NFC South Week 11 predictions: There will be blowouts

Are you ready for some blowouts? Things might get ugly in the NFC South this weekend, with the Panthers hosting the Cowboys and the Bucs traveling to the Bay Area to take on the 49ers. The Falcons and Saints are on byes, and following tough losses in Week 10, they should feel better about themselves watching how the other half of the division lives.

Here are our predictions for Week 11 in the NFC South.

Dallas Cowboys (6-3) at Carolina Panthers (1-8) | 1 p.m. ET

We've seen this story before when the Cowboys blew out the Giants, 49-17, in Week 10.

Dallas (usually) stomps bad teams and chokes against good ones. That formula won't be threatened against Carolina, the league's lone one-win team. 

The Panthers' only hope is Dallas lays an egg like it did earlier this year against Arizona (2-8), but a team with Super Bowl aspirations, such as the Cowboys, can't allow that to happen twice. 

This might not be a game where Dak Prescott puts up gaudy numbers such as the ones he has during his current MVP level of play. Over his last four games, Prescott is 101-of-140 (72.1 percent) for 1,354 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Indeed, this is a game where Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy's wish to "run the damn ball" might come true. 

Regarding rush defense, few teams are as bad as the Panthers. Tony Pollard should have a big game against a unit that's allowed the most rushing touchdowns (13) to running backs. On the other side, the Panthers offensive line is unlikely to find much success preventing edge Micah Parsons from overwhelming rookie quarterback Bryce Young. This game will look a lot like Dallas' other blowouts.

PREDICTION: Cowboys, 31-6

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5) at San Francisco 49ers (6-3) | 4:05 p.m. ET

A healthy 49ers team is arguably the best in football, as they showed in their Week 10 rout over the Jaguars, 34-3. San Francisco's pass rush came alive in edge rusher Chase Young's debut. Per Pro Football Focus, the 49ers only blitzed Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence three times (8.3 percent of his dropbacks) but managed to pressure him 11 times (30.6 percent), and Lawerence was 1-of-5 for five yards, two interceptions and five sacks when pressured. Young and Nick Bosa, teammates once again after playing together at Ohio State, combined for eight total pressures.

Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield has been one of the best at avoiding sacks this season, having the fifth-lowest pressure-to-sack rate (13.7 percent) among quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks. His 98.5 passer rating when pressured is fifth best, only trailing Prescott (100.6), Kirk Cousins (104.4), Lamar Jackson (105) and Russell Wilson (105). While Mayfield has been better than many expected, and Tampa Bay is firmly in the mix for a third consecutive division title, losses to the Eagles, Lions and Bills have shown that Tampa Bay can't compete with more talented teams. San Francisco might be the best one it faces all season.

PREDICTION: 49ers, 31-13