(Sports Editor Chris Vivlamore is filling in today for Mark Bradley, who will return on Wednesday.)
There will be a playoff team that comes out of the NFC South. That’s the rule.
After seven weeks, these are the standings in the division:
Falcons: 3-4
Buccaneers: 3-4
Panthers: 2-5
Saints: 2-5
There is time, clearly, for a team to step up and take control of the division. But what team might that be?
* The Falcons have fallen behind early, too far to come all the way back, in three of their losses. Remarkably, they have only allowed eight more points than they’ve scored through seven games. The secondary is an injury-riddled mess. The top offensive weapon, running back/wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson is hurt.
“Back to work,” head coach Arthur Smith said after a 25-17 loss at the Bengals Sunday. “We didn’t do a good enough job — none of us did — being ready against a good team on the road. Thankfully it only counts as one. It’s a long season.”
The Falcons are 0-2 in the division, the only team without such a win, with losses to the Saints and Buccaneers. They have the Panthers at home on Sunday.
* Poor Tom Brady. He could have stayed retired and, according to reports, have been collecting $300 million to be a television analyst. And, again according to reports, still be in marital bliss. Instead, he came back for another season with the Buccaneers. It’s not going according to plan. The Bucs have scored the same number of points as they have allowed. They are 1-2 at home and 2-1 in the division.
“No one feels good about where we’re at,” Brady said after a 21-3 loss at the Panthers Sunday. “No one feels good about how we played or what we’re doing.”
It’s a short week, too. The Bucs host the Ravens on Thursday.
* The Panthers fired their coach earlier this month. . They traded top wide receiver Robbie Anderson to the Cardinals last week. They then traded their top running back Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers. P.J. Walker started at quarterback following injuries to Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. What a few weeks. So naturally, they go out and defeat the Buccaneers on Sunday.
“You could just feel the energy as we came into the building today, feel the vibe of us wanting to go out and there and play this game,” Walker said. “We talked in the meeting about making that jump. We did that today.”
The Panthers’ two wins have been in the division, so they’ve got that going for them.
* Does anyone feel sorry for the Saints? And did they really come into Mercedes-Benz Stadium and beat the Falcons in Week 1?
The Saints lost to the Cardinals, 42-34, on Thursday after surrendering not one, but two, pick-sixes in the first half. The game-changing interceptions, by Andy Dalton, came on consecutive drives about a minute apart. It was their fifth loss in the past six games.
They Saints are 1-3 at home. They host the Raiders on Sunday.
Stay tuned, as they say, somebody win win this division.
The above is part of a regular exercise, written and collated by yours truly, available to all who register on AJC.com for our free Sports Daily newsletter. The full Bradley’s Buzz, which includes more opinions and extras like a weekly poll, arrives via email around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We’d be obliged if you’d give it a try.
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