By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

We are three weeks into the NFL season.

I think it is too early to really weed out the contenders from the pretenders. In the NFC South, three of the four teams lost this weekend.

We are going to examine the teams and see if they have something to worry about or if they will be fine the rest of the season.

New Orleans: The Saints (2-1) lost to Philadelphia (2-1) at home, 15-12. Going into this game the New Orleans offense has looked amazing. Klint Kubiak is in his first year as the team’s offensive coordinator and he has revitalized the careers of Derek Carr and Alvin Kamara.

Philly just lost the Monday night game to Atlanta and their defense has played poorly.

They kept the Saints in check this weekend. The key players for the Philly offense were Saquon Barkley and tight end Dallas Goedert. Goedert had the best game of his career, with 10 receptions and 170 yards.

Their next game is on the road against the Falcons.

Tampa Bay: The Buccaneers (2-1) lost to the previously winless Denver Broncos (1-2) at home, 26-7. Denver has looked bad on offense prior to this game and they are starting rookie QB Bo Nix. I think he has to have the record for the shortest name in NFL history, but I digress.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield has proven that he is a good starter in the league. He has great weapons like wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. They beat Detroit on the road last week and the Lions are considered a legit Super Bowl contender.

Week 5, they play Philly at home.

I believe they overlooked a bad Broncos team after that big win and that is why they lost. Going forward, I think they are still the best team in the division. They advanced to the second round of the playoffs last season and I think they can do the same this year.

Atlanta: The Falcons (1-2) lost the Sunday night game at home to the two-time defending Super Bowl Champs, 22-17. Kansas City (3-0) is a better team, but Atlanta had opportunities to win the game.

They intercepted Patrick Mahomes in the end zone and did a good job keeping the Chiefs offense in check.

Kirk Cousins is still playing inconsistently and he does not look comfortable in the offense. He has four touchdowns, three interceptions and three fumbles. He has to improve, stop turning the ball over and get the ball to playmakers like Drake London and Kyle Pitts.

The next game is at home against New Orleans.

I think the Falcons are an eight or nine win team that will struggle to make the playoffs.

Carolina: The Panthers (1-2) were the only division team that played a road game this past weekend and they beat the Raiders (1-2), 36-22.

Second year quarterback Bryce Young was benched after starting 0-2 and veteran Andy Dalton stepped in to get the win.

It feels good to win but the excitement will be short lived. Carolina has been a poorly run franchise since David Tepper purchased them in 2018. They will win maybe four more games this season.

Their next game is against the Bengals.