NFC South
Finally we have a team that’s at .500; that sure took long enough. Tom Brady capped off Week 13 with a thriller and as battered and bruised as they clearly are, they could be trouble if they just bottled up those last two drives. As for the Saints, is anyone astonished that they’ve let Andy Dalton quarterback this long? Either Jameis Winston is still not right or can’t practice better than Dalton. Dennis Allen seems content to ride or die with the Red Rocket.
Atlanta Falcons – Another ugly effort put forth by the Falcons. They just couldn’t make enough plays to get that go-ahead score against the Steelers. Drake London missed on six of his 12 targets. Olamide Zaccheaus was second on the team with five targets but he pulled just two of them in for 13 yards. Cardarrelle Patterson appears underutilized still and  Marcus Mariota can’t stay away from the turnovers. At 5-8 they could be looking the rookie Desmond Ridder working his way onto the field.
Carolina Panthers – On BYE. Baker Mayfield asked for his release, the Panthers granted his wish and he was later picked up by the Rams.
New Orleans Saints – Pure heartbreak. What more can you say after playing three and a half quarters of stellar defense and ball control offense, then collapsing at the end. Andy Dalton and this defense played well enough to beat the Bucs, but
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Tom Brady was terrific once again, facing a 16-3 deficit in the fourth quarter and the Bucs made play-after-play. He threw two touchdowns (Cade Otton and Rachaad White) on their last two possession to take the lead with three seconds left in the game. It erased three quarters of bad play where the Bucs could not sustain drives, but down the stretch, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones, and Leonard Fournette made big plays to help this team get back to 0.500.
