The first week of the NFL Season is complete, and with that, it’s time to look at how the NFC South fared against the competition.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In our first NFC South divisional game of the season, the Buccaneers faced off against the Falcons in a close battle, ending 23-20. One of the main issues with QB Baker Mayfield last season was taking care of the ball, but the run game was able to bail the offense out when needed. In this game, things were a bit different. Mayfield led the offense to 3 touchdowns and had
zero turnovers. The run game looked a bit out of sorts, and this could be because of the departure of former OC Liam Coen this past offseason. On defense, the Bucs performed well against the run, as usual, but struggled at times to slow down the Falcons’ passing game.
Atlanta Falcons
Now onto the other side of this matchup. At the end of the game, with time nearly out on the clock, the Falcons had a chance to tie the game with a field goal. As the final score shows, this field goal attempt by Younghoe Koo was missed. This was obviously a disappointing ending for the Falcons, but on the bright side, their young quarterback, Michael Penix, performed well in this game. He was forced to throw 42 passes due to the struggling run game, and he finished with nearly 300 yards, 1 passing touchdown, and 1 rushing touchdown. Another good sign for the Falcons was the defense, which held strong against Mayfield and stifled the Bucs’ rushing attack.
Carolina Panthers
Things did not look good for the Panthers. In this 26-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, QB Bryce Young, who many hoped would build off of his decent 2024/25 season, regressed back to his old self. Throwing for 154 yards in 35 attempts and 1 touchdown is not great, but adding two bad interceptions to that is much worse. The offense as a whole looked out of sorts, and young WR Xavier Legette continued making mistakes. On defense, the Panthers also had issues, especially stopping the run. I mentioned Liam Coen earlier when talking about the Bucs, and he is now the head coach of the Jaguars. With Coen becoming the HC, the run game is going to be a focus of the offense and dynamic. In this game, they destroyed the Panthers’ defense, which alleviated the pressure QB Trevor Lawrence dealt with in the past.
New Orleans Saints
With the final game of the NFC South’s week 1, we have the Saints’ 20-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Expectations are low for New Orleans this season, so it is hard to really disappoint in games. The good news is the team actually played pretty well in this game. The run game looks strong, the defensive line and defensive playcalling are a strength of the team, and the offensive line was dominant all game. The Saints won in the trenches, but still lost, so why? They had an egregious number of penalties and could not take advantage of good field position. QB Spencer Rattler had a fine game, but could, and maybe should, have been much better. In addition, the Saints’ pass defense was horrible and kept giving up 3rd and long. The final score may not show a win, but with an entirely new coaching staff and scheme, there are positives to build upon entering week 2.
Current NFC South Standings
- Buccaneers (1-0)
- Saints (0-1)
- Falcons (0-1)
- Panthers (0-1)
