NFC South Notebook: Saints fall to 0-2, Panthers deactivate Greg Hardy
Every Monday and Friday, theScore's NFL editors will bring you a roundup of everything you need to know from around the division with the NFC South Notebook.
New Orleans Saints
Saints fall to 0-2. New Orleans dropped its fifth consecutive regular-season road game Sunday, losing 26-24 to the Cleveland Browns. There was one bright spot, though, as Drew Brees passed Hall of Famer John Elway for fourth place on the NFL's career yardage list.
Ingram out? As if falling to 0-2 wasn't bad enough, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the Saints will be without star running back Mark Ingram for the next month as he nurses a hand injury. Head coach Sean Payton declined to confirm the report during Monday's press conference.
Payton goes off. Frustrations were high for the Saints on Sunday, and cameras caught Payton yelling at defensive coordinator Rob Ryan before the team's final defensive drive.
Must-win. It's not very often teams face a must-win game in September, but that's exactly how Mike Triplett of ESPN.com describes the Saints' Week 3 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
Carolina Panthers
Newton returns. The Panthers got a big boost Sunday with the return of Cam Newton, who was held out of the season opener with a rib injury. Carolina defeated the Detroit Lions 24-7 and now sits in first place in the NFC South with a record of 2-0.
Hardy deactivated. In a surprising move, the Panthers deactivated defensive end Greg Hardy prior to Sunday's game. Head coach Ron Rivera said Hardy will continue to play throughout his ongoing domestic violence case.
Donkey Kong Suh. Newton referred to Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh as "Donkey Kong" five times during his 15-minute press conference Thursday. He has since apologized, and will now refer to Suh as "Wreck It Ralph."
Special order. Mario Addison came up big Sunday, recording more than half of the Panthers' four sacks. You won't find his No. 97 jersey at the team store, though.
Atlanta Falcons
What happened to Ryan? The quarterback that set a single-game franchise record for passing yards against the Saints was nowhere to be found Sunday. Matt Ryan struggled mightily against the Cincinnati Bengals, completing 24-of-44 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Offensive line woes. Ryan was sacked only once by the Bengals, but was hurried nine other times. Lamar Holmes and Gabe Carimi filled in for first-round pick Jake Matthews, who is nursing a high ankle sprain.
Silver lining. The Falcons won't have much time to dwell on the loss, as they face the Buccaneers on Thursday. Defensive tackle Corey Peters called the quick turnaround "one of the silver linings in getting a butt-whooping like this."
White keeps streak alive. Roddy White caught five passes for 42 yards Sunday. It's the 114th consecutive game White has caught at least one catch.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bucs fall to Rams. The Saints weren't the only team in the NFC South to fall to 0-2 this week. Tampa Bay lost its matchup 19-17 against the St. Louis Rams to remain winless.
McCoy makes early exit. The Bucs could be without Gerald McCoy for the next several weeks, as reports indicate the defensive tackle suffered a broken hand in Sunday's loss.
Lightning delay. Lightning forced the Bucs and Rams off the field with 6:16 remaining in the second quarter. Play resumed a little over 40 minutes later.
Questionable ending. Adding to the strangeness of Sunday's game, refs allowed 10 seconds to run off the clock due to an excess team timeout, ignoring the fact that Bucs rookie wide receiver Mike Evans was down and in obvious pain. Media reaction to the play was overwhelmingly negative.