ESPN NFC South Blog

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Saints just played their worst game of the year. They also won.

Just goes to show you the Saints don’t have to be perfect all the time. They still had enough to beat a Carolina team that played pretty well most of the day. The Saints also showed the ability to come back, again. They did it from a 21-point deficit a few weeks ago and they were down as much as 17-3 against the Panthers.

The Saints weren’t really dominant in any one area and the absence of injured defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis exposed some holes in the running game. But the bottom line is the Saints are good enough to win, even when they’re nowhere near their best.

I’m heading down to the locker room now for post-game interviews. I’ll be back in a bit with more.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS – Quick update to our last item. Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis is being carted off the field as I type this.

He suffered a knee injury and it doesn’t look good. Saw several teammates come over and hug Davis while he was sitting on cart.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS -- Very big scare for the Carolina Panthers with 10:29 left in the game. Linebacker Thomas Davis just went down with an apparent knee injury.

Don’t know how serious it is yet, but this has the potential to be major in the short term and the long term. I think Davis has been Carolina’s best defensive player this year. No doubt Carolina will miss him in this critical fourth quarter.

More importantly, if this is serious and Davis misses an extended period of time, it’s not going to bode well for the rest of Carolina’s season.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS -- Well, so much for a miracle, last-minute drive. The Saints already have come back once, after trailing 17-3.

They just tied the game (20-20), and the fourth quarter is about to start. You can definitely see the momentum here has swung in favor of the Saints. They held the Panthers to a field goal on their last drive (note to Carolina coach John Fox: Don’t EVER use that fullback dive with Tyrell Sutton again). And the touchdown really has the Superdome hopping.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS -- Well, all that talk about the Saints going 16-0 might have been a little premature.

It’s halftime here at the Superdome and the Panthers are leading the Saints, 17-6. As we all know from a few weeks ago in Miami, the Saints are very capable of overcoming a deficit. We’ll see if they can do it again.

But I think it might be very difficult this time. Say what you want about Carolina’s early-season struggles, but the Panthers are built to protect a lead and, right now, they’ve got a big lead on the best team in the NFL.

Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas


There’s been a lot of talk in Atlanta about how the NFL schedule makers didn’t do the Falcons any favors.

Atlanta has drawn four games this season against teams coming off their bye week. That’s not very fair. But maybe Atlanta fans should thank the schedule makers this week.

Getting a home game against the Redskins was exactly what the Falcons needed. They were banged up and emotionally drained after a brutal Monday night loss to New Orleans. They needed some sort of break and they got it by hosting a bad team like the Redskins.

The Falcons went out and did what they had to do. They got a win to stay very much alive in the playoff race and some of the injured guys should be feeling better by the time the Falcons get to Carolina next week.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

So, does it make any sense now?

I know about half of Tampa Bay’s fans thought the Bucs were out of their mind when they hired Raheem Morris and totally gutted their team. The other half jumped on when Morris turned around and drafted quarterback Josh Freeman.

The reaction among many was so bad that some fans declared Freeman a bust before he even threw his first pass in minicamp.

Well, guess what? Freeman’s not a bust. He got his first start Sunday and the Bucs got their first win. I’m not saying it’s going to be all clear sailing and Freeman’s going to the Hall of Fame. But he showed some really good things in his first start.

Mark Sunday as a turning point for the Morris regime. As the Bucs were losing their first seven games, all their fans wanted to talk about was the past.

Now, they can start focusing on the future -- because Freeman has shown there really is a future.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS -- The Saints just had a very nice pregame ceremony as part of their All Saints Weekend festivities.

The team celebrates the event every year and usually shoots to have it close to the anniversary of New Orleans being awarded a franchise. That happened on Nov. 1, 1966.

As part of the pregame ceremony, the Saints introduced a couple former players. Some of those who got the loudest ovations included Steve Gleason, Dalton Hilliard and Michael Lewis. The Saints also recognized Bobby Hebert, who wasn’t able to be on the field because he’s up here in the press box, performing his broadcasting duties for WWL radio.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS -- As expected, receiver Lance Moore, linebacker Scott Fujita and defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis will not play for the Saints today.

They’re joined on the inactive list by kicker Garrett Hartley, cornerback Leigh Torrence, running back Lynell Hamilton and center Nick Leckey.

The Saints have announced that Anthony Hargrove will start in Ellis’ place. Jo-Lonn Dunbar will start for Fujita.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS -- No surprises on Carolina’s list of inactives.

As expected, receiver Muhsin Muhammad, fullback Brad Hoover and Charles Godfrey are out with injuries. Also inactive are fullback Tony Fiammetta, guard Duke Robinson, tight end Dante Rosario and defensive tackle Nick Hayden. A.J. Feeley will be the third quarterback.

Kicker John Kasay, who was dealing with an injury this week, is active, so he presumably will handle his regular duties on kickoffs and field goals.

The Panthers said Dwayne Jarrett will start in Muhammad’s place and Sherrod Martin will fill in for Godfrey. The Panthers, however, have not announced a starting fullback.

We’ll find out who it is when the game starts, but I think you’re going to be surprised.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS -- I’ve arrived at the Superdome, where it’s very quiet right now.

The only people on the field are the SaintSations (cheerleaders) warming up and four members of the Panthers. They’re not in uniform yet, but I can pick out reserve quarterback Matt Moore playing catch, and long-snapper J.J. Jansen also is out there.

I’ve got the Atlanta-Washington game on the television by my spot in the press box and will keep a close eye on that one. I’ll also try to check out Tampa Bay’s game.

I’ll be back with a lot more on the Saints and Panthers as we get closer to game time. I’ve got some radio duties and a few housekeeping things to take care of in the next little bit. But I’ll also be jumping in on NFL Nation Live from time to time.

Here are today's inactives from around the league.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

METAIRIE, La. -- I just arrived in the greater New Orleans area. Thanks for the updates, but I’m well aware of the fact Penn State lost today. Next, only one bit of news out of the NFC South while I was in the air.

As expected the Saints elevated defensive tackle DeMario Pressley from the practice squad. Of more significance, they placed veteran defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy on the injured reserve list. That’s a mild surprise because I didn’t think Clancy’s knee injury was that serious. But it must be pretty bad for the Saints, who are poised to go a long way in the postseason, to put Clancy down for the rest of the year.

Pressley probably will jump straight into the regular rotation because the only two healthy defensive tackles on the roster right now are Anthony Hargrove and Remi Ayodele. Starter Sedrick Ellis is out right now, but should be back in a few weeks.

I also think you might see a fair amount of 3-4 defensive alignments out of the Saints on Sunday.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

TAMPA, Fla. -- For a moment, I thought the jet lag had caught up to me and I had somehow ended up in the Milwaukee airport. Turns out I really am in Tampa International Airport (waiting to start a trip to New Orleans with a connection through another NFC South city) and it was the green that was getting to me.

Yes, the Cheeseheads are invading Tampa Bay. Just about everywhere I look I see someone wearing a Packers jersey, hat or jacket (they won’t need the jackets once they step outside). This all confirms my theory that you’re going to see a ton of green when the Packers play the Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

Kind of ironic that the Bucs will be wearing their throwback uniforms because this game is going to be a throwback to another time. Back before Tony Dungy came to town and the Bucs made pewter a common color, it was the norm for fans of the visiting team to outnumber Tampa Bay fans.

In the decade or so when the Bucs were consistently good, that stopped. The team even went out of its way to make it difficult for out-of-town travel agencies to buy large blocks of tickets.

But times have changed. The Bucs are losing and it’s a very tough time to sell tickets -- except to Green Bay fans who want to have a nice autumn weekend in Florida.

One other observation from the airport: Next time I see Thomas Dimitroff, I’m going to give the Atlanta general manager a suggestion on where to find cornerbacks for next year. I know Dimitroff already is studying the cornerbacks in the next draft class.

But I think college is the wrong place to look. I’m watching some of those people who peddle credit cards for a certain airline and they’d be perfect cornerbacks. They’re relentless. You can’t go five yards without getting bumped by one of them and I’m seeing great catch-up speed as they chase down the people who try to go around them.