We came into Week 2 with a three-way tie atop this here division between the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the defending NFC South champion New Orleans Saints and the plain, old Carolina Panthers.
Now, as we begin to depart from Week 2, we’re left with just a regular tie between two of those aforementioned teams. And (*spoiler*) one of them isn’t a defending champion of anything.
Panthers bury injured, sickly Saints, 26-7
To be fair to New Orleans, they did come into Bank of America Stadium down seven coaches due to COVID-19 protocol and a sizable cast of featured players due to various setbacks. No Michael Thomas, no Marshon Lattimore, no C.J. Gardner-Johnson, no David Onyemata, no Kwon Alexander, no Erik McCoy, no Tanoh Kpassagnon.
Carolina seemingly couldn’t care less about what New Orleans have or didn’t have on that field, smashing quarterback Jameis Winston for 11 quarterback hits and four sacks. The Panthers defense held the Saints to their lowest scoring output (7) since 2015 and their lowest total yardage (128) since 2001.
Quarterback Sam Darnold impressed again as well. The reclamation project is now off to two straight weeks of success, with a 26-of-38 completion clip for 305 yards and a pair of touchdown throws.
Brady, Bucs overwhelm Falcons, 48-25
Hey, did you guys know Tom Brady is like, really old and he’s been playing for like, a really long time? Yeah! Crazy, right?
And get this . . . he’s still good.
The 44-year-old tossed for five touchdowns on a lowly Falcons defense, spreading the wealth between tight end Rob Gronkowski and wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Atlanta’s old quarterback kinda get out of bed too, amassing 300 yards and a pair of scores after a listless Week 1 outing.
That, however, simply wouldn’t be close to enough in the 23-point rout. Bucs safety Mike Edwards made sure of that, picking off Matt Ryan twice for two (yes, two) trips to the end zone.
NFC South Standings through Week 2
t-1. Carolina Panthers (2-0)
t-1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0)
3. New Orleans Saints (1-1)
4. Atlanta Falcons (0-2)
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