NFC not looking as daunting as Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers fall under .500

At least the Los Angeles Rams didn’t lose to the Carolina Panthers.

Facing P.J. Walker and no Christian McCaffrey on Sunday, Tom Brady’s Buccaneers lost 21-3 to the Panthers and fell to 3-4 on the season. Brady’s once-feared Bucs team has now lost four of their last five games, including dropping games to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Panthers, presumably two of the worst teams in the NFL.

The Bucs now have three straight home games: Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams, and Seattle Seahawks. Tampa Bay is hardly out of it however, as they still lead the NFC South at 3-4 thanks to the Atlanta Falcons also losing on Sunday. The Saints and Panthers are only one game out of first place, despite being 2-5.

Brady still has a better shot at winning the division than Aaron Rodgers.

The Green Bay Packers have lost three straight games after falling 23-21 to the Washington Commanders on Sunday. The Packers have lost to the Giants, Jets, and Commanders in the last three weeks, making Green Bay look rather pedestrian at 3-4. They are now well behind the 5-1 Minnesota Vikings, who are on a bye week.

Justin Fields will have the same record as Rodgers if the Bears beat the Patriots on Monday Night Football.

The NFC playoff standings, albeit early in the process, look fascinating so far with two NFC West teams still playing on Sunday afternoon:

1. 6-0 Eagles

2. 5-1 Vikings

3. 3-3 49ers (playing Chiefs on Sunday afternoon)

4. 3-4 Buccaneers

5. 6-1 Giants

6. 5-2 Cowboys

7. RAMS????

The final playoff team would come down to which team is 4-3 at the end of the day, or it could be the 3-3 Rams. Of course, there is a lot of football left to play this season. But as bad as things seem for the Rams, at least they aren’t quite behind Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, two expected powerhouse teams that have been anything but powerful.