ESPN NFL

Check out this Insider post by Trent Dilfer. He ranks the NFL’s quarterbacks, starters and even some backups, although Jimmy Clausen didn’t quite make the list.

Dilfer breaks the quarterbacks down into seven categories and I don’t think anyone will be surprised to hear that he’s got Drew Brees in his “Hall of Fame’’ category. There’s little doubt Brees will be in the Hall of Fame someday, and there’s absolutely no doubt he’s one of the league’s top two or three quarterbacks these days.

I think even fans of other teams freely will admit Brees is the NFC South’s best quarterback. That brings us to the quarterbacks of the other NFC South teams and how they fared in Dilfer’s rankings.

Two categories down, Dilfer includes Atlanta’s Matt Ryan in his “A Ring Away’’ category. He has Ryan grouped with guys like Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco, Tony Romo and Matthew Stafford.

The next category down is “Mostly Good’’ and that’s where Dilfer has Carolina’s Cam Newton and Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman. They’re grouped with guys like Michael Vick, Andy Dalton and Carson Palmer.

Overall, I’ve got no issues with Dilfer’s list. I’m often asked in chats to rank the four NFC South quarterbacks. During last season, I tried to stay away from picking between Ryan and Newton as the No. 2 quarterback in the division. That’s mainly because Ryan and Newton are completely different quarterbacks. It also was because we were watching Newton evolve in his rookie season and there were changes in his level of play (usually for the better) just about every week.

But, since the season is over and since we’re on the topic, I’ll go ahead and reveal my rankings of the four NFC South quarterbacks. I’ll go in the same order Dilfer did.

We already addressed Brees and we’ll finish with Freeman. But why am I taking Ryan over Newton? First off, I’m only taking Ryan slightly over Newton. He’s been in the league for four years and has won each of those seasons. He hasn’t won big yet, but he may. Newton has way more upside than Ryan, but he’s not a finished product yet. A year from now, I might be sitting here writing that Newton is way better than Ryan. Heck, I might even be writing Newton is better than Brees.

He’s got that kind of upside. But he’s only played one season and only won six games. Let’s see a little more of Newton.

That brings us to Freeman. At the start of this past season, I thought Freeman had a chance to jump over Ryan into the No. 2 spot. That obviously didn’t happen and Freeman tumbled to No. 4 in the division. But Dilfer wrote that he still thinks Freeman can become elite. I agree totally.

Yes, Freeman had a bad 2011 season and some of the blame falls on him for that. But I put more blame on his coaching and supporting cast. I think the talent is there and Freeman can bounce back in 2012.

Anyway, those are my rankings at the moment. I know they’re open to debate. That’s what the comments section below is for.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Before we get to the playoff game between the Falcons and Giants, let’s take a look back at the highlights from New Orleans’ victory against Detroit on Saturday night.

Let’s start with some numbers from ESPN Stats & Information:

• The Saints did a lot of short passing in the first half, but they opened it up in the second half. Drew Brees attempted five passes of 30 or more yards in the second half. He completed four of those for 178 yards and two touchdowns as the Saints scored on their first five drives of the second half. Brees’ lone incompletion came on a drop by Robert Meachem.
• The Lions barely blitzed Brees and chose to keep their defenders in coverage. Detroit rushed four or fewer players on more than 90 percent of Brees’ drop backs. In those situations, Brees completed 32 of 39 passes for 425 yards and three touchdowns.
• The Saints rushed for 167 yards, including a season-high 92 yards after contact. Pierre Thomas led the way with 43 yards after contact. In his final five games of the regular season, Thomas totaled 65 yards after contact. The regular-season, single-game high for the Saints was 38 yards after contact in Week 7 against the Colts.
• The Saints sent five or more pass-rushers after Matthew Stafford on 55 percent of his drop backs. That’s the highest percentage of blitzes Stafford has faced in a game in his career. The Saints blitzed on 66 percent of Stafford’s drop backs in the first half.
• Stafford actually had a better Total QBR than Brees. Stafford scored 91.1 and Brees came in at 84.9 percent. Brees’ score was knocked down quite a bit by his first-half fumble.
• Obviously, I couldn’t attend the game in New Orleans. But colleague Ashley Fox was there. Here’s her column on the Saints.

Thoughts on the New Orleans Saints’ 45-28 victory against the Detroit Lions at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Saturday night.

What it means: It wasn’t quite as easy as the final score would suggest. The Lions led early and much of the game was competitive. The Saints were far from perfect and the offense turned the ball over twice in the first half. But this was still a solid win against a good team. That’s a lot better than what happened last year when the Saints got beat by Seattle in the first round of the playoffs. The Saints had plenty of momentum carrying over from the regular season and they only built on that.

Unsung hero: Running back Pierre Thomas had a huge impact. Detroit’s defense deserves some blame for poor tackling, but Thomas deserves lots of credit. He broke a bunch of tackles as a runner and a pass receiver. Darren Sproles brought the flash, but Thomas was just as important in this victory.

What I liked: The way the Saints never blinked after they got down early. Drew Brees and Marques Colston each lost fumbles in the first half. But the Saints’ offense just kept churning out the yardage and quickly wore out Detroit’s defense. The Saints reacted like a confident, veteran team and that will accomplish a lot in the playoffs. The Saints were so good on offense that they didn’t have to punt a single time. I also liked the way coach Sean Payton adjusted his offense in the second half. The passing game was pretty much horizontal in the first half, but it got very vertical in the second half.

What I didn’t like: Calvin Johnson had over 200 receiving yards. There’s no real shame in that. The guy is the best receiver in the league and he can make just about any defense look bad. The troubling thing was that the Saints got very little pressure on Matthew Stafford. They’re going to have to find a pass rush if they want to keep winning in the postseason.

What’s next: As the No. 3 seed, the Saints will travel to San Francisco next weekend to play the second-seeded 49ers.

The NFC South already has made history in the regular season. But there’s more to come in the playoffs.

When the Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints play on Saturday night, it will represent a meeting of the two quarterbacks with the most combined regular-season passing yards in playoff history. Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford combined for 10,514 yards in the regular season.

Sunday’s meeting between the Falcons and the Giants will come in second on that list. Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and New York’s Eli Manning combined for 9,110 yards during the regular season.

» Wild-Card Final Word: Bengals-Texans | Lions-Saints | Falcons-Giants | Steelers-Broncos

Three nuggets of knowledge about Saturday's Lions-Saints playoff game:

The Graham Factor: You can make the case that New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham isn’t really a tight end. He might be more of a wide receiver in a tight end’s body and that’s going to create matchup problems for the Lions. Linebackers don’t have the speed to stay with Graham and defensive backs don’t have enough size to shut him down. Graham finished the regular season just one reception short of becoming the third tight end in history to have 100 catches in a season. Of Graham’s 11 touchdowns, nine came on passes outside the yardage numbers on the field, according to ESPN Stats & Information. That was a league high among all receivers and four more touchdowns than the next tight end.

The blitz is coming. It’s no secret that New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams likes to use the blitz. The Saints led the league by sending five or more pass-rushers on 51.1 percent of opponent dropbacks during the regular season. Detroit’s Matthew Stafford isn’t used to a lot of blitzing. Stafford was blitzed on 24.6 percent of his dropbacks, the lowest of any quarterback in the league. But Stafford struggled when he did see the blitz. He threw six interceptions in situations in which he faced five or more rushers. Only four quarterbacks threw more interceptions in those situations.

At home in the dome. Saints fans always have been a dedicated bunch. But in recent years, the crowd at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome has made it one of the NFL’s most intimidating venues. With a Saturday night game, Saints fans will have all day to get ready and that’s only going to help New Orleans on the field. The Saints went 8-0 at home in the regular season. In those games, the Saints averaged 41.1 points and 492.6 yards per game.

Three things to know about next weekend's New Orleans Saints-Detroit Lions wild-card game.

1. Saints need to ride their momentum. New Orleans has not lost since an Oct. 30 game at St. Louis, and the Saints have looked dominant in that time. Their offense has been unstoppable and quarterback Drew Brees has taken his game to another level. Coach Sean Payton played his starters into the fourth quarter against Carolina on Sunday because he wanted to continue to build momentum. Mission accomplished. The Saints are playing as well as anyone in the league. Although they didn’t get a first-round bye, their mindset is that they can beat anyone.

2. Pressure Matthew Stafford. When the two teams met earlier in the season in New Orleans, the Saints won 31-17, but that game did not feature a stellar performance by the defense. Stafford threw for 408 yards, but only one touchdown. The Saints are a bend-but-don’t-break defense, but they’d be pushing their luck if they allowed Stafford to have another 400-yard game. The New Orleans pass rush hasn’t been a big factor this season. But the Saints did get decent pressure on Stafford in the previous meeting. They recorded three sacks in that game and only one of them came from a defensive lineman. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams needs to use the blitz often and try to force Stafford into a mistake or two in what should be a very loud and hostile Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints also should get a lift because middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma sat out Sunday's game to rest his knee, and should return at somewhere close to full strength.

3. Slow down Calvin Johnson. In the previous meeting, the Saints held Johnson to six catches for 69 yards, zero touchdowns and he didn’t have a catch go for more than 22 yards. Although the Saints don’t have a reputation for being a great defense, their secondary does have some big-time talent. Cornerback Jabari Greer and free safety Malcolm Jenkins are two of the league’s most underrated players at their positions. If they get a little help from the pass rush, they can control Johnson again.

Congratulations to the Atlanta Falcons. They have blown past the 60-yard mark on screen passes for the season.

Yep, the Falcons now have completed 14 of 16 screen passes for 62 yards, according to ESPN Stats & Information. They’ve all been thrown by Matt Ryan. The only starting quarterbacks who have attempted fewer screen passes than Ryan are Minnesota’s Christian Ponder (15), who did not open the season as the starter, Arizona’s Kevin Kolb (14) and Kansas City’s Matt Cassel (15), who each have missed time due to injury.

I understand that the Falcons’ priority is the deep passing game, even though that hasn’t worked all that well. But I’m still perplexed by why they don’t mix in a few more screens. Rookie Jacquizz Rodgers seems like the perfect type of running back to use on screens and Jason Snelling and Michael Turner also are capable of catching the ball out of the backfield. Maybe a few more screens would help open up the deep-passing game.

For the sake of comparison, let’s look at what the other NFC South teams have done with the screen. New Orleans’ Drew Brees and Carolina’s Cam Newton are tied for No. 2 in the league with 44 attempts. Only Detroit’s Matthew Stafford (49) has attempted more screen passes.

People think of Newton as having a big arm, and he does, but he leads the league with 41 completed screens for a league-high 355 yards.

Brees has completed 39 of his screens for 265 yards. Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman has completed 27 of 31 screens for 211 yards.

NEW ORLEANS -- We’ve known for quite some time that the New Orleans Saints’ offense could probably score enough to stay with an NBA team if it needed to. Defense, though, hasn’t exactly been a strong point during the Sean Payton era.

Heck, you get the idea the coach only uses a defense because it’s required. You can’t fault him, because running an offense the way a smart kid would play a video game has brought New Orleans far more wins than losses through the years.

But it was the defense that was largely responsible for Sunday night’s 31-17 victory against the Detroit Lions at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Sure, Drew Brees (342 passing yards and three touchdowns) worked his usual magic and the offense put up the usual big numbers (tight end Jimmy Graham became the first tight end in franchise history to have 1,000 receiving yards in a season). But the defense, which has been known to give up some yardage and points, played perhaps its best game of the season.

Yeah, the Saints only allowed seven points in a win against the Colts and 10 in a victory against the Jaguars. But those were the Colts and the Jaguars. The Lions have a real offense (see Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson).

“(Johnson) can take over a game,’’ Payton said. “And the quarterback (Stafford) is playing with confidence.’’

Sure, Stafford put up 408 passing yards and it’s not often you can say a defense played a good game when it gives up 400 passing yards. However, the New Orleans defense did play well. Stafford only threw for one touchdown and Johnson was limited to six catches for 69 yards. Holding Detroit to 17 points is more than respectable.

“That was a big part of the game plan,’’ cornerback Tracy Porter said. “We created population around him and were able to minimize the damage he can do.’’

The New Orleans defense was particularly good early on. Johnson had just two catches for 19 yards in the first half, and the Lions didn’t score until there were 2 minutes, 28 seconds left in the first half. New Orleans went into halftime with a 24-7 lead. The Lions got back into the game with 10 unanswered points in the third quarter, but never scored again.

“Some of those stops on third down early in the game were pivotal and we were able to get a lead,’’ Payton said. “In that second half when that momentum swung a little bit, we got a key score and then a key stop defensively. All in all, it was a good hard-fought win. We have a ton of respect for that team we just played.’’

They should, because the Lions have a good offense and the Saints are going to see more good offenses down the line, especially if they get into the playoffs, which seems pretty much automatic at this point.

The Saints improved to 9-3 and clinched their third straight winning season. And they're going to need more games like this from their defense.

Let’s be brutally honest, the Saints are never going to have a great defense that can shut teams down all the time. That’s not the way coordinator Gregg Williams plays. His emphasis is more on being opportunistic, creating turnovers and making some big stops when needed. That’s what the Saints did against the Lions. That’s also what the Saints did in the 2009 season when they won the Super Bowl. They regressed defensively in 2010 and that’s part of the reason why they were bounced in their first playoff game.

Up until the Detroit game, the current defense has played more like the 2010 unit than the 2009 group. But this game might end up being a turning point. It was no coincidence that middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma returned after missing four games with a knee injury. Vilma led the Saints with 10 tackles.

“He’s the guy that runs the show,’’ free safety Malcolm Jenkins said. “Our other guys did a really good job filling in for him, but it’s a lot easier when he’s in their making the calls.’’

The Saints were able to pressure Stafford. He was sacked three times and hurried five others. The Saints did a good job containing the running game as well: the Lions finished with 87 net yards on the ground.

“Three and out is just as good as a turnover,’’ said Porter, who created New Orleans’ only turnover of the night with a fourth-quarter interception.

As Porter and Jenkins chatted in front of their lockers before meeting with the media, they talked about how the Saints should have had more interceptions. They started with two passes that went off Jenkins’ hands. Then, they started doing some more math.

By the time they were done, the conclusion was the Saints should have had five more interceptions.

“It wasn’t perfect,’’ Payton said. “There’s a handful of things we’ve got to get corrected to get to where we want to go to. But we’ve got time to do that.’’

Where the Saints want to go is the Super Bowl. Even with all their offense, the Saints are going to need some help from their defense down the road. Getting some stops and keeping Johnson under 100 yards and out of the end zone was very good.

Keep doing that and add some turnovers and the Saints could be really scary in the playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, it’s looking at the moment like the unbeaten Green Bay Packers are the team to beat in the NFC.

But don’t hand the Packers the NFC title just yet. The Saints could have something to say about it before all is said and done. They went up to Lambeau Field for the season opener and took the Packers down to the last play of the game before losing.

Like the Saints, the Packers score points in bunches. But Green Bay’s defense hasn’t been dominant. The Saints have improved on defense since the opener.

If they can keep doing the good things they have recently and improve on those handful of things Payton talked about, the Saints might be able to slow the Packers enough to win -- if they end up meeting down the road.

If the Pro Bowl were held now and selected only by what has taken place so far in fan balloting, the NFC South would not be sending much of a contingent to Hawaii.

The NFL makes periodic announcements about who is leading the fan voting and the latest one showed New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham was the only NFC South player leading at any position.

I was able to obtain a little more information and got the list of the top five vote-getters at each position, according to results through Wednesday night. Even on that list, the NFC South isn’t having a very good showing. At the moment, the NFC roster would be dominated by players from Green Bay, San Francisco, Chicago and the always-hyped NFC East teams.

Let’s take a look at the sparse group of NFC South players, who are in the top five at their positions.

Tight end actually is the NFC South’s strongest position. One spot behind Graham is Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez.

Next, we’ll move to the quarterbacks, partly because everybody cares about quarterbacks and partly because that’s the only other position where two NFC South players showed up in the top five. New Orleans’ Drew Brees is No. 2 (behind Aaron Rodgers, of course). But here’s the surprise. Carolina rookie Cam Newton is third on the list, slightly ahead of Detroit’s Matthew Stafford.

The only other NFC South players even in the top five on the rest of the offense are Atlanta running back Michael Turner (No. 5), Carolina receiver Steve Smith (No. 3), New Orleans fullback Jed Collins (No. 3) and New Orleans guard Jahri Evans (No. 4).

On defense, it’s even worse. Carolina’s Charles Johnson is No. 5 among defensive ends. Atlanta’s Sean Weatherspoon is fifth among outside linebackers and New Orleans’ Roman Harper is No. 2 among strong safeties. That’s it on defense.

Even the special-teams voting is disappointing, especially because New Orleans kick returner Darren Sproles and punter Thomas Morstead are having huge years. But you wouldn’t know it from the voting. Morstead is fifth at his position and Sproles is No. 4.

If you feel outraged by any of this, go over and vote. If not, the NFC South will have to get a lot of support when coaches and players vote (each counts one-third) later in December.

Thoughts on the Carolina Panthers' 49-35 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Ford Field:

What it means: Remember when the Panthers were scoring moral victories every week early in the season? Well, they’re back at it. But this one had the potential to be so much more. This was a chance for a young team and first-year head coach Ron Rivera to turn a big corner. A victory in Ford Field would have sent a firm message to the rest of the league that the Panthers will be a force to be reckoned with next season and a potential spoiler the rest of this season. The Panthers went toe-to-toe with the Lions much of the day. But they couldn’t quite turn the corner. On the bright side, there were plenty of promising things that emerged, and the Panthers seem to be putting themselves in nice position for next year’s draft.

What I liked: Carolina’s offense. Yeah, Cam Newton was intercepted four times, but he had some great moments. The whole offense did. Even though they’re losing, the Panthers are so much more exciting on offense than they ever were under former head coach John Fox.

What I didn’t like: Carolina’s defense. It’s been a problem all year, and it’s not getting any better. You can’t allow Matthew Stafford to throw for five touchdowns, and you can’t allow 49 points. No matter how good your offense is, it’s pretty tough to match 49 points. Wherever the Panthers end up in the draft order, they'd better use their first pick on a defensive player. They'd better use just about all their picks on defensive players.

Sign of progress: The Panthers have made it clear they’re going to look at their young players a lot down the stretch. One guy who stood out Sunday was rookie return man Kealoha Pilares. He took a kickoff back for a touchdown.

What’s next: The Panthers play at Indianapolis next Sunday.

ATLANTA -- I’m in the Georgia Dome press box, where I’m watching the games between Tampa Bay and Green Bay and Detroit and Carolina.

It’s extremely early, but Carolina’s off to a good start. The Panthers already have intercepted Matthew Stafford twice and DeAngelo Williams just had a big run. The Bucs and Packers are scoreless so far. Gee, there’s a shock: The Bucs not scoring in the first quarter. Update: The game is no longer scoreless. The Packers just got a touchdown.

Also, as we get ready for the later game between the Falcons and Titans, I’ll let you know if Atlanta rookie receiver Julio Jones (hamstring) will be playing. A team official told me the plan is to bring Jones onto the field and let him do some running about two hours before the kickoff.

After the medical staff and coaching staff sees how Jones looks, a decision will be made. As soon as I get word on Jones’ status, I’ll let you know.

I’ll have wrap-ups on the Bucs and Panthers soon after their respective games are over and then we’ll move onto the Falcons and Titans.

Moments after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got thumped 31-9 by the Houston Texans on Sunday, quarterback Josh Freeman shared this thought with the media:

"I think I'm a better quarterback than I was last year," Freeman said.

OK, are you done laughing yet?

I’ll gladly give you some more time -- and a few statistics. Through nine games, Freeman has thrown 13 interceptions (the second-highest total in the league) and just nine touchdown passes. That comes after Freeman threw 25 touchdown passes and just six interceptions all of last season.

And he’s now a better quarterback than he was last season?

This is where the laughing should stop. There’s been nothing funny about Tampa Bay’s 4-5 start because this was a team that went a surprising 10-6 last season and was supposed to be very much on the rise. Freeman’s claim may sound delusional, but it’s not.

I’ll take the Freeman of this season over the Freeman of last season. Seriously.

He’s a year older and a year wiser than he was in his first full season as a starter last year. The statistics don’t show improvement, and I’m not going to suggest that Freeman has taken a big step forward. But I will say I don’t think he’s regressed. The rest of the Bucs have, though, and that’s the problem. Some of Freeman’s teammates, and maybe even the coaching staff and front office, have done the quarterback an injustice and that’s why the statistics and the team’s record aren’t very pretty.

Go ahead and put some blame on Freeman. And it is fair to wonder about that thumb injury that had the New Orleans Saints so excited a few weeks ago. Freeman might not look like the same quarterback he was a year ago, but I think that has a lot more to do with the team around him more than anything else.

The Bucs found out they had a franchise quarterback last season. But the mistake they made -- and this goes to the coaching staff and the front office -- were that they also thought they found a big-time No. 1 wide receiver and a true feature running back.

That’s Mike Williams and LeGarrette Blount, and I have no problem saying each of them has taken multiple steps back from last season. They were two players who fell in the 2010 draft, Williams to the fourth round and Blount all the way out of the draft.

There were reasons for that and they’re playing out now. The coaches and front office people might have let the performances of Williams and Blount last year go to their heads. Williams and Blount might have done the same thing.

When the rest of the offensive skill-position players were working out together in Tampa during the lockout, Williams frequently was hanging out at his home in Buffalo. Now he’s playing more like a No. 3 or 4 receiver and no one else has stepped up. His route running hasn’t been precise and he’s tied for third in the NFL in dropped passes. The Bucs lead the league in drops.

But that’s not the only problem. Blount may be the player most responsible for throwing Freeman and the offense off kilter. Blount came in and rushed for 1,000 yards in half a season as the starter last year. He did that with Cadillac Williams helping out as the third-down back.

The Bucs let Williams leave in the offseason, largely because they thought Blount was ready to become an every-down back. That hasn’t happened. Blount has crippled the offense because he hasn’t shown he can be an effective pass-protector. If you're one of the biggest and strongest running backs in the league and you can't figure out how to pass block by the second half of your second season, it probably never is going to happen. The Bucs used Earnest Graham in passing situations until he suffered a season-ending injury and now they’re going with Kregg Lumpkin.

That’s made Tampa Bay’s offense incredibly predictable. Defenses basically know that the Bucs will run the ball when Blount’s on the field and throw it when Lumpkin’s in the game. That takes away the play-action game and it has made Freeman look bad.

But the fact is Freeman’s pretty close to the same player he was last year. It’s just not showing because the guys around him are nothing close to what they were last year or what the Bucs thought they could be this year.

TRENDING UP

TRENDING DOWN

I just arrived back at NFC South Blog headquarters, so let’s weigh in on some of the news of the day around the NFC South.

As expected, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed defensive tackle Gerald McCoy on injured reserve. As expected, that brought questions about if McCoy, who now has had each of his first two seasons cut short, is injury prone.

“It’s football,’’ Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris said. “[Quarterback Matthew] Stafford missed two seasons for the Detroit Lions and he is probably putting up his best season. He has to come back, he has to go rehab, get his mind right and come back ready to play. And be ready to play a 16-game season.”

There still is hope McCoy can come back next season and be an impact player. In his limited playing time, he’s shown some promise. But the Bucs are going to miss him in the short term. Fellow second-year defensive tackle Brian Price has been playing well, but Roy Miller likely will move into the starting lineup. Miller’s not bad, but he doesn’t have McCoy’s upside. The Bucs are hoping Frank Okam will come back from a calf injury, but they’ll have to add another defensive tackle to the rotation.

As he met with the New Orleans media, Saints coach Sean Payton said cornerback Tracy Porter, who was carted off the field after a neck injury Sunday, was at the facility and in the training room.

“All of the tests and X-rays came back negative,’’ Payton said. “Basically he’s dealing with some chest and upper-back soreness from the collision. All the news with his injury is positive so that’s encouraging.’’

If Porter has to miss some time, the Saints likely will use Jabari Greer and Patrick Robinson as the starters. Leigh Torrence could be the nickel back, but this could open the door for some playing time for rookie Johnny Patrick, who has been inactive most of the season.

Atlanta coach Mike Smith said his staff is gaining more confidence in rookie running back Jacquizz Rodgers.

“Jacquizz, again, his touches went up [Sunday],’’ Smith said. “That was something that through our evaluation in our bye week that we saw that we needed to make sure that we felt comfortable with Jacquizz in basically all phases, not just only as a third-down or a change-of-pace back. He’s proven that he can run the ball from all of our personnel groupings. He has a much better understanding than when he got here in regards to his protection responsibilities. Jacquizz is becoming the player we envisioned that he would be when we drafted him. He’s been a great addition and through the second half of the season, he’s another weapon that we’ll be able to put out there on the field for our offense.”

The Panthers are fourth in the league in penalties and penalty yardage. Ron Rivera said he believes the fact he’s a first-year head coach might have something to do with calls not going Carolina’s way. I’m not so sure about that. The most effective way to avoid penalties is to stick to the fundamentals and play smart. If you do that, it doesn’t matter if Rivera or Bill Belichick is your head coach.

It’s real easy to say Tom Brady and Ryan Fitzpatrick never should be mentioned in the same sentence. But that’s not accurate right now.

Brady’s New England Patriots and Fitzpatrick’s Buffalo Bills each are 5-2. If you want to get really technical, the Bills currently hold the tiebreaker in the AFC East because they won the first head-to-head meeting this season.

So how and why in his seventh season has Fitzpatrick suddenly become a good quarterback? Why are Buffalo fans suddenly convinced they’ve got the second coming of Jim Kelly? And why did the Bills just go out and sign Fitzpatrick to a six-year contract extension worth $59 million?

“I’m really not all that surprised," said Tony Softli, who joined the personnel department of the St. Louis Rams in 2006, the year after the team used a seventh-round draft choice on Fitzpatrick. “Everything I’m seeing now, I kind of saw when he was in St. Louis. The problem was he didn’t get the chance to show it other than in preseason games. As far as I’m concerned, he was the best No. 3 quarterback that’s been with any of the teams I worked for.

“I thought he could develop into something. But [former St. Louis coach] Scott Linehan didn’t think Ryan could develop into an NFL starter. Ryan’s bounced around, landed in the right situation with [Buffalo coach] Chan Gailey and now he’s really blossoming."

Fitzpatrick has completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 1,739 yards with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He showed some signs last season when he started 13 games and threw for 3,000 yards, but the Bills weren’t winning.

This year, the Bills have been winning, and Fitzpatrick’s been a big part of the reason for that. In the last two wins (Sunday against Washington and Oct. 9 against Philadelphia), his stat line has been the same -- 21 completions on 27 attempts. That’s 77.8 percent, and you can’t ask for much better than that.

“What you’re seeing is Chan Gailey and Fitzpatrick are a good marriage for one another," Scouts Inc.’s Matt Williamson said. “Buffalo’s offense relies on a lot of pre-snap reads and they spread the field a lot. They’re really good with their route combinations and scheming. You need a bright quarterback for that and that’s Fitzpatrick."

“Bright" is a word that always come up when Fitzpatrick is talked about. He lasted until the seventh round of the draft and followed his time in St. Louis with a stint in Cincinnati before landing in Buffalo because he didn’t have the physical pedigree of the big-name quarterbacks. What Fitzpatrick had, however, was the mental pedigree.

He went to college at Harvard and had a perfect score on the Wonderlic test.

“His best asset is his head," Williamson said. “Well, that and the fact he’s tough. His teammates love him and he’s an excellent leader."

“Even when he was the No. 3 guy in St. Louis, Ryan had as much respect and leadership ability as anyone in the locker room," Softli said. “The guy just needed a chance in the right situation, and he finally got that."

But does Fitzpatrick really belong in the same sentence as Brady if you’re talking about anything other than the current AFC East standings?

“He’s a nice player and he’s helped make it an exciting time in Buffalo, but I can’t call him elite," Williamson said. “And I don’t think he’s ever going to become elite. His physical tools are average and his intelligence makes him a slightly above-average starting quarterback. He fits nicely in their system and he has great intangibles. All that is wonderful, but I’m not sure he ultimately is the guy who can get you where you want to go."

TRENDING UP

TRENDING DOWN

Sunday was not a good day in the NFC South. The Buccaneers and Falcons were on bye and the Panthers and Saints each lost.

The Saints lot to a previously winless St. Louis team and the Panthers lost by a field goal to a Minnesota team that came in with only one win.

With some help from ESPN Stats & Information and Elias Sports Bureau, let’s take a look at some statistical nuggets on the Saints and Panthers. We’ll start with the Saints.

St. Louis’ victory marked only the second time in the past 14 seasons that a winless team with at least six losses defeated a first-place team. The last such victory was by an 0-6 Miami team against a 4-2 St. Louis team in 2004.

Defense continues to be a problem area for the Saints. The Rams scored 17 points in the first half. That was one point more than the Rams had scored in any full game prior to Sunday. The Rams hadn’t scored 31 points in a game since Week 12 of the 2010 season.

The Saints allowed St. Louis defensive end Chris Long to record three sacks. He’s the first player from the Rams to do that since Leonard Little in Week 13 of the 2003 season.

The Saints came in averaging a league-high 34.1 points. The Rams were averaging a league-low 9.3 points per game. This game marked only the second time in the past 30 years that the league’s lowest-scoring team defeated the highest scoring team.

Now, let’s move over to the Panthers.

Carolina’s Cam Newton and Minnesota’s Christian Ponder made a little history. For the first time ever, two opposing rookies each passed for at least 200 yards without throwing an interception.

Carolina’s Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen each had a touchdown catch. It marked just the second time in franchise history that two Carolina tight ends had receiving touchdowns in the same game. The first time was by Dante Rosario and Christian Fauria in 2007.

Newton became the first Carolina quarterback to throw for three touchdown passes in a home game since Matt Moore in 2009.

Newton joined Kordell Stewart as the only player since 1970 to record 11 passing touchdowns and seven rushing touchdowns in the first eight games of the season.

Carolina’s Steve Smith had his fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season. Smith had only two such games in the 2009 and 2010 seasons combined.

Newton’s 1,381 passing yards in October is the highest in NFL history by a rookie in one calendar month. The previous record was 1,230 yards by Matthew Stafford in November 2009.