Buccaneers pull off insane feat over NFC South in Week 8

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't just dominate the New Orleans Saints, but the entire NFC South on Sunday.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles () warms up for a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

There was a point after last week's loss to the Detroit Lions that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' NFC South lead looked somewhat vulnerable, but that's no longer the case after a dominating win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

The Bucs beat the Saints 23-3 in a blowout performance that included four turnovers by Todd Bowles' defense. That victory was Tampa Bay's second NFC South victory, putting them at 2-0 in the division, and it once again gave them a bigger lead in the division.

It also, however, allowed the Buccaneers to pull off a crazy feat — Their 23 points on Sunday outscored the entire rest of the NFC South that weekend.

Buccaneers score more points than entire rest of NFC South on Sunday

Here's what the NFC South looks like after Tampa Bay's win:

Team	W	L	T	Pct.	PF	PA	Home	Away	Streak
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6	2	0	.750	197	178	2-1	4-1	W1
Carolina Panthers	4	4	0	.500	154	192	3-1	1-3	L1
Atlanta Falcons	3	4	0	.429	120	154	2-2	1-2	L2
New Orleans Saints	1	7	0	.125	128	209	1-4	0-3	L2

The Buccaneers scored 23 points against the Saints, who only scored three. The Atlanta Falcons got flattened by the Miami Dolphins, losing that game 34-10, and the Carolina Panthers got beat soundly by the Buffalo Bills, dropping that game 40-9. As a result, the rest of the NFC South scored just 22 points across the board, while the Buccaneers themselves scored 23 against the Saints.

That level of dominance comes with the two-game lead the Bucs now have in the division, as the Panthers remain in second place at 4-4. The Bucs have beaten the Falcons and the Saints once this year, now holding a tiebreaker over both, but they won't play the Panthers until Week 16 of the regular season.

The Buccaneers are on a much-needed bye week next week. The Panthers will face a tough matchup against the Green Bay Packers, the Falcons will play the vaunted New England Patriots and the Saints will head to Los Angeles to face the Rams. With all those games in mind, the Buccaneers' big lead on the NFC South could grow even larger over Tampa Bay's bye week.

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