CHARLOTTE — After a Week 1 in which nothing went right for anyone in the NFC South, Week 2 brought a little more balance. Two teams walked away with wins, the standings don't include a four-way tie, and one club gets a long-awaited answer at an important position.

The Panthers went into Atlanta for their first division game of the season and blasted the Falcons with a 34-3 win. It was the first win in the divisional column for any NFC South club this season, putting Carolina in control of the standings, for now.

From extensive weather delays (that may or may not have had an impact?) to in-game QB switches and last-second thrillers, catch up on everything that happened around the rest of the NFC South.

NFC South standings after Week :

1. Carolina Panthers (1-1, 1-0)
2. New Orleans Saints (1-1, 0-0)
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2, 0-0)
4. Atlanta Falcons (0-2, 0-1)

New Orleans Saints (24-17 win over Ravens): Another last-second thriller, but this one goes Saints' way

For two weeks in a row now, the Saints have found themselves in thrillers that came down to the final play of the game. In Week 1, New Orleans roared back in the second half before an unsuccessful two-point conversion sent the Saints home with a one-point loss to the Lions.

In Week 2, New Orleans was following much the same game plan. After falling behind early and scoring only field goals in response to the Ravens' touchdowns in the first three quarters, the Saints trailed 17-9 to Lamar Jackson and Baltimore.

Then came the fourth quarter. Tyler Shough threw almost half his entire game yardage in the final quarter alone (119 of his 252 yards). He sent a 21-yard touchdown to his top target, Chris Olave, and ran one in himself with 1:28 left in the game for the go-ahead touchdown. That rushing touchdown paid off coach Kellen Moore's risk-taking.

At that point, the game was tied, and the Saints were facing fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. A field goal would have been a go-ahead score, but it also meant putting the ball back in Lamar Jackson's hands with around 90 seconds left.

So, Moore decided to go for the jugular and the touchdown. Shough was mobbed on the quarterback sneak, including having his helmet almost ripped off from behind, but his guys helped drive him in for the score. The play went under review, since it was unclear if he crossed the plane in the crowd, but ultimately stood.

"Fortunate for us to get that," said Moore after the game. "Obviously was gonna go for it in that situation — a chance to score a touchdown, (and) if not, we're forcing them to be on the minus one and go the long way. But it felt like we could get it done there."

Shough is quickly proving the Saints right for taking him in the second round last year with every game. He and Bryce Young lead the NFL in passing yardage: Shough has 662 yards and Young checks in with 648 yards. For what it'sworth, Shough had OT in Week 1 and a full game in Week 2. Young sat the final minutes of both Week 1 and Week 2.

While Shough and Olave are shredding defenses in the second half of games through two weeks, they were not the only reason the Saints won on Sunday. The New Orleans front got after Jackson with three sacks.

Chase Young led the team with seven pressures and three quick pressures (under 2.5 seconds), followed by Kaden Elliss with four pressures and two quick pressures, according to Next Gen Stats. Young has settled into his role as a pass rusher with the Saints, building on a strong 2025. In Week 2, he had three pressures on Jackson, with 1.5 sacks.

"I just thought our relentlessness at the defensive line, the edge position, the linebackers blitzing — our guys didn't stop. Lamar is gonna make plays. He's one of the most talented quarterbacks in this league. He's a phenomenal player (and) he makes a lot of plays," said Moore. "You can't get discouraged when he makes a play. You just gotta keep going for it, and I thought that's what our guys did."

That aggressiveness paid off most on the final play of the game. With the Ravens driving, trying to score and go to overtime, Jackson sent a ball deep towards the left sideline for Rashad Bateman. It was overthrown, though, and the Saints were ready. Safety Julian Blackmon curled back for the ball and pulled in the game-sealing interception.

Next Game: vs. Las Vegas Raiders (2-0) in New Orleans

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (23-19 loss to Browns): Long delay and red zone issues hamper Bucs for historic start

At the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter, the Bucs seemed to have a shot. They were trailing the Browns 23-19 and were 28 yards from the end zone. Then came the storm. A classic Bay Area storm blew in over Raymond James Stadium, with lightning that suspended the game for two hours and 11 minutes.

When play resumed, the Bucs had to pick up exactly where they left off on a second-and-4 from the Browns' 28-yard line. After moving the sticks to get into the red zone, Baker Mayfield took three shots toward the end zone that all fell incomplete.

"It's unfortunate not making the plays all day in the red zone," said Mayfield. "Same story. Ended up with field goals instead of touchdowns down there and obviously negative plays. Just not getting enough completions down there, and it came back to bite us in the end."

The Bucs, to Mayfield's point, settled for four field goals, including two in the red zone. Tampa Bay came away with one touchdown out of their four trips to the red zone, a 5-yard pass from Mayfield to Emeka Egbuka.

"[I'm] frustrated because it's close," said Mayfield. "You can feel it. You can see it. We're moving the ball at times, and then just shooting ourselves in the foot. So, that makes it more frustrating when you know you're right there. Our group is more than capable of handling stuff like this, but we [have to] really be self-critical, look at the tape, get stuff fixed, and [we] just can't keep making the same mistakes over and over."

The Tampa Bay defense did their part to keep the Bucs in the game as long as possible. They held the Browns in the first half to 59 yards and a mere three first downs. They also went 0-6 in the first half.

In the second half, Deshaun Watson hit rookie Denzel Boston deep on a 55-yard touchdown catch-and-run. Boston caught the pass in the middle of the field, but multiple Bucs couldn't bring him down on the way to the end zone.

The Bucs rookie star, linebacker Josiah Trotter, had a game-high 11 tackles, despite missing some time during the second half with a shoulder injury. Trotter re-entered the game and Coach Todd Bowles didn't have an update on Trotter on Monday. He was still listed as a starter on Tuesday's depth chart.

This is the first time since 2014 Tampa Bay has started the season 0-2. They get to stay at home for the next two weeks and will try to tap into the friendly confines to find their first win.

"We've dealt with adversity before," said Bowles on Monday. "This is an adverse situation again, first time at the beginning of the season, but we're 0-2 right now. We've got to pull ourselves up by our boots, and we've got to win. We're going to come out, we're going to correct our mistakes, and we've got to get going.

"I think if you lose the first two games of the year, that doesn't determine the other 15 games. That's probably a question that could be answered [better] later than now. Right now, we're 0-2 – we're not 0-9 or 0-11. That doesn't bother me as much from that [team confidence] standpoint. We've just got to get better and win a ballgame."

Next Game: vs. Minnesota Vikings (2-0) in Tampa Bay

Atlanta Falcons (34-3 loss to Panthers): QB carousel spins again during and after game

The Falcons' early-season quarterback woes came to a head on Sunday, as the Panthers' defense produced five turnovers, Bryce Young shredded the Atlanta defense, and the Falcons lost to Carolina for the fourth game in a row (and to Young for the fifth time).

Atlanta started Cooper Rush for the second week in a row with Tua Tagovailoa still injured with an oblique injury and Michael Penix Jr. not quite ready to return from his ACL rehab (that would change soon).

On the first play of the game, the Panthers set a tone and put pressure on Rush, forcing a fumble on a QB scramble. Carolina turned that into points, and it was the first of many turnovers that led to points. Falcons fans made their feelings about the QB situation known from the start of the game until rookie UDFA passer Jack Strand finally entered the game in the third quarter.

But on his first pass in a regular-season game, Strand got a brutal "Welcome to the NFL" rookie moment when Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd picked it off and returned it for a 16-yard pick-6.

"Obviously, extremely disappointed in that game and extremely disappointed in how that game started," admitted coach Kevin Stefanski. "And then, [we] could not crawl out of that hole. And then the second half got away from us. So very disappointed. As you guys know, giveaways and takeaways are the key to this game, and we turned it over that many times. And obviously, we didn't take away at all. There's no way to win in the NFL like that. We'll have to learn from it, and then we'll have to get better from these experiences."

Running back Bijan Robinson was held to 4.5 yards per carry, and a week after the Falcons fed him with 29 touches, he only saw the ball 19 times on Sunday. And the offense as a whole has failed to reach the red zone in two games, the only team in the league now to not do so.

Atlanta, now down a game in division play, has no choice but to flush it and move on quickly, thanks to a quick turnaround with a Thursday night game. And now, they have a bit more clarity at the QB position. The club announced Monday that Penix will return and start Thursday night against the Packers. It will be his first start since he partially tore his ACL in Week 11 last season. Before his injury, Penix was completing 60.1 percent of his passes for 1,982 yards, nine touchdowns, and three interceptions over nine games.

The Falcons got a bit of good news in terms of their backup QB. Tagovailoa was able to practice on Tuesday as a full participant. However, that piece of news was overshadowed with the announcement that Atlanta was placing corner A.J. Terrell Jr. on injured reserve. He left Sunday's game in the first quarter with a groin injury. He will now be out for at least the next four games (Packers, Saints, Ravens, Bears).

Next Game: at Green Bay Packers (1-1) (TNF)