Time is a flat circle in perpetually pathetic NFC South; three-way tie for first with all teams under .500

“Everything we’ve ever done or will do, we’re gonna do over and over and over again.” Rust Cohle (of “True Detective”) wasn’t talking about football when he opined on the recurrence of events in our lives, but he might as well have been in a deep discussion on the NFC South, a routinely disgusting division which once again finds itself in a flat circle of time, with Sunday’s results yielding a three-way tie for first with teams under .500.

The Atlanta Falcons stymied Mike Evans to the tune of just eight yards on Sunday, which would lead you to believe the Falcons romped past the Buccaneers. You would be incorrect — Baker Mayfield managed to gut out a fairly impressive offensive performance against a tough Atlanta defense en route to a 29-25 victory that vaulted the Bucs into first place at 6-7. Credit to Rachaad White, who has really developed into an underrated lead back this season, for a 100-yard game on the ground and a screen pass he housed from 33 yards out to give the Bucs a two-score lead late in the third quarter.

The Falcons would answer with a Bijan Robinson touchdown to make it a 19-17 game before a Desmond Ridder rushing touchdown and ensuing two-point conversion gave them the lead with around three minutes left. And that’s when Baker did Baker things — it felt like every single play on Tampa’s final drive was a dangerous scramble or a tight-window throw or a shocking fourth-down conversion before Mayfield hit tight end Cade Otton for the game-winning score. 

Meanwhile, the Saints were hosting the Panthers, with the most shocking starting quarterback decision of the year, putting Derek Carr under center despite the QB coming off his second concussion of the season and battling rib and shoulder injuries. A cynic might suggest Carr loves to let the world know he’s very tough and a REAL cynic might suggest Carr is extremely insecure about losing his starting job to Jameis Winston….

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/time-is-a-flat-circle-in-perpetually-pathetic-nfc-south-three-way-tie-for-first-with-all-teams-under-500/

Author : Will Brinson

Publish date : 2023-12-10 23:28:38

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