The Denver Broncos opened this season with a crushing three-touchdown loss to their primary competition in the AFC West Division, the Kansas City Chiefs. Last week, against the Chiefs again, the Broncos put on a fourth quarter comeback to edge Andy Reid’s team, 28-24.
The victory turned around a season that started on a sour note, into a first place standing in their division a half-game in front of the second-place Chiefs.
That was last week, and next week the Broncos head into their bye with first place seemingly in hand. On Sunday, Sean Payton’s squad meets another first-place team, but while the Broncos have a winning record with six wins in eight decisions, their opponent this week leads the NFC South Division with a losing record.
That’s right, it is another season where the winner of the NFC South may just end the year with a losing mark. That was the case last season when the Carolina Panthers advanced to the postseason with an 8 and 9 record. This year, Carolina is again leading their division with a losing mark, they have three wins in seven decisions. The two teams that are behind the Panthers in second place also have three wins, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons have not yet had their bye week, and each have five losses.
The Panthers have run hot and cold this year. They lost their opener at home to the Chicago Bears by 22 points, 59-37, and then beat the Atlanta Falcons on the road by 31, 34-3. A loss at Cleveland was followed by a win over the Detroit Lions.
They came out of their bye week with a double-digit win over the Philadelphia Eagles and then lost by 30 points to a Tampa Bay team that had only one win coming into that Week Seven contest. Carolina suffered a second straight loss last Thursday night in Green Bay and now are at home and underdogs to the Denver Broncos.