NFC South Update: Tampa Bay May Be on the Way Back
Mike Glennon guided the Bucs to a second win.
The NFC South is always an interesting division. For whatever reason, teams never seem to stay on top for long. If you want to pick the winner of the NFC South in the preseason, a good rule of thumb is pick the team that finished last the previous year. Whether the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Atlanta Falcons finish last this season is still up for grabs. But both teams could be a good pick to win the NFC South next season.
Atlanta is a good pick because after all, they won it last year. Injuries derailed their chances this season. When they get some of Matt Ryan’s targets back next season, like Julio Jones, they could be dangerous once again. But how about the Bucs?
Tampa Bay has one piece, a very important piece at that, in place for making them competitive again. That is at the quarterback position. Say what you will about the handling of the Josh Freeman departure, and it was surely bungled, but in the end it cleared the way for Mike Glennon to take over. And for the last few weeks, there can be no dispute that Glennon is the man to lead the Bucs from now on. Three games ago he engineered a winless Bucs team to something that rarely happens in the NFL and that is a road win at the Seattle Seahawks. Glennon and the Bucs once led that one 21-0 before losing in overtime to Russell Wilson, Glennon’s former roommate ant North Carolina State, and the first place Hawks.
Now Tampa Bay has won two in a row after beating the Miami Dolphins last Monday night and the Falcons today. Glennon threw three incompletions all day and none over the final three quarters ans the Bucs racked up 41 points in their 41-28 win. In Glennon’s six starts he is 134-225 for 1304 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. Today he was 20-23 for 231 yards and two touchdowns. The reason he only had to throw 23 times was the Bucs running attack led by Bobby Rainey, was superb. Rainey rushed 30 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns. My guess is Rainey was likely not on as many fantasy teams this week as he will be next week. I must confess, until today I had never heard of him.
But that’s how they roll in the NFC South. The last few years the Carolina Panthers were cellar-dwellers in this division, but on Monday Night they have a huge game at home against the New England Patriots. If Carolina wins this one they will be the top seeded NFC Wild Card team which would pit them against the low seed division winner in the first round (likely to be the NFC East winner). Last season, the New Orleans Saints also finished in the three-way tie for the bottom and this year they lead the South at 8-2. So would it surprise anyone to see the Bucs or Falcons on top this time next year?
