Canal Street Chronicles
What an exciting Week 1... for some teams
Week 1 of the season has passed, and in the NFC South, two teams had great performances, and two teams struggled.
Regular Season record 0-1
The Carolina Panthers wanted to enter the year with a clean slate after a disappointing 2023 season. Instead, Carolina opened up against their division rival, the Saints, and were dominated 47-10. This loss was a mixture of a lot going wrong for the Panthers and a lot going well for the Saints. Second-year quarterback Bryce Young looked lost at times. For most of the game, Young was under pressure, and when the pocket held up, he missed on a lot of his throws. After this lackluster performance, Young had the second-worst QB rating in the league. The Panthers’ defense was not bad, but the Saints’ use of motions and having to be on the field for so long made the Panthers’ defenders tired early in the game.
Regular Season record 1-0
The Buccaneers have been the NFC South winners for the past three seasons and look to repeat in 2024. In week one against the Washington Commanders, the Bucs started their season strong, winning 37-20. Baker Mayfield had a stellar game, going 24-30 for 289 yards and 4 touchdown throws. The Buccaneers’ running game was able to stay consistent and allow the offense to click against Washington. On defense, the Bucs faced rookie QB Jayden Daniels in his NFL debut. The pass defense stayed strong, and the run defense stopped the Commanders’ running backs, but Jayden Daniels picked the Bucs apart in the rushing game.
Regular Season record 0-1
The Atlanta Falcons went into the offseason intending to make big changes to the coaching staff and big upgrades to the roster. One of these significant additions was former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is coming off of a devastating Achilles injury. In week one against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Falcons offense looked lost. The final score of the game ended 18-10, with the Steelers winning on only scoring field goals. As I mentioned before, Kirk Cousins was coming off of a devastating injury, which was evident in this game. He barely moved outside the pocket the entire game, and when he was throwing, almost every attempt looked off. The Falcons offensive line struggled, and Steelers’ edge rusher T.J. Watt was the X-factor throughout the game. When a defense prevents a team from scoring any touchdowns, the result usually ends in a win, but not in this game.
Regular Season record 1-0
The New Orleans Saints have preached all offseason that improvements will be made to the offense. This is exactly what happened in the week one game against the Panthers. Derek Carr had possibly one of the most complete games in his career in Klint Kubiak’s offensive scheme, which was beautiful to watch. After a few down years, Alvin Kamara looked back to his old self with...
