NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers

Buccaneers

• The NFL will continue monitoring Hurricane Ian, with the game between the Chiefs and Buccaneers remaining scheduled as planned on Sunday night in Tampa for now, per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. However, a change could come as late as Friday depending on the storm. 
• ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reports the NFL is unlikely to relocate the game to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami despite the Dolphins having an away game in Week 4. The league won’t want to take any resources away from the state of Florida if things get bad enough that the game needs to be moved. 
• Darlington says a neutral location in the Midwest is more likely, specifically Minnesota as the Vikings are in London this week and their home stadium is available. 

Falcons

Falcons RB Cordarrelle Patterson is thrilled with the opportunities he is getting in Atlanta and added that he feels like he is still 22 years old.

“They really gave me the opportunity and believed in me and just trusted me, you know, with my age,” Patterson said, via Michael Rothstein of ESPN. “Everybody say age affects things, but I’m just here to ball out. Honestly, man, I love football so much. I don’t think it’s one guy really in this world that loves football as much as I love football. Just like to have fun and enjoy it the way I do.”

Falcons FB Keith Smith joked that while Patterson tends to skip leg day, he still has escapability.

“He skips leg day so he has little scrawny legs,” Smith joked. “But them things be moving and he’ll run through arm tackles and whether you hit him low, high, it don’t really matter because I think it’s just his will power is there and he just has that mindset he’s going to run through anything.”

Panthers

The Panthers got their first win of the season against the Saints but the offense remained mired in the mud for most of the day yet again, with a defensive touchdown and blocked field proving to be the difference in the ballgame. Panthers QB Baker Mayfield struggled in particular to take advantage of the talent he has at wide receiver, connecting on just two of 10 targets to WRs D.J. Moore and Robbie Anderson.

“Our passing game, specifically third down, but (also) in general is just not anywhere near where we want it to be,” Panthers HC Matt Rhule said via the Athletic’s Joe Person. “Some of that falls on everyone. Some of that falls on Baker in terms of his feet, being on time and taking some throws that are there. And the wideout play has to really improve this week. We need to play better at that position.”

Rhule cited a collective failure, but through three games Mayfield’s inaccuracy has been the most glaring problem. He’s completing just 51.9 percent of his passes and admitted he needs to be a lot better. 

“I think about the third down over DJ’s head in man coverage. Just putting the ball in the right spot,” he said. “I think the third downs are completely on me, just ball location. Just continue to work on that and just harp on our passing game. Obviously, throughout the whole game we need to be better, but especially on third down.”