8 Reasons The Bucs Can Flatten The Falcons
October 13th, 2018
A 3-2 record is right there in the grasp of your beloved Buccaneers.
Outside of an injury to Matt Ryan, who hasn’t missed a game since 2009, it doesn’t get any better than this when it comes to facing the rival Falcons on the road.
*The Dirk Koetter Buccaneers have a history of bouncing back after brutal defeats. Yeah, it’s unfortunate to have a such a history, but it’s encouraging after the Windy City Wipeout. The Bucs are 3-1 since Koetter took over in games following losses of 17 points or more. … The Bucs have had just one bye week under Koetter and they beat a bad 49ers team by 17 points upon their return. With an extra post-Hurricane-Irma week to prepare for the Bears last year, the Bucs jumped out to a 26-0 halftime lead and coasted to victory.
*Jordan Whitehead: Yes, the rookie safety is back healthy and the Bucs sure missed him against the Bears. He can ball and he brings a needed intensity. Joe thinks it’s no coincidence that the Buccaneers shut out the Steelers in the second half of their September game with Whitehead playing in place of Chris Conte. Whitehead has plenty to learn but he represents a big upgrade.
*Vita Vea: The manbeast rookie got his NFL legs under him in Chicago and should start and play a lot more Sunday. He flashed his high ceiling and Joe suspects he’ll at least set up the guys around him for a couple of big plays in Atlanta.
*Talent! Mike Smith is a poor defensive coordinator by NFL standards, but he does have star talent to work with at every damn level of his defense. And talent has a way of making plays despite coaching. Just add up all the talented dudes on the defense and the odds are in favor of the Bucs defense improving at least enough to hold the Falcons to four touchdowns. Dirk Koetter said last night that “changes” were made to the defense during the bye week. That got Joe so damn excited.
*Perfect matchup for the Bucs offense. It might not get better than this all season — all season. The Falcons have tons of injuries to talented players. The gut of their defense — studs at defensive tackle, middle linebacker and safety — will not play. Against the Steelers, they couldn’t stop the run and they couldn’t pressure Ben Roethlisberger. Officially, they hit him one less time than the Bucs hit Mitch Trubisky. The Bucs offense is as healthy as any in football. Whatever the Falcons try, the Bucs have the juice to counter efficiently.
*Energy: It’s all going bad for Atlanta. They didn’t show up for their absolute must-win game against the Steelers last weekend, on the heels of fourth-quarter choking against the Saints and Bengals. That got Dixie Chicks owner Artie Blank very cranky this week. Good friend of Falcons head coach Dan Quinn, Pat Kirwan of SiriusXM NFL Radio, said he knows Quinn has no answers for his defense and all their injuries. The Bucs, on the other hand, are upbeat, optimistic and humbled by their 2-2 record. All the energy is good with the return of America’s Quarterback, Jameis Winston.
*O-line rebound: The Bucs’ pass blocking has been good overall, but this is the week for the left side of the line to prove their worth as run blockers with expensive center Ryan Jensen. There are zero excuses, and these guys are super fresh. A little birdie told Joe that Donovan Smith getting that bye week off has brought his knee back to 100 percent. (It’s easy to forget that late-August injury). Joe suspects the touted Jensen “nasty” ruboff may even appear this week, especially with Ali Marpet relieved with a new contract.
*Open roof: The story is on the home page. The cage officially is open on the Falcons. You know how brutal the Bucs defense is in domes. It’s a sign from the football gods.
*PROFESSOR DERRICK BROOKS talks about studying “foundational tape,” approaching an elite Atlanta passing game, “stance, alignment assignment” and more with JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman in TAMPA TWO, presented by Caldeco Air Conditioning & Heating. Enjoy!!
October 13th, 2018 at 4:32 pm
Enough with all the negativity. We’re 2-2. Two wins, two losses. Everyone (almost) predicted us to be 0-4, or at best 1-3 by this point. There are 19 teams in the NFL that are at .500 or have losing records! 19 out of 32! If the defense steps up (are you listening, Mike Smith) we can crush the Falcons.
October 13th, 2018 at 4:53 pm
I wouldn’t call the Steelers a must win game, because it is a non-conference game which doesn’t really count in so far as tiebreakers. This is Atlanta’s must win. The pressure is on them….the Buccs can bury them with a huge road win in Atlanta and maintain a 2-0 division record and move to 3-1 overall in the NFC!!!
October 13th, 2018 at 5:16 pm
The game will be won or lost with the secondary.
October 13th, 2018 at 5:17 pm
i can’t take it any more…i need football now…this bye week withdrawal is straight madness!
October 13th, 2018 at 5:23 pm
fugg it…i have us going 3-1 in this second quarter of the season…we gonna drop a lil dirty on them birds tomorrow!
October 13th, 2018 at 5:23 pm
and then throw a lil more doodoo on the browns
October 13th, 2018 at 5:31 pm
Every team now knows..they must..test our secondary and do it often. Matty Ice will be throwing different route combos. IF..we cannot hold up back there, it will indeed be a long day. I got us winning a shootout 28-24.
October 13th, 2018 at 5:49 pm
Matt Ryan is completing 77% of his passes at home
1065 yards, 10 TD, 1 INT
133.3 Passing Rate
The Bucs secondary is the key
The D-Line has to get to Ryan…often
October 13th, 2018 at 5:58 pm
3 Reasons the Bucs can lose:
Winston will be way to excited and overthrow receivers in the first half.
The Bucs will have a very slow start on offense because of Winton’s inaccuracy.
Winston will be playing from behind. That will cause him to try to do way too much. He will, most likely, throw at least 1 costly interception and fumble at least once.
October 13th, 2018 at 6:07 pm
@Mike Johnson … “I got us winning a shootout 28-24.” Same exact score I’m predicting Mike. Key to this game though is NOT the Bucs defense; it’s the Bucs’ offense. Control the clock no matter what (and keep the Falcons roosting on the bench). Start fast (we suck when we get too far down). Win the turnover battle (that’s the killer IMO).
Check out the Falcons drive summaries for their 5 games and you see one constant: their defense poops out in the 3rd & 4th qtrs (injuries tend to do that to teams?) and they’ve given up a LOT of their points in the 2nd half. Wow, does THAT sound familiar from the Bucs 2017 season..
October 13th, 2018 at 6:12 pm
1 Reason the Falcons can flatten the Bucs:
Jameis Winston
October 13th, 2018 at 6:16 pm
Time to bury the Falcons! We really need to win this game, but I have a bad feeling we won’t be able to contain Julio Jones. Let’s see if those “changes” actually help and we start to get creative with our players. Smittys job, as well as Koetter’s could be on the line tomorrow afternoon, against the team that fired them, no less. If we cant beat this Falcons Defense, its gonna be a long season, and this could be the final nail in the coffin for Mike Smith and Dirk Koetter.
October 13th, 2018 at 6:25 pm
Defense Rules
Dirk won’t try to control the clock and keep the Falcons offense on the sidelines. What he will do, have Jameis Winston throw 40-50 passes. In 2015, when the Bucs swept the Falcons, they ran for 100+ in both games. Since Koetter was promoted to Head Coach, they haven’t had a 100 yards rushing game against the falcons.
And they are 1-3 against them
October 13th, 2018 at 6:32 pm
The Bucs beat the Falcons 23-20 and 23-19, they gave up 39 points in two games. Yeah that sorry Lovie defense, held the Birds to 39 points in 2 games.
Since Koetter promotion in 2016, the Bucs defense has given up 125 points in 4 games.
October 13th, 2018 at 6:33 pm
In 2015, the Bucs defense gave up 39 points against the Falcons in 2 games.
October 13th, 2018 at 7:05 pm
Unless Fitz is starting, we’re cooked!
October 13th, 2018 at 7:16 pm
Fitz isn’t starting Max. This has been known for two weeks now
October 13th, 2018 at 7:30 pm
This may be the game I look at to decide whether I want Jameis leading my team the next 10.
1. We know their defense is beaten up. After seeing the Steelers beat them up, with all our weapons, I expect to see Jameis exploiting the matchups, all across the field (not just forcing it to Brate and Hump).
2. No slow starts and playing from behind in the second half!
3. With this being his first start of 2018, seeing the success of Fitz with the same offense, and being at One Buc to prepare over a bye week, this is as close of a “coming to Jesus” as Winston will ever get. Show us you’ve turned the corner.
4. Our defense has no grasp of any sort of a groove. This is going to be a high scoring affair. Winston needs to be ready to lay down 35+ points. I don’t care that it’s away, or that it’s in a dome. Get your emotions under control, be a tru leader, and be the reason this team wins on Sunday!
Go Bucs, go Jameis, #realizethepotential
October 13th, 2018 at 7:55 pm
@Lakeland … “Since Koetter was promoted to Head Coach, they haven’t had a 100 yards rushing game against the falcons.” Grant that, BUT … the Falcons defense was #14 overall in Points Allowed in 2015, then regressed to #27 in 2016, before improving dramatically in 2017 to #8. Interestingly, their rushing defense ranked considerably better than their passing defense. Hmmm, still sounds like our Bucs.
Bucs offense has to score points AND control the clock tomorrow Lakeland or our defense will probably struggle against Matt Ryan & his weapons. I think a lot of fans forget that there are really TWO battles going on in each game: Bucs high-scoring offense against the Falcons struggling defense, AND the Falcons high-scoring offense against the Bucs struggling defense. The team whose offense dominates the TOP AND makes the least turnovers has an awfully good chance of winning.
Good old-fashioned COMPLIMENTARY FOOTBALL … the Bucs supposed strength (the offense) offsetting the Bucs supposed weakness (the defense). Brees & the Saints offense did that for years (Saints defense sucked). Panthers defense did that for years (Panthers offense had some pretty mediocre years). Bucs defense did that for years too (under Tony Dungy).
October 13th, 2018 at 8:00 pm
Winston will have 2ints and the Bucs lose 48-17
October 13th, 2018 at 8:39 pm
Well we need our players on defense to make some plays if we wanna beat them……so who do we look at? Kwon, GMC, Lavonte David?……..I’m sorry I can’t count on any of them guys.
That leaves us with a couple new players and a few rookies to rely on. The core of the defense blows. Maybe our DC has a few tricks up his sleeve…..oh wait nevermind
October 13th, 2018 at 8:47 pm
Defense Rules
The Bucs rushed for 100+ yards in 5 games last season. They were 3-2 in those 5 games. The defense gave up 84 points in those 5 games (17 PPG).
The two games they lost were:
Green Bay 26, Tampa Bay 20
Overtime
Detroit 24, Tampa Bay 21
Detroit FG with 20 seconds left in game
October 13th, 2018 at 9:04 pm
Saints fan here.go bucs.bucs 31 falcons28.
October 13th, 2018 at 9:51 pm
The Falcons are so surprisingly and shockingly bad that even America’s Crotchgrabber And Liar J-Miss Winston could have a good game
October 14th, 2018 at 6:55 am
Jameis should have a field day. That big in season signing of Freddy Martino is going to pay big dividends. Jaboo and Martino have a good connections. Kinda skeptical about the Bucs medical staff clearing Howard because they’ve cleared so many guys that shouldn’t have been dressed, but, we shall see. Go Bucs! Fire Licht! Cut Koetter! Drop Mike Smith
October 14th, 2018 at 6:57 am
BrianBucs is off to band camp.
October 14th, 2018 at 8:34 am
Dirk Koetter said last night that “changes” were made to the defense during the bye week. That got Joe so damn excited.
Were you drinking , Joe?
Klueless says a lot of stupid sh!t…. I keep thinking one time he’ll be right.
Here’s hoping.