Week 11 NFC South Report

New Orleans Saints (7-2 overall, 1-1 division)

• Last week: 26-9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons
• This week: 12 pm/cst on Sunday at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-6)
• Notes: Sunday’s loss against the NFC South rival Atlanta Falcons was a costly one for the Saints. Not just in the standings, but with a few key players getting hurt. First, Marshon Lattimore strained his hamstring and is considered week to week. Andrus Peat broke his forearm and is expected to miss about 6 weeks. Deonte Harris also injured his hamstring and will join the previous two on the sideline for the Tampa Bay game. Drew Brees’ pass protection will have step up after allowing 6 sacks to the Falcons in the sloppy loss.

Atlanta Falcons (2-7 overall, 1-0 division)

• Last week: 26-9 win over the New Orleans Saints
• This week: 12:00 pm/cst on Sunday at Carolina Panthers (5-4)
• Notes: Heading in to their bye week at 1-7 and looking mostly non-competitive, Falcons owner Arthur Blank decided to stick with Head Coach Dan Quinn for a while longer. The team responded by playing their best game of the season and pulling off the big road upset against a Saints team that had won six straight.

Carolina Panthers (5-4 overall, 1-1 division)

• Last week: 24-16 loss to the Green Bay Packers
• This week: 12:00 pm/cst on Sunday vs Atlanta Falcons (2-7)
• Notes: Cam Newton was moved to IR early in the week, ending his season and possibly his career in Carolina. The team is Kyle Allen’s for the rest of the year, as the Panthers try to keep up with the Saints in the division or make a run at one of the Wild Card spots in the NFC.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-6 overall, 1-2 division)

• Last week: 30-27 win over the Arizona Cardinals
• This week: 12:00 pm/cst on Sunday vs New Orleans Saints (7-2)
• Notes: Jameis Winston had one of his good games that have given folks around the NFL reason to believe that he can be a franchise quarterback in the league. Winston has a chance to even out the head to head record between he and Drew Brees, as he goes in to the teams’ second matchup 3-4 in his career against #9.

NFC South Standings

1. New Orleans (7-2)
2. Carolina (5-4)–[2 games back]
3. Tampa Bay (3-6)–[4 games back]
4. Atlanta (2-7)–[5 games back]