NFC South Week 12 review: Buccaneers fall further behind Saints

Here is what happened around the NFC South in Week 12.

The Saints are starting to run away with what could become their fourth-consecutive division crown.

Here is what happened around the NFC South in Week 12.

Saints (9-2) beat Broncos (4-7), 31-3

Another week, another blowout win for New Orleans. It helped that Denver didn’t have a real QB available for this one. Taysom Hill still looks like nothing special as a passer, though – he was just 9/16 for 78 yards, one interception and a 43.2 passer rating. He was quite effective as a rusher, however – totaling 44 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. Latavius Murray added two more rushing scores and 124 yards on the ground.

The Saints defense continues to look extremely impressive after a bad start to the season. This week, Cameron Jordan posted four QB hits, a sack and two tackles for a loss. Next up, New Orleans goes for nine straight wins against the Falcons.

Buccaneers (7-5) lost to Chiefs (10-1), 27-24

The Bucs made it interesting after falling behind 17-0 but their comeback fell short against the champs. Tom Brady threw two more interceptions in the loss, bringing his season total to 11. Far more worrying was Tampa’s total inability to defend Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who posted an absurd line with 13 catches, 269 yards and three touchdowns.

If the Bucs don’t fix their problems on the back end of their defense, they’re not going to get very far in the playoffs at all. They will host the Vikings after their bye week.

Falcons (4-7) crushed Raiders (6-5), 43-6

Atlanta has been far more competitive since they fired Dan Quinn and promoted Raheem Morris to interim head coach. Despite Julio Jones being ruled out and a mediocre game from Matt Ryan, they still managed to dominate the Raiders in every aspect of this game. The Falcons totaled five sacks on Derek Carr and Nathan Peterman plus eight tackles for a loss.

Panthers (4-8) lost to Vikings (5-6), 28-27

Getting destroyed by the Bucs back in Week 10 was easily the most embarrassing loss for Carolina this season so far. However, this one definitely hurts the most. This was the definition of a winnable game against a beatable opponent. However, the team’s shortcomings at the quarterback position and on the sidelines severely impacted the Panthers. This is the kind of loss that makes you question just how far this team can go with Matt Rhule and Teddy Bridgewater leading the way. There’s a lot of soul-searching to do during this bye week.

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