Already a mere two games into the season the division is shaking out pretty much how I and most people thought, though not exactly. It's a two team race. Atlanta put it to the Vikings, a supposed contender, on their home turf. That indicates that the Bucs did well to escape ATL with any kind of win. The Panthers and Saints are already showing they are also rans.
I thought the Panthers would take another step forward. Instead it seems they won't be doing that, and it won't be long before Canales is on the hot seat. The Saints are in a long term building plan. Nobody thought they would win, and nothing's changed.
Atlanta is better than I thought. I thought they'd fold their tent this year, but it seems they'll give the Bucs a run for their money. Beating the Falcons the next time they see them in RJ will be huge, but on the other hand the Falcons won both matchups last year and still lost the division.
It's a two team race, but by no means do I think the Falcons will fold up shop this year. For them to rip Minnesota a new one after a tough loss to the Bucs shows me it's going to be a long hardfought battle for the division crown and I can easily see both teams making the playoffs at 11-6 or better.
yeah the Saints and Panthers are who we thought they were. Neither team has a quarterback. Canales will likely be fired but and a new coach will get to pick his QB of the Future in next year's draft. Both teams will be lobbying for the first overall pick. We better go 4-0 against them.
The Falcons surprised me with their impressive win over the Vikings. They will likely win this week too against Carolina.
If we win 13 games this year, then yes we can clinch early but if we do our usual trip over our Ds and finish with 10 wins, then yeah, this division will go to the end.
Next step up is beating a clearly inferior team at home in the Jets with their back-up QB (who unfortunately is probably better than their starter)
This reminds me of the Broncos game last year. At home game against an 0-2 team that maybe was better than we thought. Broncos ended up at 10-7 and making the playoffs. I dont think the Jets are the same and hopefully the Bucs dont catapult them.
2 games in is hard to draw any conclusions because the first two weeks of the NFL season is wild. I think by the next two games we will know for sure what the division looks like. Falcons I think are improved defensively while on offense they rely too much on Bijan in the passing game which sooner or later is going to be a big fatal flaw for them down the stretch when they face teams that do not blitz and sit back with 7 in coverage. No one is scared of their WRs so teams are just going to play cover 2 shell over the top forcing the Falcons to dink and dunk to secure drives. That is why the Falcons are desperately working on integrating Pitts into their passing game by lining him out wide so often.
The Saints are better than I thought despite their OL injury shuffles. Rattler is playing better than I thought but he is still basically a borderline backup/fringe starter because he can't seal the deal to win games. Rattler has been compared to Mayfield but Mayfield finishes games with wins while Rattler can not. Still, if you put a better team around Rattler he will end up with some wins but is he a true QB1 so far? Not really because he needs to throw with some anticipation and be willing to throw accurately into tight NFL windows. If a WR has a full step on a DB that is considered NFL open. I think where the Saints took a step back is their defensive scheme but they are still learning on the fly so we will see if they can refocus as the season goes on.
The Panthers are an interesting case where Young is very erratic but I think that their defense has to come alive at some point because Evero finally has some talent to work with. So look for them to look better when their defense is wired up like the Saints.
But as it is it the case for both teams for them to be better than .500 ball Young and Rattle have to elevate their respective games.
2 games in is hard to draw any conclusions because the first two weeks of the NFL season is wild. I think by the next two games we will know for sure what the division looks like. Falcons I think are improved defensively while on offense they rely too much on Bijan in the passing game which sooner or later is going to be a big fatal flaw for them down the stretch when they face teams that do not blitz and sit back with 7 in coverage. No one is scared of their WRs so teams are just going to play cover 2 shell over the top forcing the Falcons to dink and dunk to secure drives. That is why the Falcons are desperately working on integrating Pitts into their passing game by lining him out wide so often.
The Saints are better than I thought despite their OL injury shuffles. Rattler is playing better than I thought but he is still basically a borderline backup/fringe starter because he can't seal the deal to win games. Rattler has been compared to Mayfield but Mayfield finishes games with wins while Rattler can not. Still, if you put a better team around Rattler he will end up with some wins but is he a true QB1 so far? Not really because he needs to throw with some anticipation and be willing to throw accurately into tight NFL windows. If a WR has a full step on a DB that is considered NFL open. I think where the Saints took a step back is their defensive scheme but they are still learning on the fly so we will see if they can refocus as the season goes on.
The Panthers are an interesting case where Young is very erratic but I think that their defense has to come alive at some point because Evero finally has some talent to work with. So look for them to look better when their defense is wired up like the Saints.
But as it is it the case for both teams for them to be better than .500 ball Young and Rattle have to elevate their respective games.
Carolina just had back to back road games but against teams that weren't exactly picked to make the playoffs in Jacksonville and Arizona. This week will be telling. They are near touchdown underdogs at home versus Atlanta. They beat them last year. But the question is if Bryce Young can not turn the ball over. We should all be rooting for a Carolina win and i think it's possible depending if the Falcons are real or not.
The Saints are just brutal. Lost to the Cardinals and back-up QB led 49ers in their back to back home games. This could be a 2-3 win team. i dont think either team has a chance to play .500 ball. Assuming they both get swept by the Bucs and lost to Bills, you are talking having to go 9-3 in the remainder of their games. No shot.
The Falcons are interesting because we just dont know how good the Vikings are. The next 4 weeks would be a good indicator whether Atlanta is a potential playoff team or in the 7,8 win range. They lose against Carolina and forget about it. Following the Panthers lay up is back to back home games against Washington and Buffalo and on road against San Fran. So could be 1-5 but most likely may be closer to 3-3. Maybe 2-4 is possible?
I had the Bucs at 1-1 at this point as i had no faith in them in prime time. Could you fault me after seeing how our special teams tried up to give it away, Baker forcing his own fumble, or LVD not being able to catch a ball? Yeah, we did our best to lose that game but maybe this year is different? Next test for the Bucs is winning a gimme game they should win. We have started 2-0 the last 5 years but not once made it to 3-0. let's change that.
I think Jax and Arizona have been fringe playoff teams for a while now but they simply have had issues putting it together so I can see why Carolina lost both road games. But Carolina does have Tet as a rookie and he is a mismatch for Falcons as well as Xavier on the other side. If the Panthers can get their ground game going against a smaller Falcons front they might surprise. But look for DC Evero to neutralize Bijan and force other players on the Falcons to beat his defense. Just a feeling.
Saints lost two close games but they can not finish so far, and they have a rookie HC. If their OL is healthy again and their defense finds it footing they can flirt with .500 ball because Rattler has shown he can manage a game. But the issue with Rattler is he isn't pushing the ball downfield with accuracy so far and NFL teams will just crowd the line until he can make them pay.
The Vikings are always hard to gauge but given their trend they tend to be very scrappy and they will have Addison back at some point on offense. McCarthy is still processing but he is starting to see the field better. Defensively they are still going to be a menace for teams to deal with.
Atlanta Falcons should easily win against the Carolina Panthers but they haven't really played a complete game so far. And facing off against the Commanders, Bills, and San Fran will be a challenge for sure.
Already a mere two games into the season the division is shaking out pretty much how I and most people thought, though not exactly. It's a two team race. Atlanta put it to the Vikings, a supposed contender, on their home turf. That indicates that the Bucs did well to escape ATL with any kind of win. The Panthers and Saints are already showing they are also rans.
I thought the Panthers would take another step forward. Instead it seems they won't be doing that, and it won't be long before Canales is on the hot seat. The Saints are in a long term building plan. Nobody thought they would win, and nothing's changed.
Atlanta is better than I thought. I thought they'd fold their tent this year, but it seems they'll give the Bucs a run for their money. Beating the Falcons the next time they see them in RJ will be huge, but on the other hand the Falcons won both matchups last year and still lost the division.
It's a two team race, but by no means do I think the Falcons will fold up shop this year. For them to rip Minnesota a new one after a tough loss to the Bucs shows me it's going to be a long hardfought battle for the division crown and I can easily see both teams making the playoffs at 11-6 or better.
it was always clear it was going to be two teams race. saints are in no plan, they are simply the total mess and panthers are in no mans land, searching formtheir own identity.
it leaves us and falcons for the division. I also have a feeling falcons are not bd at all, but it is still too early to say. this way or another, we are the best team in our division and if injuries don’t hit us hard division is ours to lose, especially with favorable schedule after the bye
Already a mere two games into the season the division is shaking out pretty much how I and most people thought, though not exactly. It's a two team race. Atlanta put it to the Vikings, a supposed contender, on their home turf. That indicates that the Bucs did well to escape ATL with any kind of win. The Panthers and Saints are already showing they are also rans.
I thought the Panthers would take another step forward. Instead it seems they won't be doing that, and it won't be long before Canales is on the hot seat. The Saints are in a long term building plan. Nobody thought they would win, and nothing's changed.
Atlanta is better than I thought. I thought they'd fold their tent this year, but it seems they'll give the Bucs a run for their money. Beating the Falcons the next time they see them in RJ will be huge, but on the other hand the Falcons won both matchups last year and still lost the division.
It's a two team race, but by no means do I think the Falcons will fold up shop this year. For them to rip Minnesota a new one after a tough loss to the Bucs shows me it's going to be a long hardfought battle for the division crown and I can easily see both teams making the playoffs at 11-6 or better.
it was always clear it was going to be two teams race. saints are in no plan, they are simply the total mess and panthers are in no mans land, searching formtheir own identity.
it leaves us and falcons for the division. I also have a feeling falcons are not bd at all, but it is still too early to say. this way or another, we are the best team in our division and if injuries don’t hit us hard division is ours to lose, especially with favorable schedule after the bye
good takes
and this part - "especially with favorable schedule after the bye" - might end up being huge given the current state of injuries.
Hopefully the Bucs keep piling up wins, but if the injuries got to them (Mauch now injured?) its not hard to imagine them needing a post-bye run.
Falcons and bucs will be close. It was great to get the win against them on the road early in the season. We will need to keep going tho because they'll be a good team too.
Saints Defense and Panthers Defense do not look good at all. Rattler looks better this year, but still looks like a back up. I am still not sure about Atlanta. With the exception of one WR and one Tackle they were pretty healthy against Tampa and Minnesota. I was not too impressed with the Minnesota win as JJ McCarthy looks like a rookie with both accuracy and decision making. Vikings barely beating the Bears in a comeback was not impressive. TB has beaten two good teams missing most of its WRs and with a patched up line. TB and ATL both healthy I think TB will take that gave every day of the week. Problem is health is never good with TB.
Already a mere two games into the season the division is shaking out pretty much how I and most people thought, though not exactly. It's a two team race. Atlanta put it to the Vikings, a supposed contender, on their home turf. That indicates that the Bucs did well to escape ATL with any kind of win. The Panthers and Saints are already showing they are also rans.
I thought the Panthers would take another step forward. Instead it seems they won't be doing that, and it won't be long before Canales is on the hot seat. The Saints are in a long term building plan. Nobody thought they would win, and nothing's changed.
Atlanta is better than I thought. I thought they'd fold their tent this year, but it seems they'll give the Bucs a run for their money. Beating the Falcons the next time they see them in RJ will be huge, but on the other hand the Falcons won both matchups last year and still lost the division.
It's a two team race, but by no means do I think the Falcons will fold up shop this year. For them to rip Minnesota a new one after a tough loss to the Bucs shows me it's going to be a long hardfought battle for the division crown and I can easily see both teams making the playoffs at 11-6 or better.
it was always clear it was going to be two teams race. saints are in no plan, they are simply the total mess and panthers are in no mans land, searching formtheir own identity.
it leaves us and falcons for the division. I also have a feeling falcons are not bd at all, but it is still too early to say. this way or another, we are the best team in our division and if injuries don’t hit us hard division is ours to lose, especially with favorable schedule after the bye
well injuries already demolished us....down 2 of our top WRs, our starting 2 tackles, our starting defensive lineman and it's week 2.
We are somehow touchdown favorites against the Jets but our offensive line gave Baker no time to throw on Monday.
the fact that we won that game was a miracle. We wont win many playing like that.
well injuries already demolished us....down 2 of our top WRs, our starting 2 tackles, our starting defensive lineman and it's week 2
Careful there Mr. 2025 . . we all learned in 2024 injuries are just excuses . . and the HC and GM's fault anyway
The lack of players on the [offensive and] defensive side of the ball is on the HC & GM. We’ve covered this before. . .
. . .You can’t actually think you’re making factual arguments, here. It’s excuse after excuse after excuse
roflmao
"Out of practice was rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka (hip/groin) and Cody Mauch (knee), along with Luke Goedeke (foot) and Calijah Kancey (pectoral). The latter two will not play Sunday.
Limited in practice were Dennis (ankle), Chris Godwin (ankle), Haason Reddick (shoulder) and Tristan Wirfs (knee)."
I am still not sure about Atlanta.
Actually, it seems like you are sure.
TB has beaten two good teams
Regardless, we notched 2 wins on the road to start the season.
And, with that opening win vs. a divisional opponent; you can't help but feel good about how the division is shaping up to start.
Fortunately, we don't see another divisional game for 6 weeks. Should have Wirfs and Goedeke back by then.
OK one team gets 332 yards and 17 first downs, and the other gets 224 yards and 15 first downs. What do you think is the logical final score of that game?. 30-0 in favor of the team with 108 fewer yards? That's how the Panthers beat the Falcons That's just a fluke game. I'm not marking that as any kind of indicator for anything. I'll still put the Falcons as the main contender for the Bucs, but they are now two games behind and losing the tiebreaker. That next Falcons game could be the nail in the coffin if the Bucs can win that.