NFC South: Falcons overtake Bucs for 1st place, Panthers lose to Bears

NFC South Standings: Falcons move into 1st place, Panthers go back to Bryce Young during blowout loss to Bears

The Atlanta Falcons got off to a slow start to the season before reeling off back-to-back wins over NFC South opponents in Weeks 4 and 5. The team pulled off an incredible 36-30 comeback victory on Thursday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

With a 2-0 record against the NFC South, the Falcons have moved into first place in the division. Next week’s opponent, the Carolina Panthers, suffered a 36-10 blowout loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday. The Panthers even brought in Bryce Young late in the game.

Young completed four of seven passes for 58 yards in mop-up duty. It’s unclear if the Panthers will return to Young in Week 6 or stick with Dalton.

The Saints will take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night football in the final game of Week 5. Check out the updated NFC South standings below:

Win Loss Pct PF PA
Falcons 3 2 .600 111 115
Buccaneers 3 2 .600 127 114
Saints 2 2 .500 127 70
Panthers 1 4 .200 83 165

After two straight home victories, the Falcons will take on the Panthers on the road in Week 6. Sunday’s game starts at 4:25 p.m. ET.

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Final NFC South standings for 2023

It was an up-and-down road to get there, but now that all is said and done, the Buccaneers remain kings of the South.

The NFC South has its victor for 2023, and it’s a familiar face.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into this year as the division’s defending champions for the second year in a row, and they added a third on Sunday. With a 9-0 win over the Carolina Panthers, the Bucs took home the division for the third consecutive year and punched their ticket to the playoffs. The team was the only team from the division to make the playoffs, as the New Orleans Saints were eliminated from a wildcard spot when both the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers won their respective games.

Here is how the NFC South turned out for the 2023 season:

Team W L T Win% PF PA Home Away Strk
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 8 0 .529 348 325 4-4 5-4 W1
New Orleans Saints 9 8 0 .529 402 327 5-3 4-5 W2
Atlanta Falcons 7 10 0 .412 321 373 5-3 2-7 L2
Carolina Panthers 2 15 0 .118 236 416 2-6 0-9 L3

And here is how the division’s two final games went:

NFC South standings after Week 17

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons all have a scenario to win the NFC South in Week 18.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers missed their first chance to clinch the NFC South, but they have another opportunity to make it happen on Sunday.

Should the Bucs win against the Carolina Panthers in Week 18, they’ll clinch the division and go to the playoffs as the No. 4 seed. Lose that game, however, and they are eliminated — at that point, the winner of the matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons would be crowned the champion of the NFC South. There are a bunch of other scenarios that occur with ties, but we’ll keep it simple for right now.

Here’s what the NFC South looks like heading into Week 18:

Team W L T Win% PF PA Home Away Strk
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8 8 0 .500 339 325 4-4 4-4 L1
New Orleans Saints 8 8 0 .500 354 310 4-3 45 W1
Atlanta Falcons 7 9 0 .438 304 325 5-3 2-6 L1
Carolina Panthers 2 14 0 .125 236 407 2-5 0-9 L2

And here is how the NFC South’s games shaped out in Week 17:

NFC South standings: Bucs stay on top, Falcons stay alive

NFC South standings: Buccaneers stay on top, Falcons stay alive

The Atlanta Falcons defeated the Indianapolis Colts at home on Sunday to stay alive in the NFC South race with two weeks left to play. Even after their Week 16 win, the Falcons still trail the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the standings.

The Bucs throttled the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-12, on Sunday to move to 8-7 on the season. The New Orleans Saints lost to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night to fall to 7-8. Check out the updated NFC South standings below.

W L T Pct. PF PA Home Away
Bucs 8 7 .533 326 302 4-3 4-4
Falcons 7 8 .467 287 288 5-3 2-5
Saints 7 8 .467 331 297 4-3 3-5
Panthers 2 13 .133 236 381 2-5 0-8

NFC South standings after Week 14

The Bucs are back on top, but to say things are tight may be an understatement.

Every NFC South team played each other on Sunday, and the ensuing result is a division in a deadlock.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints defeated the Carolina Panthers, and as a result, there is a three-way tie for first place at 6-7 between the Bucs, Falcons and Saints. Tampa Bay currently serves as the division leader, as they have the edge on both teams through common opponents.

Here is what the NFC South looks like after Week 14:

Team W L T Win% PF PA Home Away Strk
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6 7 0 .462 262 270 3-3 3-4 W2
Atlanta Falcons 6 7 0 .462 251 269 4-3 2-4 L1
New Orleans Saints 6 7 0 .462 285 261 3-3 3-4 W1
Carolina Panthers 1 12 0 .077 197 351 1-4 0-8 L6

And here is how all (two) of those games went:

NFC South standings after Week 10

The Bucs are just half a game back from the division lead after they won their game on Sunday and the rest of the division lost.

And just like that, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are back in it.

The Bucs won their game against the Tennessee Titans while every other team in their division lost — the division-leading New Orleans Saints dropped their game to the Minnesota Vikings, the Atlanta Falcons lost to the Arizona Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers lost in prime time to the Chicago Bears. With all that, the Bucs have moved up a spot to second in the division and now are just half a game back of the division lead heading into Week 11.

Here’s what the NFC South looks like at the moment:

Team W L T Win% PF PA Home Away Strk
New Orleans Saints 5 5 0 .500 214 198 2-2 3-3 L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4 5 0 .444 178 173 2-3 2-2 L2
Atlanta Falcons 4 6 0 .400 189 217 3-2 1-4 W1
Carolina Panthers 1 8 0 .111 153 242 1-3 0-5 L2

And here is how every game went in the division:

NFC South standings after Week 9

In what has been a tumultuous division in 2023, there is yet another new leader in the NFC South after Week 9.

Over halfway into the NFL season, a new team has taken the NFC South crown.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers held the division lead for the first six weeks of action, and the Atlanta Falcons had it for the next two, but now, the New Orleans Saints stand atop the NFC South for the first time this year after Week 9. The Saints defeated the Chicago Bears to move to 5-4 on the year, while the Bucs and the Falcons both lost their games against the Texans and Vikings, respectively, to stay put. The Carolina Panthers won their first game of the week last week against Houston, but are back to their losing ways after dropping a game to the Colts.[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]

Here’s what the NFC South looks like after Week 9’s action:

Team W L T Win% PF PA Home Away Strk
New Orleans Saints 5 4 0 .556 195 171 2-2 3-2 W2
Atlanta Falcons 4 5 0 .444 166 192 3-2 1-3 L1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 5 0 .375 158 167 1-3 2-2 L4
Carolina Panthers 1 7 0 .125 140 226 1-3 0-4 L1

And here is how all the games within the division went:

NFC South standings after Week 8

Tampa Bay has moved down another rung in the division standings after Week 8’s action.

After (most of) Week 8’s NFL action, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped another spot on the NFC South rung.

Tampa Bay now sits at third in the NFC South just two weeks after reigning atop it after a loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football. The division-leading Falcons lost to the Tennessee Titans, but the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts and thus jumped the Bucs in the rankings with a 4-4 record. While they’re entirely out of the picture, the Carolina Panthers got their first win over the season against the Houston Texans, so that was pretty neat.

Here is what the NFC South table currently looks like through Week 8:

Team W L T Win% PF PA Home Away Strk
Atlanta Falcons 4 4 0 .500 138 161 3-1 1-3 L1
New Orleans Saints 4 4 0 .500 171 154 1-2 3-2 W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 4 0 .429 121 128 1-3 2-1 L3
Carolina Panthers 1 6 0 .143 127 199 1-2 0-4 W1

And here is how the games in the NFC South went on Sunday (and Thursday):

NFC South standings after Week 7

The Bucs are kings of the South no longer after a rough loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

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:

NFC South standings after Week 6

The Bucs still lead the NFC South after every other team in the division lost, but they missed a chance to get a major foothold on the division.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain kings of the NFC South — for now, that is.

Despite losing 20-6 to the Detroit Lions, the Bucs remain atop the NFC South standings due to every other team in the division losing. The second-place Atlanta Falcons dropped their game to the Washington Commanders, the New Orleans Saints were unable to best the Houston Texans and the Carolina Panthers had the misfortune of simply playing the Miami Dolphins. While it’s good that the Bucs remain atop the South, the team missed a big chance to capitalize on this and pull out in front with a one-game lead.

Here’s what the NFC South standings look like after Week 6:

Team W L T Win% PF PA Home Away Strk
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 2 0 .600 90 88 1-2 2-0 L1
Atlanta Falcons 3 3 0 .500 99 120 3-1 0-2 L1
New Orleans Saints 3 3 0 .500 109 96 1-1 2-2 L1
Carolina Panthers 0 6 0 .000 112 186 0-2 0-4 L6

And here’s how every NFC South game in Week 6 went: