While the Panthers dumpster fire season smolders on, other stuff is going on around the NFL.
The Carolina Panthers probably aren’t worth your time to watch right now, so you probably have a better idea of what’s going on in the rest of the NFL than you normally would. If not, you’re in luck. We’ve got you covered right here.
NFC South
The whole division took an L
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers scored a couple of garbage time touchdowns to only lose by 10 to the Ravens on Monday night, and that was by far the best performance of any NFC South team. The Saints lost the Sean Peyton revenge game 33-10 and the Falcons were handily beaten by the Seahawks. The whole division probably isn’t this bad, but the Buccaneers are the only team that seems to threaten being good right now.
Derek Carr is throwing again
Carr injured his oblique against the Chiefs, which forced the Saints to turn to Spencer Rattler. He’s been pretty bad and has taken a beating, which you hate to see for such a good kid (not). Hope is on the horizon though. Carr had his first throwing sessions the other day, and he may be back sooner or later to try and save the season.
Alvin Kamara is sticking around in New Orleans
There was a little bit of handwringing over Kamara’s contract situation over the summer, and the two sides have finally come to a resolution. It’s a two year extension that keeps the start running back in New Orleans until 2026 and pays him a little over $12 million per year.
The Bucs wide receiver corps got a whole lot thinner
Not only did the Bucs get blown out by the Ravens, they also took some significant losses that’ll have a huge impact on the rest of their season. Chris Godwin looks to be out for the year after dislocating his ankle, and Mike Evans is expected to be out through the team’s Week 11 bye with a hamstring injury. Sterling Shepard, Jalen McMillan, and Trey Palmer will be the team’s starting wide receivers.
The rest of the NFL
Cooper Kupp is on the trade block
It seems strange that the Rams would entertain offers for their star wide receiver, but he has struggled with health for the last couple of years and is carrying a lofty cap hit. The team is trying to land a second round pick for the 31 year old. The Rams have been decimated by injuries and are rapidly spiraling towards a lost season. They seem like they’re being somewhat aggressive in their pursuit of future assets for their former All Pro.
Puka Nacua was also just activated off IR, so the Rams probably think they’re in a decent spot to absorb Kupp’s departure.
Jerry Jones is unhappy with the Cowboys offense
Mike McCarthy duped Jerry Jones into thinking he was a re-energized, analytical head coach back in the 2020 hiring cycle. He’s still had some success, but surprisingly dismissed offensive coordinator Kellen Moore after the 2022 season because the offensive coordinator had the audacity to try and score points instead of controlling the clock with the run game. He was replaced by noted poor offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, and now the Cowboys owner is calling out his staff for drawing up bad plays and bad concepts. Way to be the last one to the party there, Jerry.
The DeShaun Watson saga has been put on pause
The Browns had a good thing going, then they decided to commit 250 million guaranteed dollars to a disgraced quarterback that hadn’t played a game in well over a year. It’s been an abject disaster that has turned the Browns back into the Browns. Now that quarterback has a ruptured achilles, which solicited a very weird mix of reactions on the Internet, which temporarily puts an end to the Browns Watson conundrum. James Winston will step in as the team’s starter, and he’ll surely provide a jolt just by being infinitely more likable than Watson.