NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers, Steve Wilks

Buccaneers

Buccaneers QB Tom Brady addressed the team’s record and playoff chances after their win over the Cardinals on Sunday night.

“7-8 is not where we want to be, but we’ve got a chance to win a championship game next week,” Brady said, via Pro Football Talk. “We keep it close in the fourth quarter, we know we’ve got a shot.”

• Bucs HC Todd Bowles tells reporters RT Tristan Wirfs re-aggravated his ankle injury against the Cardinals and the team is hoping to get LT Donovan Smith back. (Mike Garafolo)

Falcons

• Falcons QB Feleipe Franks is currently in concussion protocol. (Mike Rothstein)

Panthers

The Panthers announced themselves as a legitimate threat in the NFC South with Sunday’s record-setting win against the Lions. Carolina racked up 320 yards rushing with both RBs D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard topping the 100-yard mark. It was the first time that happened since DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart were tag-teaming the Panthers backfield, and those two held the previous rushing record for the Panthers of 299 yards. 

Foreman and Hubbard aren’t household names and the Panthers are just 6-8. But they could book a ticket to the playoffs by beating the Buccaneers for the second time this season in Week 17, and unlike Tampa Bay they look like a team with a coherent identity. 

“We’re not sexy,” Panthers interim HC Steve Wilks said via NBC Sports’ Peter King. “We’re not the classic NFL team that’s going to throw it all over the place. But like I’ve told [OC] Ben McAdoo, there’s nothing more demoralizing to a defense than not being able to stop the run.”

Wilks is now 5-5 since taking over as head coach in Carolina and making a serious bid to remain as the full-time coach after the season ends. He’s not thinking about that right now, however. 

“Straight honestly,” he said, “I don’t look at it that way. I’ve done this job before [in Arizona], and even though it was only for a year, I understand what’s important. Stay in the moment. Win today. Try to beat Tampa. That’s all that matters.”

• Panthers CB Jaycee Horn will undergo surgery on his broken wrist on Tuesday, with Wilks adding the team will determine his status for the remainder of the season afterward. (David Newton)