NFL Nfc South

The Carolina Panthers have seemed to turn the proverbial corner twice this year; the first turn came after wins against Washington and Tampa Bay, only to see the Panthers exposed as Jake Delhomme threw three picks in an explicable loss to a horrendous Bills team.

But as the clock expired on the Cats' 28-19 win over the Falcons, things seemed much, much different. Not only had the Panthers beaten a division rival, but they had somehow climbed back into the playoff picture in the NFC, and that thought alone didn't seem as impossible as Delhomme going turnover free against Atlanta ... which he'd just done.

The dust has finally settled from the Sunday's sideline melee between Washington and Atlanta. The skirmish occurred shortly after a late hit by LaRon Landry sent Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan flying and tempers flaring between the Atlanta sideline and a few Redskins players, including former-Falcon DeAngelo Hall.

The NFL office has decided that fines should be handed out to four individuals. Falcons head coach Mike Smith received the biggest fine of $15,000 and Director of Athletic Performance Jeff Fish was slapped with a $2,500 fine. Two Redskins players were also fined -- Albert Haynesworth at $7,500 and LaRon Landry at $5,000.

ATLANTA -- When the NFL schedule came out at the beginning of the year, the Washington Redskins game at the Atlanta Falcons wasn't necessarily a matchup you expected to be volatile. But DeAngelo Hall sure did.

Hall, who spent the first four seasons of his career playing in Atlanta, did a lot of trash-talking this week. He claimed that Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff lied to him on multiple occasions regarding roster issues, and he dared the Falcons to make him a target this week -- since he knew they probably would anyway.

Was there any doubt that if a skirmish broke out between the two teams that Hall would be involved?

NEW ORLEANS -- Go ahead, because this is the right thing to do: You should spend the rest of the NFL season hugging whatever team you traditionally love, but you should kiss the New Orleans Saints in the shadows.

If you prefer to do so in the sunshine, that's fine, too.

The Saints have replaced the folks with stars on their helmets as America's Team. In case you weren't paying attention, Hurricane Katrina blew this franchise into the hearts of all those who had them. That unofficially happened on Sept. 25, 2006, the team's first home game back in New Orleans -- a Monday night when, just like this Monday night, the roof of the Superdome threatened to explode because of the noise generated by inside, as opposed to the wind outside it.

A game that was also against the Falcons. And that, too, was a victory for the Saints, along the way to their first and only NFC championship game.

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As we near the halfway point of the NFL season, there is a slew of really bad NFL teams stinking up the joint. The 0-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers obviously qualify. That means it's time for a bunch of delusional people to start making claims about how so-and-so could beat the Bucs. You know, college teams, "my rec league team," high school teams and, of course, UFL teams. Usually these claims are tongue-in-cheek, but Tatum Bell of the UFL's Florida Tuskers seems pretty serious.

Michael Pittman, a running back for the Tuskers who used to play for the Bucs, said something about how some of his teammates probably thought they could beat the Bucs. Bell immediately said he was one of them. When given a hypothetical score of 24-14 (Tuskers over Bucs), Bell went a bit too far.

It was only a matter of time, really. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going nowhere this season. They are 0-7 and have been outscored 203-96 in the process. They drafted Josh Freeman in the first round (17th overall pick) of the draft this past April to be their quarterback of the future. You aren't going anywhere in 2009, so it's time to start playing for the future. Thus, it makes sense to hand him the keys at this point.

The Bucs are going to do exactly that when they head to Green Bay for Week 9's game (after a bye this week). Head coach Raheem Morris announced Wednesday that Freeman will be the team's starting quarterback moving forward.

On Tuesday the Atlanta Falcons placed 2009 second-round draft pick William Moore on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

Moore, who Atlanta thought would be ready to immediately help at safety from day one, has been battling injuries since training camp. The 55th-overall selection from Missouri had knee surgery at the beginning of camp, only to recover and hurt his hamstring shortly thereafter. Moore battled through two hamstring tweaks this season before finally succumbing to the final blow that landed the 24-year-old on the injured reserve list.

The last thing the Atlanta Falcons wanted on Sunday night was to lose Brian Williams to a season-ending knee injury. But Williams landed funny in the fourth quarter of the Falcons 21-14 victory over Chicago and tore his ACL, forcing Williams to be placed on injured reserve, where he'll miss the rest of the season and require reconstructive surgery. Now, the 18th-ranked Atlanta pass defense must find a new cornerback somewhere on their roster.

"This will be an opportunity for Tye Hill, Chris Owens and Chevis Jackson", said head coach Mike Smith in a press conference Monday. Those three will compete for time in the secondary, playing alongside cornerbacks Brent Grimes and Chris Houston.

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Sunday Night, the Chicago Bears are in town visiting the Atlanta Falcons and fireworks could be in order inside the Georgia Dome. Both offenses can be prolific and they will be throwing against weaker defensive secondaries.

So expect the scoreboard operators to get a workout. When all is said and done, if the result is going to favor the Falcons, here's what they'll need to do.

• The Bears rank 4th in the NFL with 14 sacks. Adewale Ogunleye has 4.5 and Alex Brown has 2.5 to lead the pass rush, but seven other players each have a sack. The bring the heat well and frustrate the best of opposing quarterbacks. The Falcons, on the other hand, have the best offensive line in the league when it comes to protecting the quarterback as Matt Ryan has only been sacked twice this season. The offensive line must continue to protect Ryan on Sunday night, giving him time to find any of his plethora of receiving targets.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Anyone who doubted the authenticity of the Atlanta Falcons following their 2-1 start has to take notice after Sunday's 45-10 blowout of the San Francisco 49ers, a game that could have easily exposed the visitors as the pretenders their skeptics thought they might be.

Would they perform a cross-country face plant, coming off the dreaded bye-week hangover? Would they come out like the humbled, outmatched team that resembled the post-Bobby Petrino wreckage in that Week 3 26-10 loss to the Patriots in Foxborough?

Not a chance.

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