NFC South Update

There were some interesting happenings this past week in the NFC South, despite the Atlanta Falcons having all ready have locked up the division.  Let’s take a look at the NFC South team by team.

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are not going to the playoffs this year despite the hype coming into this season after Cam Newton’s break out rookie performance last year.  His sophomore has not been as memorable thus far.  That is until this past week.

Newton led the Panthers past the NFC South division leading Falcons with 287 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.  Newton also led his team in rushing with 116 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.  The Panthers could ride this momentum through the rest of the season and set themselves up to have a good season next year.

Is this Newton returning to form?

That remains to be seen as he will need to be consistent and lead his team to some impressive games for the last three games of the season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Just a couple of week this season can change the whole playoff picture.  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were major contenders for the playoffs as of three weeks ago, but have since lost three in a row.

The Bucs have dropped to a 6-7 losing record at the worst time with only three games left.  The rest of their season is not going to be an easy one with the New Orleans Saints, the unpredictable spoilers: the St. Louis Rams and the Falcons all on the Bucs radar.  The Bucs are going to have to get some upset victories fast to get back into the playoff picture.

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints playoff hopes are all but over.  They are 5-8 on the season and are likely to lose some more games ahead.

The Saints began to resurge last month and many began to predict a mid-season Saints comeback similar to the New York Giants comeback last year.  Unfortunately, some Drew Brees turnover problems and their lack of talent on the defensive end of the ball ended up to be too much for this team to overcome.  They have now lost their traditionally held top spot of the NFC South to the Atlanta Falcons and they have even played worse than the Buccaneers.

The Saints have some work to do in order to figure things out to have a successful season next year so forget about the playoffs Saints fans.

Atlanta Falcons

Since clinching the division the Falcons have began to lack the intensity that has carried them this far.  They have secured a spot in the playoffs so even if they drop a lot or all three of their games that they have left this season so it is not the end of the world for the Falcons.

However, the Falcons need some big time momentum going into the playoffs.  They can potentially face the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, New York Giants or Seattle Sehawks given the current playoff picture in the playoffs.  All teams they have reason to fear.  Now is not the time to lose momentum.