early Baker Mayfield era.
That has come with modest totals, too: since the 2022 season, the division winner has reached eight wins twice, including the Panthers last season. The Buccaneers did it with Brady in 2022, then won it again the next year with nine victories.
That kind of runway doesn’t look so wide open now.
Carolina is already making noise at 1-1, and the Panthers backed that up with a 34-3 rout of Atlanta. They’re averaging 35.5 points per game, which puts them second in the NFL, and Bryce Young is driving the whole thing.
He has six touchdown passes, one interception and a 113.3 passer rating, while his downfield work has jumped into elite territory. Young is averaging 14.1 yards per completion and 8.9 yards per attempt, both top-five marks in the league.
Last season, he averaged 9.9 yards per completion and 8.9 per attempt.
Xavier Legette has seen the change up close.
"He's getting the ball out of his hands quicker," Legette said. "He's expanding. He's looking through the progression and putting it in our hands, man."
The Saints, though, may be the most dangerous team in the division right now. New Orleans has not been to the playoffs since Drew Brees was still under center in 2020, but Tyler Shough has given the offense real life in his second season. The Saints pulled off one of the early shocks of the year by beating the Ravens on the road as -8.5-point underdogs.
Shough has already delivered two eye-catching performances. He nearly dragged New Orleans back from a 21-0 deficit against Detroit before the Saints fell 31-30 in overtime, and he followed that up with a strong showing against Baltimore.
Against the Lions, the 26-year-old threw for a career-high 410 yards and three touchdowns. Against the Ravens, he posted a 107.4 passer rating and completed 79.2% of his throws.
Through two weeks, he leads the NFL with 662 passing yards, and New Orleans sits ninth in scoring per game.
Former Saints quarterback Chase Daniel didn’t hold back after the Lions game.
"I liked what I saw out of the Saints, specifically Tyler Shough," said former Saints QB Chase Daniel after the Lions game. "To see Tyler Shough do that, it just tells me that he's for sure the franchise guy for them."
There’s another wrinkle here, too: New Orleans entered the season with the third-easiest schedule in the NFL, and that could matter as the race starts to sort itself out.
Atlanta still has a wild card in the form of Michael Penix Jr., who has been sidelined while No. 3 quarterback Cooper Rush opened the first two games. The Falcons are winless, but Week 3 could give a better read on what they really are once Penix returns to the starting lineup.
That leaves Tampa Bay in a spot it hasn’t had to deal with much lately. The Buccaneers are 0-2, and there’s a real argument that they’re only the third-best team in the NFC South right now.
The easy path to a division title is gone. The next stretch is brutal, and it starts at home against the 2-0 Vikings.
After that come the Packers, Cowboys, Steelers and Panthers over the next five games. Every one of those teams except Dallas either reached the playoffs or finished with a winning record last season.
The numbers around slow starts are ugly, too. Only 16% of 0-2 teams make the playoffs, and once a team falls to 0-3, the history gets even steeper. Since 1990, only four teams have reached the postseason after starting that way.
The NFC South is better. Tampa Bay looks worse. And if the Buccaneers don’t start winning soon, this season could get away from them fast.
In Other News...
Saints Fans Will Notice One Big Superdome Change At The Home Opener
The Caesars Superdome is rolling out a fresh gameday experience for the Saints home opener, and the changes will be obvious long before kickoff. To mark 60 seasons of Saints football, the building is debuting new food and drink options aimed at giving fans more variety as they settle into another home schedule in New Orleans.
Along with a $6 value menu, the lineup includes Louisiana-inspired dishes such as a pork alligator burger and Tabasco wings, plus specialty cocktails throughout the stadium. Suite fans will also have a $60 commemorative dessert on the menu, part of a broader push from the culinary team to make the Superdome feel a little more celebratory as the season gets underway. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Fans Can Already See Kellen Moores Travis Etienne Problem
Travis Etiennes early role has already become a talking point for Saints fans watching Kellen Moore sort out the offense. Through the first two games, Etienne has been kept under 10 rushing attempts in each one, a usage pattern that stands out for a back who is supposed to be one of the highest-paid at his position. Instead of functioning like the lead runner many expected, he has been deployed more as a piece in the passing game while Alvin Kamara has gotten the heavier share of work on the ground.
For New Orleans, the concern is less about one quiet stretch than what it might signal about Moores priorities with the backfield. If Etienne is going to justify his contract and become the centerpiece many assumed he would be, the Saints need to see more than scattered touches and receiving snaps. For now, the mismatch between pay and role is hard to ignore, and it leaves a real question hanging over how Moore plans to balance the two backs going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Saints May Be Catching Raiders At A Much Worse Time
The Saints are preparing for a Raiders team that has already managed to open the season 2-0 without Brock Bowers, but the matchup in Week 3 could look different if Las Vegas gets its top pass-catching weapon back. ESPNs Dan Graziano reported that Bowers is more likely than not to play against New Orleans, which would give the Raiders offense a major lift after getting through the first two weeks without him.
His availability still is not locked in, though, and that leaves a little suspense around how dangerous this Raiders group will be by kickoff. If Bowers gets through practice without any issues, New Orleans may be staring at a much tougher version of a team that has already found ways to win early. [Read more 🡒]