NFC South Review: Atlanta widens the gap

The Falcons continue their reign at the top of the NFC South, while margins get tighter for the bottom of the division. The Saints continue to spiral and give Bryce Young his first win of the season. Tampa Bay goes 10 rounds for the 9th week in a row for another disappointing ending.

Here's the Week 9 review of the NFC South.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5)Week 9 Result:

Week 10 Opponent: San Francisco 49ers

You have to respect Tampa Bay's spirit. Despite their injuries, they've competed well in almost every game, but their efforts continue to fall short of their winning goals. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs pulled off another miraculous win on Monday Night Football, causing the Buccaneers to slip two games behind the Falcons, who are in first place in the NFC South.

Tampa Bay is still in play to get into the playoffs and even win the division; their final eight-game stretch is soft. They get to play the Panthers twice and the Saints once more. The only problem is that stretch starts against the 49ers next weekend. Tampa can't afford to lose too many more games, especially NFC ones.

New Orleans Saints (2-7)Week 9 Result: Saints 22 - Panthers 23

Week 10 Opponent: Atlanta Falcons

1,2,3,4,5,6,7—that's how many games the New Orleans Saints have lost in a row. Derek Carr made history this week, becoming the first player to lose to 31 different teams. Such an occasion was cause for a promotion, so congrats, Darren Rizzi. You're now the man in charge of this dumpster fire season. Dennis Allen is out, and Marshon Lattimore just left with him.

The Saints are tied for last place with the Panthers after allowing the Charlotte team to split the series this past Sunday. Former players are mocking the franchise, current ones are penning apology letters on their Twitter accounts, and Derek Carr is still in the building. It is a tumultuous time for the franchise, which is hoping to get the fired head coach bump as they try to play spoiler this weekend with their biggest rival coming to town.

Carolina Panthers (2-7)Week 9 Result: Panthers 23 - Saints 22

Week 10 Opponent: New York Giants

The Panthers are showing signs of life. By no means was it pretty, but they did what they had to do to give the Saints organization a reality check. The narrow win over the Saints was received so poorly in New Orleans that the team wasn't going to give Atlanta a chance to be the team that gets Dennis Allen fired.

Bryce Young finished with a pedestrian stat line and ended the game for the second week in a row with the same number of interceptions and passing touchdowns (1). However, the team has found something in Chuba Hubbard, who has helped keep the team afloat to the best of his ability. The Panthers have another winnable game this week against the New York Giants.

Atlanta Falcons (6-3)Week 8 Result: Falcons 27 - Cowboys 21

Week 9 Opponent: New Orleans aints

The Falcons are off to their best start since 2016. The team has a two-game lead in the division, and after Sunday's game against the Cowboys, they're tied with the Lions for the best record against NFC opponents (6-1). The Falcons are one of three teams in the entire league to be undefeated on the road, which is good because they'll have two back-to-back road games before getting to a much-needed bye week. The Falcons play in New Orleans this weekend and hope to sweep the Saints for the first time since 2014. New Orleans is having a historically bad year, and doing the dirty bird on the way out of their stadium would be a fantastic way to cap off the season series.

As we cross the halfway point of the season, the division is still the Falcons to lose. Tampa Bay is down but not out; however, both the Saints and Panthers have been TKO'd.