The NFC South standings remain largely unchanged after Week 8, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers maintaining their lead in the division following a decisive 23-3 win over the New Orleans Saints. The Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons both recorded their fourth losses of the season, leaving them in second and third place, respectively.
The Buccaneers played without key receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin due to injuries, but rookie Tez Johnson stepped up by catching five of six targets for 43 yards. On defense, outside linebacker Anthony Nelson delivered a standout performance that included a forced fumble, four pressures, two sacks, and an interception returned for a touchdown. Quarterback Baker Mayfield struggled against heavy blitzing from the Saints, completing just four of 11 passes for 12 yards under pressure.
Head coach Todd Bowles commented on his team’s defensive takeaways: “We practice it all the time. They come in bunches. I can’t tell you that there is one thing we do differently that we have not been doing. I have been around when we practiced it daily every day and did everything we could and we got none, and I have been around when we hardly practiced it, and we got a bunch of them. They come in bunches, and the guys start seeing it and they feed off of it and we just have to keep that going.” The Buccaneers are on a bye week next.
The Panthers suffered a heavy 40-9 defeat at home to the Buffalo Bills. Running back Rico Dowdle led Carolina’s offense with 54 rushing yards on eight carries. Linebacker Trevin Wallace earned recognition for recording his first sack of the season despite the defense allowing 40 points. With starting quarterback Bryce Young sidelined due to an ankle injury, Andy Dalton started in his place but turned the ball over twice and was sacked seven times.
Dalton addressed his performance after the game: “I didn’t play like I was capable of playing. I felt like I didn’t give us a chance, and, yeah, it’s tough. I know what I’ve been able to do. I know what I can do, and so it’s not played to the standard that you expect. I mean, that’s why it’s tough. And at this stage in your career, you only get so many of these opportunities out there.” The Panthers will face Green Bay next week.
The Atlanta Falcons lost 34-10 at home to the Miami Dolphins. Tight end Kyle Pitts had nine receptions on nine targets from Kirk Cousins, tying his career high; he is now five yards short of reaching 3,000 receiving yards for his career—a milestone achieved by only three other Falcons tight ends previously. On defense, linebacker Kaden Elliss recorded his 14th game with ten or more tackles as a Falcon since 2023—the most by any Falcon during that period.
Head coach Raheem Morris commented on Atlanta’s offensive struggles: “We’ve got to get our running game going. If we can get those things going, that really is our lifeline of everything that we do, whether it be running the ball, passing the ball, whatever the case may be. That’s really our lifeline. When we get that going, we’re a really good offense. When we don’t get that going, we look like we did (Sunday), where you don’t have a chance to maintain possession.” The Falcons will play against New England Patriots next week.
The New Orleans Saints fell to last place in the division following their loss to Tampa Bay and continued issues at quarterback led head coach Kellen Moore to make a change mid-game—rookie Tyler Shough replaced Spencer Rattler as starter moving forward after Rattler posted a record of one win in fourteen starts.
Moore explained: “We just needed to find a way to create something on offense. It has more to do with the offense collectively. We’re just not executing and playing at a high enough standard and we gotta find a way to move the football consistently, protect the football and score points. This is a pure full offensive evaluation point. We’re just not there.” Defensive end Chase Young remained one bright spot for New Orleans with 1.5 sacks plus a forced fumble and recovery against Tampa Bay.
Next week sees New Orleans traveling west for an away game against Los Angeles Rams.
