Your Turn, Falcons: NFC South Goes 3-0 Sunday
All three of the Atlanta Falcons' divisional opponents won their respective NFL games in the early window, putting a bit of pressure on the winless Falcons (0-3) to win Monday night at Green Bay.
Will the Falcons make it a clean sweep for the NFC South, or will they fall two games out of second place and three out of first?
Here's how the rest of the division fared Sunday:
Tampa Bay: 1st place, 3-1
Bucs quarterback Tom Brady threw five touchdown passes -- three in the second half -- to rally Tampa to a 38-31 home victory over the Los Angeles Chargers (1-3) and rookie quarterback Justin Herbert.
Tampa took an early 7-0 lead, but Herbert and the Chargers went on a 24-0 run to lead 24-7 late in the second quarter. Brady himself helped the Chargers' run by throwing another pick-six.
Unfortunately for the Chargers, they fumbled late and that led to another Brady TD pass to cut Chargers' lead to 24-14 at the half.
Tampa scored the next two touchdowns to lead 28-24 late in the third, but Herbert threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead for LAC at 31-28. Brady's fifth and final touchdown pass gave Tampa the 35-31 lead and the Bucs never looked back.
The Bucs got another field goal to lead 38-31 and they picked off Herbert late to seal the win.
New Orleans: 2nd place, 2-2
The New Orleans Saints spotted the home-standing Detroit Lions a 14-0 lead, but New Orleans exploded early and often to rally for a 35-29 win.
The Saints looked like themselves Sunday, scoring 35 straight points to lead 35-14 midway through the third quarter. The Lions (1-3) cut it to 35-21 and got a fourth-quarter touchdown and two-point conversion to make it 35-29, but the Saints held on for the win.
Carolina: 2nd place, 2-2
Unlike Detroit, the Carolina Panthers raced to a big lead and didn't cough it up, defeating the Arizona Cardinals 31-21 Sunday afternoon at home.
The Panthers led 14-0 after one quarter and 21-7 at the half. Carolina quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's second touchdown pass gave the home team an insurmountable 28-7 lead in the third.
Arizona (2-2) rallied to cut the lead to 28-14, but the Panthers kicked one more field goal and gave up a late touchdown for the final 31-21 score.
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