The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are kings of the South no longer.
The Bucs could have stepped out to a big division lead on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, but instead, they now sit one game back out of the NFC South with a first-place schedule the rest of the way. The New Orleans Saints also lost the Jacksonville Jaguars, and while that was a lucky break for the Bucs, they need to vastly improve if they want to reclaim the top spot in the NFC South. The Carolina Panthers were on bye in Week 7, but that doesn’t really matter since they’re the worst team in football.
Here is what the NFC South looks like after Sunday’s contest:
| Team | W | L | T | Win% | PF | PA | Home | Away | Strk |
| Atlanta Falcons | 4 | 3 | 0 | .571 | 115 | 133 | 3-1 | 1-2 | W1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 | 103 | 104 | 1-3 | 2-0 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 133 | 127 | 1-2 | 2-2 | L1 |
| Carolina Panthers | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 112 | 186 | 0-2 | 0-4 | L6 |
And here is how the two games played by NFC South teams went: