The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have received the final three NFC South titles.
At 3-1, they’ve the early lead within the division once more and may strengthen their edge as they face their closest opponents—the 2-2 Atlanta Falcons and the 2-2 New Orleans Saints—in Weeks 5 and 6.
However no group from the NFC South has superior previous the divisional spherical of the playoffs because the wild-card Bucs received the Tremendous Bowl after the 2020 season.
Tampa Bay can set up itself as one of many high early contenders within the NFC by successful Thursday night time in Atlanta and 10 days later in New Orleans. However a loss in both or each of the video games would create a logjam of mediocrity that has been a characteristic of the division in current seasons.
Whereas the Carolina Panthers, 1-3 after going 2-15 a yr in the past, seem like dealing with an ongoing rebuilding mission, the Falcons, who final made the playoffs in 2017, and the Saints, who final made the playoffs in 2020, each made vital low season strikes designed to assist them unseat the Bucs and emerge as contenders.
However to this point the outcomes have been common.
Each groups employed extremely regarded assistants to be their offensive coordinators, Atlanta grabbing former Rams quarterback coach/passing sport coordinator Zac Robinson and New Orleans importing former 49ers offensive passing sport specialist Klint Kubiak.
The Falcons, who at 7-10 completed two video games behind the second-place Saints final season, went even additional to assist out first-year head coach Raheem Morris by signing free-agent quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract.
However Atlanta averaged lower than 17 factors per sport in dropping two of its first three, although it did beat the Saints 26-24 final Sunday with out scoring an offensive landing.
New Orleans was as spectacular as any group within the NFL within the first two weeks, beating the Panthers 47-10 and the Cowboys 44-10, however the loss in Atlanta was preceded by a 15-12 residence loss to the Eagles. The Saints, who go to the undefeated Tremendous Bowl champion Chiefs on Monday night time, have outscored their opponents 127-70, tying the undefeated Vikings for the biggest scoring margin within the NFL, however they’ve only a breakeven file (and a to-game dropping streak) to indicate for it.
As for the Bucs, they’re coming off a 33-16 victory towards the Eagles and have two different spectacular wins, handing each the shocking Commanders (37-20) and the Lions (20-16) their solely losses.
However two weeks in the past Tampa Bay was dealt with simply at residence by the Broncos 26-7.
The upcoming back-to-back divisional highway video games shall be a great gauge for the Bucs, whose sport at Detroit has been their solely sport away from residence.
Perceived contenders such because the Cowboys, Eagles, Packers, 49ers and Rams are off to surprisingly gradual begins, whereas the Commanders, Vikings and Seahawks seem like stronger contenders than typically was anticipated.
In the meantime, within the NFC South, until and till somebody demonstrates in any other case, continued mediocrity is the one label that sticks.