NFC South Standings Week Nine

Only half of the NFC South was in action during week eight and both team’s didn’t really fair very well as the Carolina Panthers lost 24-21 to the Minnesota Vikings and in a surprise upset loss the New Orleans Saints dropped the ball against the lowly St. Louis Rams. The Rams going into the game against the Saints hadn’t won a game all season but pulled out the 31-21 victory.

So with another Panthers loss they sit at 2-6, the bottom of the NFC South, while the top side of the division is starting to get bunched up. With the Saints loss, their lead shrunk a bit as they are 5-3 on the season, while the Falcons and the Bucs are 4-3. The Panthers passed up on a great opportunity to catchup with the rest of the division. They are not mathematically out of the race, but lets just say they are going to have to really turn it on in the second half of the season if they want to even sniff the playoffs.

Now it is the Panthers turn to go on their bye week, while the rest of the NFC South is back in action. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons are fresh off their bye week and for the Bucs, they have a tough matchup as they go up against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans. Not exactly the game you are looking forward coming out of the bye week but I don’t like the Bucs chances. New Orleans won’t lose back to back games so I think they have the advantage there.

As for the Falcons, they have a much easier matchup as the face up against the win less Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have been a mess since Peyton Manning has been out and I don’t think they will pick up that first win of the season this week against a Falcons team that continues to get better.