The NFC South After Week 1: They Were Who We Thought They Were

Coming into Week 1, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had their game postponed due to the rash of Hurricanes hitting Southern Florida. The Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers traveled to teams expected to be near the bottom of the NFL standings in Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers respectively. The New Orleans Saints opened Monday Night Football against one of the better defenses in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings.

So what happened in Week 1?

What was expected.

New Orleans lost to the Vikings (and might have lost more than just the game after OL Zach Strief injured his knee) 19-29. Carolina was able to take care of business against the 49ers, beating San Francisco 23-3. Likewise, the Atlanta Falcons put a stomping on the Chicago Bears, blowing them out 50-6. Just kidding - the Falcons barely held on against Mike Glennon’s Chicago Bears, eking out 23-17 win coming down to the final play of the game.

Next week, the entire NFC South plays at home, with the Saints make their home debut against the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, so it surely doesn’t get any easier for them from here. Tampa Bay makes their season debut, hosting the aforementioned Bears. Carolina hosts the Buffalo Bills and the Falcons have a tough match-up against A-A-Ron and the Green Bay Packers.

It’s only Week 1, so let’s get these losses out of our system early and lear from them.

Win, and let’s let the rest of the division take care of itself. #BeatthePats