Carolina Panthers can’t stop a cold on defense and they still lead the NFC South?

The Carolina Panthers have tied a game, looked horrible on defense, cannot establish a running game, and relied heavily on a rookie wide receiver this year.  That is still enough to have their team in first place of the NFC South, which absolutely no team wants to win it seems.  The Saints have been horrible, the Falcons cannot get anything going in the right direction, and the Buccaneers run seems to have stop.  It is not looking good for the NFC South, but if the Panthers defense does not tighten up they will not make it far in the playoffs.

Here is a better look at their defense over these seven games:

They’ve given up 195 points through seven games, after giving up just 241 all of last season. The last five quarterbacks they’ve played (Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Jay Cutler, Andy Dalton and Aaron Rodgers) have completed 76.5 percent of their passes (124-of-162 for 1,390 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions), for a passer rating of 116.0. This team looks like they are in shambles, what do you think?

NFC South Standings

Team	W-L-T	Pct.
Panthers	3-3-1	.500
Saints	2-4	.333
Falcons	2-4	.286
Buccaneers	1-5	.167
* Through Week 7 games