Canal Street Chronicles
The race at the top gets even closer.
Like last week, two NFC South teams are on the bye. There was excitement with the teams that did play, and one had a crucial win.
Regular Season record 3-8
Going into week 12, the Panthers were on a two-game win streak, but their opponent was one of the best teams in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs. Although many expected for this game to be a blowout, the Panthers defied the odds and showed a lot of improvement. Ultimately, this was not enough, with the Chiefs squeaking out a 30-27 win. There were a lot of positives to take away from this game for the Panthers. Bryce Young looked great and had some amazing throws throughout the game. This was the best performance of Young’s career and showed his ability to lead a team in the clutch. In the final two minutes, the Panthers scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion, but there was way too much time on the clock for the Chiefs to win. The Panthers rushing attack is usually a strength of the team, but the Chiefs defensive line completely shut down the usually reliable Chuba Hubbard. Carolina’s pass defense was once again really disappointing, and Patrick Mahomes completely carved up everything that was thrown at him. For the Panthers, the best performance of the game has to go to the defensive line. The line has been the biggest weakness of the roster, but against the Chiefs, they sacked Patrick Mahomes five times. Besides not winning, there were so many positives to take away from this game, and the Panthers continue to go in a positive direction.
Regular Season record 5-6
I am changing up the order for this week’s State of the NFC South because of the bye weeks. The Buccaneers’ season was beginning to slide going into their bye week, but on the other side, their opponent was the New York Giants. The Giants just benched their starting QB and look like one of the worst teams in the league. This was the perfect game for the Bucs to bounce back, which is exactly what happened, with the game ending 30-7. If it wasn’t for a 4th quarter touchdown by the Giants, this game would have been a shutout. Baker Mayfield had an extremely efficient game, finishing 24-30 and 294 yards. The Bucs’ rushing attack took control, and although their total yard numbers don’t jump off the page, four different rushers got into the end zone. The defense completely shut down quarterback Tommy Devito, and if the Giants even tried to run the ball, the Bucs stopped everything. This was an all-around dominant game by Tampa Bay, and with this win, they are only one game behind first place in the NFC South. Unlike this past week, the Bucs have a difficult matchup in week 13 against the division-rival Carolina Panthers.
Regular Season record 6-5
The first team...
