The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to have to do some massive shuffling on the offensive line after the team announced Tuesday that left guard Carl Nicks was placed in injured reserve with a toe injury.

Nicks is the second starting guard to be lost for the season. Davin Joseph was lost for the year during preseason. And the Buccaneers are down to just two starters on their offensive line from their projected preseason depth chart.

Only Donald Penn at left tackle and Jeremy Zuttah at center remain as season-long starters. Look for Tampa Bay to keep Demar Dotson at right tackle, Jamon Meredith at right guard and begin looking for answers to replace Nicks.

Ted Larsen, who was a starter for a short period of time before losing the gig to Joseph, is an option. So is Jeremy Trueblood, who has been trying to make a transition to right guard.

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Often when an NFL player complains publicly about his coaching staff or a fellow player, there’s only a hint of truths, and there’s definitely two sides to the story.

More often than not, it’s just a bout of boiled-over frustration that’s usually regretted shortly after.

After Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears, safety Captain Munnerlyn was pretty upset after his Carolina Panthers blew a fourth-quarter lead. He was very vocal, as reported in the National Football Post, attacking the defensive play calling on Chicago’s final drive of the game.

Justin Medlock kicked a 45-yard field goal with 2:27 left to play, putting the Panthers ahead 22-20. Carolina kicked off to the Bears, and from the Chicago 22-yard line, Jay Cutler led the Bears on a nine-play, 55-yard drive that resulted in a 41-yard Robbie Gould game-winning field goal.

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In case you were wondering what it is about this Atlanta Falcons offense that’s driving its success: it’s the screen pass.

The Falcons rank fifth in the league, scoring 28.7 points per game, and look absolutely unstoppable at times. Quarterback Matt Ryan is playing at an MVP-type level, he has Pro Bowl-caliber targets in Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez, and the offense has the depth to get multiple players involved—seven players have caught touchdown passes in 2012.

All these options, however, we’re available to this team last season, and it’s not just growth and the  maturation process that’s benefited the Falcons and sparked this meteoric rise.

New offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter brought with him from Jacksonville a unique play-calling philosophy that’s been a perfect glass-slipper fit for Ryan and the Falcons' offense. And yes, this team could be getting dressed for the Super Bowl ball if Koetter can keep this momentum.

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Carolina Panthers cornerback Captain Munnerlyn wasn't happy after his team's loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday. And as is becoming commonplace among the Panthers' players, Munnerlyn let his frustration be known in a public forum.

As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Munnerlyn all but called out defensive coordinator Sean McDermott for lousy play-calling.

The National Football Post continued reporting on Munnerlyn's tirade. The Panthers' corner said Cutler and the Bears' offense repeatedly hit Carolina with the same play and no one adjusted.

Cutler concurred with Munnerlyn's report.

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The New Orleans Saints defense is miserable, and miserable might not be a strong enough word.

The Saints dropped their Week 8 game to the Denver Broncos, 34-14, and in the process allowed Peyton Manning and the Broncos to amass 530 yards of total offense. Denver’s success wasn’t an outlier, however.

The Saints are the only team in the NFL this season to give up at least 400 yards of total offense to an opponent in every game they’ve played. They’re also the only team to have 500 or more yards pasted on them three times.

Let that sink in for a moment. There have been only 11 games that have featured an offense that posted more than 500 yards of total offense. Three of those were against the Saints.

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The Carolina Panthers are 1-6 after a heartbreaking loss to the Chicago Bears on a last-second Robby Gould field goal. A record of 1-6 is bad, and so is this team in its current state. But are the Panthers really a six-loss team after just eight weeks of the 2012 season (and remember, Carolina’s already enjoyed its bye week)?

Take away the Thursday night debacle when the New York Giants embarrassed the Panthers 36-7, and Carolina’s other five losses have been by six points or fewer, or an average of 3.6 points per game.

Two of the Panthers’ losses have come on the road on last-second field goals by currently elite teams, Week 4 against the Atlanta Falcons and Sunday against the Bears.

“That’s the difference between who they are right now and who we are,” said head coach Ron Rivera after Carolina’s Week 8 loss. “Teams like them are going to win these kind of games and teams like us are learning how to win them.”

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There were definitely doubters around the NFL regarding whether or not the 6-0 Atlanta Falcons, the only remaining undefeated team, were the best team in the league.

There shouldn’t be anyone left after Sunday’s 30-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Falcons are now 7-0 and showed Sunday there’s no doubt they are the best team in the NFL.

Atlanta scored touchdowns on its first three drives of the game. In fact, the Falcons scored two touchdowns before the Eagles had a positive gain on offense.

Matt Ryan hit two improbable targets for his for his first two scores, wide receiver Drew Davis and running back Jason Snelling. Davis was playing for an injured Harry Douglas and made two pivotal catches on Atlanta’s first drive.

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The Atlanta Falcons announced Friday that they were activating defensive tackle Corey Peters from the physically unable-to-perform list.

Peters told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was running to stay in shape during the offseason and injured his foot. The stress fracture forced Peters to miss organized team activities (OTAs), minicamp, training camp, the preseason and the first six weeks of the regular season.

Now that Peters has been activated from the PUP list, he’s eligible to play Sunday in Philadelphia against the Eagles.

But will he?

Peters admitted to the AJC that he’s not in football shape yet, and for an almost 300-pound lineman, getting in peak condition takes some time.

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