Falcons lose and Bucs within half a game of NFC South lead

The Atlanta Falcons lost in overtime to the San Diego Chargers, 33-30. That nailbiter featured a whole lot of swings, and Matt Bryant missed a would-be game-winning 58-yard field goal for the Falcons at the end of regulation. A failed fourth-down conversion gave the Chargers the ball in overtime, and they kicked a short field goal to win it.

That loss means the Falcons are still on top of the NFC South, but just by half a game. The Falcons are 4-3, and the Bucs are 3-3 after easily beating the San Francisco 49ers earlier today. Meanwhile, the Bucs host the 4-2 Oakland Raiders in Tampa next weekend.

The Falcons face the Green Bay Packers next, which is not exactly an easy out. And if the Bucs don’t catch them then, the two teams face each other the week after that on Thursday Night Football, in Tampa. The Bucs already beat the Falcons in Atlanta in week one.

It wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Bucs sitting atop the NFC South with a 5-3 record in two weeks. Now that’d be something we haven’t seen in quite some time.