NFC South Report, 2021 Week 8

It was not a fun week in the NFC South this weekend, with the Carolina Panthers, sadly, taking down the Atlanta Falcons in a frustrating Sunday afternoon.

The division doesn’t belong to either team, though, as we’ll take a look at the marquee game in the NFC South this week: the Saints hosting the Bucs.

Let’s analyze what the Saints’ victory over Tampa Bay means for both teams.

New Orleans Saints

The 5-2, second-place ‘Aints topped the defending Super Bowl champs Sunday at the Superdome, 36-27, in a game that doesn’t give you a lot of hope for Sunday’s matchup for the Falcons against the archrivals.

Though, the Saints did lose quarterback Jameis Winston for the rest of the year to an ACL injury. It’s a tough loss for New Orleans as they’ll lean on gadget QB Taysom Hill and reserve QB Trevor Siemian for the rest of the year as they push for the playoffs.

The Saints defense will have to keep them afloat until the offense settles, but Dennis Allen’s unit is one of the NFL’s best at the moment. Arthur Smith will have to scheme a strong game for the Falcons as they head on the road Sunday to their most hostile environment.

Losing Winston is tough, but New Orleans is gaining ground on Tampa Bay in the division, and now they get at crack at their biggest rival with

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

You can count on the Tom Brady Bucs offense to make noise, but the secondary is presenting issues for the Buccaneers this year.

Between injuries and uninspired play, the defending champs are struggling to contain pass-happy offenses, exemplified by the Saints putting 36 up on them despite TB’s always scary front seven. For the Bucs, now 6-2, it will be big to tighten up its secondary or Brady might not be able to get back to the Super Bowl for his second-straight year (not that we’d complain), as the NFC playoffs look treacherous.

Well, that’s the update! We’ll see how Falcons v. Saints 2021, Part 1 goes this week.

NFC South standings

Buccaneers: 6-2

Saints: 5-3

Panthers: 4-4

Falcons: 3-4