Gameday Tampa Bay
December 5th, 2021
Game 12
Bucs (8-3) at Dixie Chicks (5-6)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
TV: WTVT-TV Channel 13; DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket Channel 709. The national TV broadcast map can be found here.
Streaming: Fans may stream the broadcast from Buccaneers.com or on a mobile device using one of the following: Buccaneers official app or Yahoo! Sports app. Geographic restrictions apply.
Radio: Buccaneers Radio Network WXTB-FM 97.9 in the Tampa-St. Petersburg region (Transmisiones de radio en español en WTMP-FM 96.1 y WMGG-AM 1470 en Tampa). Additional stations throughout Florida on the Buccaneers Radio Network can be found here. The game will also be broadcast on SiriusXM Channel 137 (Bucs broadcast).
Weather: Perfect, if you are inside as the Dixie Chicks play in a dome — no word if the roof will be open today or not. Anyone bouncing around downtown Atlanta in the late morning will be met by temperatures in the low 60s which will gradually increase to 65 by kickoff, per AccuWeather.com. That will pretty much hold steady through the remainder of the game.
Odds: Per BetMGM, as of midnight Saturday night, Bucs -10; over/under 50.5.
Zebras: Tony Corrente’s crew will work today’s game. Corrente’s gang pretty much lets players play. His crew has the fifth-fewest penalties in the NFL. If Corrente and his crew do throw flags, it is likely for roughing the passer or holding. Per Rotowire.com, Corrente’s crew has the seventh-fewest flags for holding and roughing the passers, which is Corrente’s highest ranking
Outlook: Joe doesn’t know what team will show up in Atlanta today. Will it be the same stubborn defense that didn’t let the Colts do a dang thing in the first quarter last week? Or will it be the soft passing defense that enabled Carson Wentz to go nuts? And yeah, Matty Ice is better than Carson Wentz. And Joe thinks if Calvin Ridley is somehow activated, along with Kyle Pitts and Cordarrelle Patterson, that’s a damn fine passing attack. On offense, the Bucs shouldn’t have a problem. Only once since the beginning of October has a team failed to score less than 25 points on the Dixie Chicks. Then again, the Bucs should have dominated stiff Trevor Siemian and Taylor Heinicke, and look how that turned out. A very, very big addition is expected today. If Carlton Davis can play, that will be a monster plus for the defense.
Trinkets: … QB Tom Brady leads NFL with 30 touchdown passes and has 9 seasons with 30+ touchdowns, tied-second most all-time. Ranks second with 3,403 pass yards in 2021. Passed for 5 touchdowns without a pick in Week 2. Including the postseason, Brady is 9-0 with 2,973 pass yards (330.3 per game) and 24 touchdowns vs. 3 picks in 9 career starts vs. Atlanta. … RB Leonard Fournette had 7 catches, 131 scrimmage yards (100 rush, 31 receiving) and a career-high 4 touchdowns (3 rushing, 1 receiving) last week. Rushed for 2 touchdowns in the last road game at Atlanta. Needs 25 scrimmage yards for a third-career 1,000-yard season. … WR Mike Evans had 75 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns catches in Week 2. Ranks tied-first in NFL with 10 receiving touchdowns and leads all players with 71 receiving touchdowns since 2014. … WR Chris Godwin has 9 receiving touchdowns in his past 6 vs. Atlanta and looks for his seventh in a row against the Dixie Chicks with a touchdown catch. … TE Rob Gronkowski had his 30th-career 100-yard game last week and joined Hall of Fame TE Tony Gonzales (31) as only tight ends all-time with 30+ 100-yard games. Gronkowski had 2 touchdowns catches in Week 2. … LB Lavonte David had his first fumble recovery of the season last week. David has 13 tackles for loss in 9 career games at Atlanta. David looking for his 10th game in a row at Atlanta with a tackle for loss. … LB Devin White had 12 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, three sacks and two passes defended in the last game at Atlanta. … OLB Shaq Barrett had a season-high two sacks, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble last week. Shaq had a pick in his last game against the Dixie Chicks. … DT Ndamukong Suh had a sack last week and in Week 2. … S Mike Edwards had a forced fumble last week. He also had two pick-sixes against the Dixie Chicks in Week 2. … S Antoine Winfield had his third-career interception last week. … QB Matt Ryan passed for 356 yards and 3 touchdowns in the last home game against Bucs. He has 21 touchdowns vs. 4 interceptions in 13 career home starts against Tampa Bay. Needs 383 passing yards for his 12th-consecutive 3,000-yard season. … RB Cordarrelle Patterson had 135 scrimmage yards (career-high 108 rush, 27 receiving) and 2 rushing touchdowns last week, his fourth career game with 2+ scrimmage touchdowns. Had 2 touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 receiving) in Week 2. Patterson has career-highs in receiving yards (500), rush yards (411) and touchdowns (9). He needs 89 scrimmage yards for the first 1,000-yard season. Is 1 of 3 (Austin Ekeler and Deebo Samuel) with 5+ receiving touchdowns (5) and 4+ rushing touchdowns (4) in 2021. … TE Kyle Pitts (rookie) ranks third among NFL tight ends in receiving yards (661) and third among NFC tight ends in receptions (45). Pitts had 5 catches for 73 yards in Week 2. … WR Russell Gage led tight ends with 6 catches and 62 receiving yards and had his 7th-career receiving touchdown last week. Gage has 5+ receptions in 3 of his past 4 games. Gage had 5 catches in Week 2. … LB Foyesade Oluokun had 9 tackles last week. Ranks third in NFL with a career-high 119 tackles. Aims for his third in a row at home with 10+ tackles. Had 9 tackles and a forced fumble in Week 2. … LB Deion Jones has a sack in 2 of his past 3 games against the Bucs. He needs 8 tackles for his fifth-career 100+ tackle season. … LB Dante Fowler had a sack and a forced fumble last week, his 10th-career forced fumble. Fowler had a sack and a forced fumble in Week 2. Fowler is looking for his third game in a row against the Bucs with a sack. … CB A.J. Terrell had 2 pass defensed in Week 2. Terrell has 5 passes defensed in his past 4 games and looks for his third in a row with a pass defensed.
Fun fact: How dominant has Shaq Barrett been for the Bucs? Since he came to Tampa in 2019, Shaq leads the NFL with 11 strip sacks (11), is third in tackles for loss (38) behind T.J. Watt and Aaron Donald, is fifth in quarterback hits (38), is third in multi-sack games (7) and is third in sacks (35). Shaq is currently tied for fourth in the NFL with quarterback pressures (48).
Breaking down #TBvsIND with @rondebarber 🎦 pic.twitter.com/sBp5bD2h4l
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) December 1, 2021
More fun from The Identity Tampa Bay and Joe.
December 5th, 2021 at 12:03 am
9-3 sounds good to me LFG!!!
December 5th, 2021 at 12:24 am
The Bucs have been sleepy on the road, but then Atlanta is a match made in heaven as they haven’t won a single game at home all season (London isn’t really a home game).
Atlanta is rather average at both stopping the run and defending the pass, so this should prompt the Bucs to mix up both on offense. The concern is the loss of FSs for the Bucs, while that’s a serious concern Matt Ryan hasn’t been sharp of late.
December 5th, 2021 at 1:55 am
There are more good safeties in the world than good cornerbacks, so I am less worried about our defensive backfield than I was earlier in the season. I have always like the play of Andrew Adams, and am always mildly surprised when he is released AND available again when we need him! Here’s another “fun fact”: Andrew Adams holds the Buccaneers single-game record for interceptions (3)! He shares this distinction with Rondé Barber and Aquib Talib. Not bad company.
December 5th, 2021 at 2:03 am
I expect that this game will be closer than comfortable again, because we seem to be pretty vanilla most games. I agree with a couple of other posters who have speculated that Arians intentionally sandbags game-planning in order to have some surprises to save for the playoff run. It must be nice to have the talent to be able to afford to do this.
30-17, pulling away late after a safety and free kick. GO BUCS!
December 5th, 2021 at 2:48 am
Bucs won’t shoot themselves in the foot today on special teams, penalties & J. Darden will look like a rock star
December 5th, 2021 at 4:02 am
@Medicated Pete: Pay some attention. JD1 is out with a concussion.
@Joe: “C’mon, man.” You know as well as I that the Bucs have been playing practice-squadders at cornerback ever since Week 4 – except for the Giants and the first quarter of the Colts. That is exactly why the Heinickes and Siemions (sp?) and Wentzes can drive the field on us. Come back, CD24! All is forgiven!
December 5th, 2021 at 7:04 am
PassingThru … ‘Matt Ryan hasn’t been sharp of late.’
And there-in lies the problem when an NFL team locks in a ‘franchise QB’ with a long-term contract; if he doesn’t produce big-time, your whole team takes it in the ear. Ryan was locked in to a 5-year, $150 mil contract couple years ago, and has restructured. He’s making $27 mil this year, but his dead CAP if almost $70 mil. Next year he’s due to make over $48 mil (with over $40 mil dead CAP) & over $43 mil in 2023.
Guess what … Atlanta will suck for the next 2 years, largely because so much of their salary CAP is dedicated to him (impacts what they can offer FAs to help resurrect the team?). Good news for the Bucs; not so much for Atlanta.
December 5th, 2021 at 10:21 am
Ryan is also slowly getting long in the tooth. It’s starting to show. Not everyone lives a charmed life genetically and otherwise like Brady. Still, these are divisional games. Aren’t the DCs tied with the Panthers for 2nd place? Guess who. is the bottom feeder? Sean Payton’s team. Ha, ha, ha, love it!