4. Carolina Panthers
What are the chances that the Carolina Panthers win another game this season? As sad as it is this the reality facing the franchise. It isn't whether or not the season will turn around it is whether or not the team can steal any more wins. Their best chance is likely against the New Orleans Saints or New York Giants. It would be shocking to see the team favored in any of their remaining matchups.
Even as a division rival, it is easy to feel sorry for a fanbase that deserves better. Sending D.J. Moore and the pick that would be used to select Caleb Williams is uniquely painful. Add in losing Brian Burns this past offseason and this is a team allergic to retaining their own talent.
What head coach is going to want this job? Bryce Young seems to be a lost cause and even if you find a quarterback what weapons do you have to offer? Carolina's season is over and all the questions they are facing are going to be waiting for them in an offseason that cannot come soon enough. There is no questioning that this is the worst team in football and a layup win for their remaining opponents.
3. New Orleans Saints
While Carolina's misery is sad the frustration facing the New Orleans Saints is the best development of the season. Atlanta watching the Saints get off to a hot start had reason to believe this could be a three-team race for the division. Any notion of this is completely forgotten with New Orleans losing five straight and completely falling out of the playoff conversation.
This is an aging roster facing major cap issues and they continue to double down on the next season. Appearing not to understand they are burying themselves for years to come. This isn't going to be solved by one painful offseason. Contracts cannot be shed to fix the issues the Saints are creating and it is finally catching up with them.
Spencer Rattler struggling as badly as he has serves as a reminder no camp reps or preseason games are truly an indication of a quarterback's ability. A fanbase ready to crown Rattler the starter is now desperate for Derek Carr to return.
Unlike the Panthers, the Saints have no clear way out of the mess they have created. Something Atlanta is greatly enjoying even as their own season has taken a frustrating turn.
2. Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons deserve to be bumped way down in everyone's ranking this week based on what they put on the field last Sunday. Seattle made plays and deserves credit for taking advantage, however, the Falcons beat themselves. Whether it was the ill-timed defense penalties to extend drives or the consistent offensive mistakes this game was as sloppy as the team has been all season.
It was as if the Falcons were sleepwalking expecting the Seahawks to roll into town and hand the Falcons a win. Playing this sloppy when you have no recent history of winning was shocking. With a coach known for his ability to motivate this was such an odd game to drop.
Losing a Week 7 game when you have every reason to be focused and motivated in this fashion is unacceptable. With so many veteran pieces this is a spot the Falcons should have at least been able to compete. Instead, the team came out flat and never had a chance after making early mistakes and being unable to recover from an early Seahawks surge. A complete mess that more than deserves Atlanta to be bumped down a slot this week.
1. Tampa Bay Bucs
Yes, Tampa lost in blowout fashion this past week as well but still deserves to move ahead of Atlanta. There are three reasons that this is inarguably the case heading into the two teams playing for the division lead on Sunday. The first is the fact Tampa faced a far better team in the Baltimore Ravens. This is arguably the best regular season team we have seen the past two seasons.Even more importantly the Bucs showed zero quit in this game keeping the gas pedal down until the final seconds. Baker Mayfield's blind and at times misplaced confidence fuels this team. To be able to make it a two-score game late when the Ravens ran away as well as they did was impressive. There is no quit in this team and even as they continued to lose pieces they refused to stop fighting. It was a far better showing than what the Falcons offered against Seattle.
The final reason is the fact Tampa is three time defending division champs and even in a loss that showed. Just when you had reason to believe the Falcons could be trusted they forgot to show up to a home game. Even in a blowout loss, the Bucs showed they have no quit whether that is the case for Atlanta remains to be seen.
-1728460115-q80.webp "Chicago Cubs make a Hall of Fame addition to Craig Counsell's coaching staff")