Chris Ivory Is Angry at His Lack of Playing Time and More NFC South News

New Orleans Saints running back Chris Ivory is healthy and ready to show that he's back to 2010 form when he was the team's leading rusher with 716 yards on 137 carries.

The problem is that he's been inactive every week in 2012 and seems very angry about the situation.

"Honestly, yeah it's frustrating," Ivory said in a Times-Picayune article. "But that's not going to change nothing. Yeah, the situation sucks, but right now I'm still trying to be patient."

Interim head coach Aaron Kromer seems ready to continue pushing forward with a three-running-back system of Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles and Mark Ingram.

Why has Ivory not been used?

Larry Holder of the Times-Picayune, mentioned in his article that Ivory, on several occasions, had trouble hanging onto the football in training camp and during preseason games. It wasn't just an isolated incident.

During Ivory's 2010 season, even though he led the Saints in rushing, he fumbled four times, leading to two turnovers. Through his career, he's averaged a fumble for every 54 carries. Thomas, Ingram and Sproles are much better at protecting the ball, fumbling on average once every 135 times, 149 times, and 171 times, respectively.

When you're 0-3 and need every win left on the schedule, using a running back that's more than twice as likely to turn the ball over is a bad idea.

Atlanta Falcons

Dirk Koetter is still not happy with four sacks given up in three games. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the team goal was under one sack per game.

John Abraham was arrested on two obstruction charges Monday and told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution it was a matter of "bad timing."

Carolina Panthers

After Eli Manning abused rookie cornerback Josh Norman on national television it took him five days to get his confidence back, according to this Charlotte Observer piece.

Even if Jon Beason misses Sunday's game, the Charlotte Observer reports that the Panthers won't move rookie Luke Kuechly to middle linebacker. 

New Orleans Saints

The Times-Picayune has an interesting article about the screen pass being out of sync this season and used less frequently.

According to WWL-TV, if Drew Brees throws a touchdown pass against Green Bay this weekend, he'll tie a 52-year old Johnny Unitas record of tossing a touchdown pass in 47 straight games.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Greg Schiano said he feels the team's third-down efficiency is getting better but is still not nearly where it needs to be. [Pewter Report]

The Tampa Tribune writes that containing Robert Griffin III is Tampa Bay's top priority Sunday.