The NFC South was anticipated to be one of the stronger divisions in the NFL before the season started. We’re about half way through the season and the division leading Carolina Panthers are under .500. No one expected this from the NFC South. In the second half of the season all the teams in the South will be looking to turn their season around. Here’s a look at the Week 9 matchups in the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers, Thursday 8:25PM EST
The Carolina Panthers are coming off of a tough loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8. They follow that with a Thursday night game against their division rival the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are coming off a convincing win over the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday night.
However, the Panthers are getting their two running backs, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, both back healthy this week. On top of that, the connection that quarterback Cam Newton and rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin have established so far this season is going to make it easy for the Panthers to exploit the Saints’ biggest weakness, their secondary. According the PFF (subscription), the Saints have the worst pass coverage grade in the entire NFL. On the other side of the ball it’s the same story. The Saints and quarterback Drew Brees are going to be able to exploit the weak secondary of the Panthers as well. The key to this game is who is going to be able to get more pressure on the opposing quarterback. I see the difference in this one being the mobility of Cam Newton. I expect the Panthers to win by a touchdown.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Cleveland Browns, Sunday 1PM EST
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could very well be the worst team in the NFC. They have a lot of individual talent but haven’t been able to put any of it together. Not to mention, the Bucs just traded away starting strong safety Mark Barron. I would say this is a big blow but their pass coverage was already fourth worst in league and their run defense was the worst, so these two aspects can not get much worse.
The Cleveland Browns surprisingly have one of the more efficient offenses in the league this season. Their offensive line has been very good and quarterback Brian Hoyer has been solid. He hasn’t been bad but he certainly hasn’t been great. Against the Bucs they won’t need Hoyer to be great. Running backs Ben Tate and Terrance West should be able to set the tone against Tampa and have success on the ground. For the Bucs to be able to pull out a win on the road this week they’ll need their running backs Doug Martin and Bobby Rainey to have a big week. Not only will this keep Tampa’s defense off the field but it will also make things easier for quarterback Mike Glennon. While this is what they need to do to win, I don’t expect them to go out and perform. The Browns should win this game by about a touchdown.