NFC South standings after Week 5 in NFL action

We spent a lot of time this weekend talking about the NFC South and the upcoming schedule, mostly because we were bored and there was no Falcons football to talk about. Thankfully, we can remedy that soon, but let’s take a closer look at where the division is after the Falcons and Saints cooled their heels for a weekend.

NFC South standings

Carolina Panthers: 4-1

Atlanta Falcons: 3-1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2-2

New Orleans Saints: 2-2

The Panthers, as mentioned, look like they’ll be a pain the rest of the way. I haven’t been incredibly impressed with any of their games yet this year, but they’re winning tough, close games, and they’re winning them in a variety of ways. Unless injuries pile up, they’ll probably be around until the end of the season. Yes, I’m annoyed by that.

Atlanta’s also mostly kept it close through their first four games, but obviously this biased soul thinks they’re the best team in the division from a talent perspective, and thus still the favorites to win the division.

The Buccaneers are hard to figure out. They do have talent, but they’re not extremely well-coached and they have been legitimately bad a couple of games. There’s also the small matter that they are cursed at kicker for all eternity, which does seem like it will limit their upside.

The Saints have plenty of firepower on offense, but I’m not convinced their defense can be more than mediocre the rest of the way. Unless they’ve got a miracle on D—and more young, impressive players coming out of nowhere than just Ken Crawley at cornerback—they’re probably going to be in third or fourth place when the dust settles.

How do you have the division shaking out?