The NFC South carousel continues.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did exactly what they needed to do to get back into the race in the NFC South, defeating the Carolina Panthers 21-18. With that, they move into second place in the division, just below the Atlanta Falcons who defeated the New York Jets. Because the New Orleans Saints lost to the Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay now is tied for second in the division with them and has the head-to-head tiebreaker. Should the Bucs win in Atlanta next week against the Falcons, they will hold a share of first place.
Here is what the NFC South looks like as it stands:
| Team | W | L | T | Win% | PF | PA | Home | Away | Strk |
| Atlanta Falcons | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 226 | 240 | 4-2 | 2-4 | W2 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 233 | 245 | 3-3 | 2-4 | W1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 257 | 255 | 2-3 | 3-4 | L3 |
| Carolina Panthers | 1 | 11 | 0 | .083 | 191 | 313 | 1-4 | 0-7 | L5 |
And here is how each NFC South game went in Week 13:
Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| CAR | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 18 |
| TB | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| DET | 21 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 33 |
| NO | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
USA TODAY Network
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| ATL | 0 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 18 |
| NYJ | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 21 |
