SEPT 18 ADORABLE? What an adorable story it would be if the Atlanta Falcons are telling the truth. In their 22-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, the Bucs' NFC South rivals featured a celebration that included Drake London - who caught the game-winning TD - performing a "machine gun'' act.
The mimicking of the shooting of a gun is considered by the NFL a "violent gesture.'' But Falcons head coach Raheem Morris is pretending it was no such thing.
"He probably was shooting T-shirts into the stands, to be honest with you, because he's just that kind of a guy,'' Morris said.
Really? Morris is doing his young player no favors here. The Falcons would be better off learning from this than lying about it.
SEPT 17 UPSET Kirk Cousins beat the odds in more ways that one, leading his Falcons to a "Monday Night Football" upset win at Philadelphia. ... a 22-21 decision that allows Atlanta to stay within early NFC South range of the 2-0 Bucs and 2-0 Saints.
The Falcons were down six with 1:39 remaining when Cousins pushed them 70 yards and then eventually found wide receiver Drake London for a 7-yard, go-ahead touchdown with 34 seconds left.
Cousins is famous for losing on Mondays. But he moved to 4-10 on "MNF'' and now has won four of his past five MNF games.
This week the Falcons play on Sunday night against the undefeated Chiefs, while the Bucs play host to the 0-2 Broncos.
SEPT 16 STILL We are two weeks into the NFL season, and in the NFC South? The Saints are 2-0 after winning at the Dallas Cowboys. The Bucs are 2-0 win a win at Detroit. And the Panthers?
They're still the Panthers.
Carolina dropped to 0-2 on the season and now there are questions about whether they should bench former No. 1 overall quarterback Bryce Young. Questions ... but an answer.
"Bryce is our quarterback," said Dave Canales, the former Bucs coordinator now in charge in Carolina. "We're going to continue to shore and fix the things we need to fundamentally, from a scheme standpoint, all those things.''
Said Young: "This is obviously tough times, but it's a greater opportunity for us and our relationship and the entire team to grow.''
The Panthers are slated to take on the Raiders in Week 3.
SEPT 11 NO BUTS Washington Commanders first-year head coach Dan Quinn isn't taking a poke at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the Bucs' 37-20 blowout win at Raymond James Stadium.
But he is trying to rally his troops by insisting that to some degree, his Commanders shot themselves in the foot.
"We'll give Tampa the credit, but I think this team is going to improve significantly moving forward," Quinn said. "We're going to make sure we get the play style aligned exactly like we wanted."
We don't blame the coach for the approach. But the fact is, there was little Washington could do against Tampa Bay that would've changed much of the outcome in this throttling. The better team - by far - won.
SEPT 1 NOT A REBUILD! The Washington Commanders were 4-13 last year, and yet the new boss there - helping the Commanders get ready for the opener against the Bucs - swears this is no rebuild.
Said GM Adam Peters in a recent interview with Grant & Danny on 106.7 The Fan: "It's not a rebuild; it's a recalibration. We are trying to win right now. We do have goals to be really good this season."
The Bucs' plan on Sunday? Slow down their achievement of those goals.
AUG 30 UNIQUE? Commanders assistant general manager Lance Newmark is touting Jayden Daniels and the situation in Washington - which opens the season against the Bucs - as "unique.''
"That's obviously the most important thing that you can have," Newmark said of being able to draft a franchise QB, as the Commanders did in this year's No. 2 slot. "And when you're comfortable there and when you feel like you have the ability to win games with that person, it allows you to really explore every option outside of that."
Is Daniels ready to help the Commanders to win games ... now?
"This is a unique situation where we're going with a young guy and we're very excited about that,'' he said. "The quarterback situation allows you to do so much when you feel comfortable there and when you feel excited about what you're doing."
"Comfort'' can mean "confidence.'' By the time the Commanders get to Tampa Bay to open their season against the Buccaneers on Sunday, Sept. 8, we begin to see all of it unfold ... for both teams.
Kickoff is set for 4:25 p.m. EDT.
AUG 9 PANTHERS RUN OFF RUNWAY The NFL preseason is starting, which means that teams are going to be traveling. However, the Carolina Panthers had a bit of an issue with their most recent flight.
According to WCNC, the Panthers' Delta flight ran off the runway moments after touching down in Charlotte. The team was coming back from playing against the New England Patriots in the preseason.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt, and everyone was able to safely exit the plane and go about their business. That is obviously not how you want a flight to end, but thankfully nobody was injured.
AUG 8 MOORE OUT FOR YEAR Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Rondale Moore was carted off the field with an air cast around his right leg yesterday, ending the team's practice prematurely.
Now, per a report by NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, the young receiver will be out for the entire season due to the knee injury.
The 24-year-old Moore was looking to breakout this season with a new quarterback and a new system, but hopefully he will be able to return next year and get that chance.
AUG 7 RONDALE CARTED OFF The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' rival Atlanta Falcons acquired wide receiver Rondale Moore in a trade that sent quarterback Desmond Ridder to the Arizona Cardinals. But now, it is not looking great that the Falcons will get to use Moore this season.
Per a report by ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques, the Falcons receiver was carted off the field at practice today with an air cast on his right leg. He also reports that practice was called early, as nobody wanted to keep playing after seeing the injury.
The Falcons still have a number of weapons that they will utilize this season, but seeing someone go down with this bad of an injury always hurts. There has been no further news on Moore's condition or the specifics of his injury.