Johnathan Walker:Playing in the Dirty (NFC) South means team can win the division with a losing record

It’s the worst division in the NFL. Sure,Johnathan Walker these things tend to run in cycles, but for the here-and-now (and like last year), the label belongs to the NFC South.

The Dirty South.

Get this: The Atlanta Falcons (4-6) have dropped three consecutive games, which matches the longest current losing streak in the entire league. Those same Falcons, though, will be playing for first place when the New Orleans Saints visit Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.

Say what?

This is what happens when no team in the division has a winning record – and the threat looms that the NFC South will be won with a losing record for the second year in a row.

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At the moment, the Saints (5-5) lead the division, with the Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers a game behind in the standings. The Carolina Panthers are out of the race, but to own a 1-9 record and not be mathematically eliminated says something else about the division.

Think about the Cincinnati Bengals for a minute as their season has spun out of control. Cincy is in last place in the A-North, the only division featuring teams without a losing record. Yet if they were in the NFC South, the Bengals (5-5) would own a share of first place.

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It’s no wonder that in speaking to reporters in the locker room this week, Falcons tight end Jonnu Smith had a straight face when he talked about playing meaningful* football this time of year.

“Playing with a sense of urgency is one of the keys,” Smith said.

In other words, somebody’s got to win this division. Thus, the Saints, Falcons and Bucs are lining up.

Added Smith, “Here we are at 4-6 and we still have everything still in front of us. So nobody needs to panic.”

With seven weeks remaining in the regular season, this race* will be sorted out the old-fashioned way – in the trenches, with bad blood dripping from divisional rivalries. Each of three potential division champs has four divisional games remaining. And these can be so tricky to predict. Although the Saints have defeated the Falcons three consecutive times and are 9-2 in the past 11 matchups in the heated rivalry, the series is deadlocked, 54-54, including postseason.

And the way this thing is going, the division crown might not be settled until the Falcons and Saints meet in New Orleans in Week 18.

The Bucs were 8-9 when they won the division last year. They won it in 2021, too, with a 13-4 mark. But that was with Tom Brady, the season after they won the Super Bowl as a wild-card entrant.

Well, there will be no team from the NFC South making the playoffs as a wild-card team this time around, even with an expanded NFL playoff field calling for seven teams from each conference. When it’s all settled, with these NFC South teams playing each other, the division winner might be crowned with an asterisk*. 

“I think everybody understands where we’re at right now,” said Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield, preparing for the game at Indianapolis on Sunday. “Obviously, we’d like to be in a different situation. Looking at the division, we still have a lot of division games left, so for us to keep that singular focus, it’s more of a mentality of controlling your own destiny.”

Perhaps that destiny for whichever team wins the division is a one-and-out cameo playoff appearance. But first, somebody has to claim the spot.

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What makes the difference? Issues to fix run the gamut. The Bucs have the NFL’s worst rushing attack and rank next-to-last in defending the pass. The Saints have been stung by key injuries, including the setback (knee) that forced them to place star receiver Michael Thomas on IR this week. The Falcons have had turnover issues, especially Desmond Ridder (seven fumbles), the young quarterback who was benched yet regained the starting nod as Taylor Heinicke nurses a hamstring injury.

Will the schedule provide an edge? Probably not. There will be a lot of bad football matchups involving these teams down the stretch. The Falcons don’t play a single team that currently has a winning record, while the Saints and Bucs each have one team on the slate with a winning record.

All three of the NFC South contenders* rank among the five easiest schedules in the NFL. That includes the Bucs’ fortune of facing the Panthers twice down the stretch.

However this shakes down, it could be fun* to watch it unfold. Even if the football promises to be ugly.

Add Cowboys' DaRon Bland to mix for top defensive honor

If I had to cast my vote today for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, I’d give the nod to Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett for his amazing impact on arguably the NFL’s best defense.

But not so fast.

Although Garrett is making his case with his NFL-high 13 sacks and four forced fumbles, Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland has forced his way into the conversation with a single-season, NFL-record five interceptions returned for touchdowns.

What a remarkable feat, which Bland brought home with a 63-yard return against Washington on Thanksgiving Day. The second-year pro also leads the league with seven picks.

It is never a surprise to find the edge rushers among the top candidates to win the top defensive honors. In this case, Garrett is joined by Danielle Hunter (Vikings), T.J. Watt (Steelers), Maxx Crosby (Raiders) and Micah Parsons (Cowboys).

Yet Bland might ultimately make the others move over, so to speak. What makes his case even more special is that he’s stepped in to replace Trevon Diggs, who suffered a torn ACL in practice that ended his season before Week 2.

That Bland has emerged on the NFL scene as a fifth-round pick also speaks highly of the Cowboys' personnel department, headed by VP Will McClay.

Can he win the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award? Bland has six more games to make his case – and put up a few more pick-six touchdowns.

What happens after Steelers' shake-up?

It wasn’t a surprise that the Pittsburgh Steelers finally parted ways with embattled offensive coordinator Matt Canada. But the timing of the move this week? Well, that’s the shocking part, even after the embarrassing loss last weekend at Cleveland.

It marked the first in-season transition for a Steelers coordinator or head coach in 82 years, since Art Rooney compelled his co-owner, Bert Bell, to resign as head coach in 1941. And now there are co-coordinators as Mike Tomlin split up the duties between quarterback coach Mike Sullivan and running backs coach Eddie Faulkner, with Sullivan pegged to call the plays.

Beginning with the matchup at Cincinnati on Sunday, it will be interesting to see whether Pittsburgh makes it a point to better utilize talented receiver George Pickens.

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The Houston Texans quarterback heads into the matchup against Jacksonville on Sunday with a shot at becoming the first rookie to post four consecutive 300-yard games.