CHARLOTTE â All eyes will be on the NFC South this weekend, as the showdown between the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will (presumably) decide the last available playoff spot in the conference. The Falcons did make things more interesting, and the appropriate amount of chaotic, on Monday night. But before we get to Saturday's game, let's look back at how we got here. A lot went on around the division this weekend that affected the playoff race and perceptions of different teams in the NFC South heading into next season.
The Panthers and Bucs lost, while the Saints and Falcons came away with a win, the latter keeping things tight at the top of the NFC South.
Here are the current standings in the division:
- Carolina Panthers 8-8
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-9
- Atlanta Falcons 7-9
- New Orleans Saints 6-10
Let's catch up with everything that happened in the division outside of Charlotte this weekend.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9, 2-3): Make a late push but still fall to Dolphins
After starting their season 6-2, the Bucs are 1-7 in their last eight games. Because of how they finished in the first half of their slate, Tampa Bay still has a shot at the division title if they beat Carolina on Saturday. And their case wasn't hurt since the Panthers fell to the Seahawks in Week 17.
However, there is something to be said for momentum, and the Bucs did themselves no favors with the 20-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins, led by rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers in only his second start, on Sunday. This was not only Tampa Bay's fourth loss in a row, but all were decided by four or fewer points.
"We've just been shooting ourselves in the foot at every chance," said coach Todd Bowles. "That starts with me. I've got to coach them better, they've got to play it better, and we've got to figure out how we can stop making mistakes and move on. If we play and do things we did today next week, we won't be going anywhere."
Everything started off well for the Bucs. The defense forced Miami into a three-and-out that went a total of negative-6 net yards. The offense took the ensuing possession 68 yards for a touchdown, going up 7-0. Miami quickly answered with a three-play, 70-yard scoring drive of its own, and after that, the Bucs began to struggle.
Baker Mayfield threw an interception, then kicker Chase McLaughlin, who had gone 11-of-11 from beyond 50 yards this season with a long of 65 yards, had a 55-yard attempt blocked. By halftime, the Dolphins had a 17-7 lead.
The Bucs added a late touchdown in the fourth quarter, with just under a minute to play, to make it a one-score game, but Miami recovered the onside kick to retain the win.
"Offensively, it comes back to execution," said Mayfield. "We gave ourselves a fighting chance right there, but didn't do enough. Those turnovers obviously crushed us."
The turnovers referenced the interception in the first half, as well as the interception and fumble that occurred on back-to-back fourth-quarter drives. All three turnovers came from Mayfield, who went down with a strip-sack that led to the fumble.
"Unfortunately, we weren't making any plays," said Bowles. "Obviously, turning the ball over three times doesn't help, either. Three-nothing in the turnover battle, they're going to win that game every time."
The run game was stifled by Miami as well, offering little help. The Bucs finished with just 53 yards on the ground. The defense gave up two touchdowns to Ewers and 145 yards on the ground for the Dolphins. Special teams allowed a big return from Miami that set up a field goal drive.
But the Buccaneers know they still have a chance to get into the playoffs with a win this weekend.
"It's a different way of going about it," said Bowles. "Again, the opportunity is there. There's a door of opportunity, a window of opportunity, and it's up to us as coaches and as players and as a team to take advantage of it."
Added Mayfield, "Just true intent and focus on each rep in practice. When you know a division opponent as well as we know the Panthers and they know us, it's truly about executing your job to the best of your ability each play. That's plain and simple.
"At this point in the season, yeah, there might be a couple of wrinkles here and there with the game plan, but what you see is what you get when you play a divisional opponent. It's about executing, beating the guy across from you, and finding a way to win."
Atlanta Falcons (7-9, 2-3): Bijan Robinson goes off and defense smothers for Falcons to beat Rams
As the minutes were ticking down to halftime on Monday night, Troy Aikman summed up the first half of the Falcons' win with the comment, "A great first half for the Atlanta Falcons and a great first half for the Carolina Panthers."
The Falcons, if you werenât aware, can help the Panthers get into the playoffs. Even if the Bucs were to win this coming Saturday, Carolina can still finish as the NFC South winner if Atlanta wins out, in a wild three-way tie scenario (click the link for a full explanation).
They handled the first part of that Monday night against a Rams team that came in 11-4 but experienced only their second first-half shutout under Sean McVay (149 games).
The 27-24 win gave the Falcons three in a row and momentum not only heading into Week 18 against the Saints but also into the offseason.
"Guys came to play tonight," said coach Raheem Morris of his group. "Played hard. Played a really good football team. That Rams football team is outstanding. They are well-coached. They play hard. They've got really good football players. I was excited that our guys went out and matched their intensity today, played a physical football game, and won that game.
"I think these guys are fighters. I think these guys love football. I think the world of this football team. I think these guys are built for this. I told you earlier, I know we joke about it a lot, but I tell you, we have to find ways to win, and they just found ways to win, and they're doing that now."
Atlanta was able to build a big lead in the first half, going up 21-0 before halftime thanks to a pick-six from Jessie Bates III (it was Stafford's second pick-six of the season, the first coming against the Panthers) and two Bijan Robinson touchdowns.
The first Robinson TD was a short 4-yard receiving score from Kirk Cousins. But the second was classic Bijan, dynamic and game-changing. The drive lasted one play, because that's all Robinson needed to break free and outrun everyone else on the field for 93 yards.
"That was just one of those plays where I had to make a guy miss in the hole, and I was trying to find another crease," Robinson explained of the touchdown run. "The crease came about, and I was like, 'Man, I've got to take off.' We don't [have] a jumbotron right here, so I was like, all right, either I don't get caught or just run as fast as you can. And I kept kind of looking back to see if I was free. I mean, I was free, and we got a touchdown, so that was a really big momentum shift for our team."
By the game's end, Robinson had 27 touches for 229 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns. He became the Falcons' leader in scrimmage yards in a single season. He also now has the most scrimmage yards by a player 23 years old or younger in NFL history.
"I said this 18 weeks ago, he's the best player in football," bragged Morris. "It's just as simple as that. He's unbelievable. Everything he does for our football team, from running the football to catching the football to protecting to being a leader. He's also our chaplain. He does it all. He's unbelievable."
The Falcons had the ball late in the first half for Bijan to make that run, thanks to an Xavier Watts interception on the 7-yard line. Watts becomes the first Falcons rookie to have four interceptions in his debut season since Deion Sanders in 1989. Watts added another in the second half to surpass Kenny Johnson for the most interceptions by a rookie safety in team history. The rookie was everywhere on Monday night, with five tackles, two interceptions, and three passes defended.
Granted, most of the defense was flying around all night.
The group sacked Matthew Stafford three times and disrupted him even more, holding the MVP candidate to 22-of-38 for 269 yards and two touchdowns, while forcing him into three interceptions and those 3.0 sacks. The Falcons are now three sacks away from surpassing their franchise record.
The Bates pick-six made him the only player in the entire NFL to have three pick-sixes each of the last three seasons. Then, with just under 10 minutes remaining, with the Rams driving into Falcons territory, Watts jumped another Stafford pass. Atlanta couldn't do anything with the turnover, but it kept the Rams out of the end zone.
"That's little bro right there," said Bates of his rookie teammate. "Just to watch him come in and how urgent â he was able to pick up on things. To see it translate to the field, I knew it throughout training camp, through OTAs, the way that he could process installs and stuff like that. I'm just proud of him. I'm proud of him for sure."
Stafford, with his arsenal of weapons, wasn't going to go quietly into the night, though. In the third quarter, with just under five minutes in that section, the veteran lofted a 27-yard pass to Tyler Ferguson for LA's first touchdown of the night. They capped the quarter with 0:31 left when Jared Verse blocked a Zane Gonzalez field goal and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown. The score made it a one-possession game.
Then, Stafford and company put together a late touchdown drive to tie things with just under three minutes remaining. The Falcons added a go-ahead field goal, another eventual game-winner that potentially helped Carolina by former Panther Zane Gonzalez, and then Los Angeles got the ball back with 0:21 left.
Stafford put four big throws in the air, with one that included a questionable no-call, one that would've been the catch of the season by Puka Nacua if not for A.J. Terrell making a last-second grab at his hand, and none that got the Rams into scoring territory.
"We know who Puka is. He's a contested-catcher killer. To watch A.J. go up there and not panic and be able to play the football at the highest point so we can have incomplete passes right there is absolutely outstanding," said Morris.
"That is who A.J. isâA.J.'s a fighter. In this game, gun shooters get hit, and A.J. just keeps fighting every single week versus some of the best receivers in the National Football League."
Robinson took care of most of the offense, but Kirk Cousins still kept things moving consistently. The veteran QB went 13-of-20 for 126 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.
The Atlanta win officially knocked the Rams out of contention for the NFC's No. 1 overall seed. Now the Falcons will welcome the red-hot New Orleans Saints to town for a Week 18 finale that will decide the final standings in the NFC SouthâŠpossibly in more ways than one.
"I didn't even know that," laughed Robinson at the possibility of a three-way tie that sends the Panthers to the playoffs."But I mean, hey, that could be cool. That's so unfortunate, man. That's just so unfortunate to hear because a three-way tie â I wish it was to the last game, the very last game, to determine who's in the playoffs or not, because you just never know what happens in this league. You just never know what could transcend. Man, that would suck. But it is what it is. We did our job, and we're trying to finish our job, obviously. So, if that happens, good luck to the guys who get in there."
New Orleans Saints (6-10, 3-2): Second half comeback gives Saints four in a row
Once again, one must ask, what might the Saints' season have looked like if Tyler Shough had been the starting quarterback this whole time? The rookie (albeit a 26 years old) led a 24-6 second-half comeback, while posting a career-high 333 passing yards on 22-of-27 passing, with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Shough and his receivers connected for four explosive plays in the second half, while running back Audric Estimé added an explosive run as well. The five plays accounted for 193 of the Saints' 331 yards in the second half, and 46 percent of their total production. Additionally, Chris Olave finished with eight receptions for 119 yards and one touchdown.
"It was our same approach the whole game," said Shough, who completed 12 of 16 passes for 251 yards and both touchdowns in the second half. "We just had to be more dialed. At halftime, coach Nuss (offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier), myself, all the guys, we were all firing up. Just keep doing what we're doing, but find that extra edge, find that extra inch, and we can go out there and finish them."
The Saints' defense allowed Cam Ward and company to throw for 135 yards in the first half, with 184 total offensive yards during that slate, while picking up 3-of-7 on third down. But in the second half, the group clamped down, sacking Ward 3.0 times, adding to one from the first half as well. That first half sack from Chase Young (who finished with 1.5 sacks) forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. He now has a career high 8.5 sacks this season, with three fumble recoveries.
"They chipped me, I went high. I owe Grando a couple of steak dinners. He pushed the pocket â it doesn't work if we're not together. He went lower, I went high, (Ward) came right to me," shared Young.
"Mid-play, when I saw him, the ball was in the air, and for that split second â my Dad used to tell me when I was a kid and I played D-end, 'Take the ball out of his hand' â And for that split second it hit me and I was like the ball is right there, I can take it. I came down on it, and I just took it. And that was all she wrote."
The four-game win streak gave the Saints their first such streak since a six-game run in 2020. For Coach Kellen Moore, a four-game winning streak is the second-longest for a first-time head coach with the Saints behind Jim Haslett's six-game winning streak in his first season in 2000.
"As enjoyable of a win as we've had this year, just from the standpoint of the first half going the way it did â not meeting the standard, having to navigate some stuff in there and then the second half â just the way our guys responded," Moore said.
"It took all three phases. Complementary football at its finest. All three phases contributed really well in that second half, and we had some big-time plays by some big-time players."
