“The Falcons Feel Like Frauds”
December 11th, 2024
Can the defense rise up?
Joe will take it however it’s given.
If it takes the Dixie Chicks to lose out and the Bucs to limp their way to a flaccid division title, so be it. Hosting a playoff game is better than watching one from your couch.
The Bucs (7-6) painted themselves into the corner in which they now stand by and not taking care of business at least once against Atlanta (6-7) and by losing four games in a row to hit their Week 12 bye.
In a roundtable discussion of NFL topics for The Athletic, Zac Keefer, Mike Sando and Jeff Howe discussed the NFC South. All three think the Bucs have an edge.
Zac Keefer: I like Tampa Bay’s chances in the NFC South simply because the Falcons feel like frauds. Atlanta’s been so wildly inconsistent this season, and Kirk Cousins is amid one of the worst slumps of his career. The Bucs, meanwhile, [only] see [one] team with a winning record the rest of the regular season.
Jeff Howe: If the Bucs take care of business, they should win four of their last five games and take the NFC South. Their defensive inconsistencies are concerning because it’s tough to rip off a winning streak like that, but their schedule is the most accommodating compared to the Seahawks and Cardinals.
Mike Sando: Tampa Bay is the team for me as well. It’s amazing to me the Bucs lost twice to the Falcons, but they did, and that’s why they’re in this position. The Athletic’s model puts the Bucs’ playoff chances at 54 percent, compared to 35 percent for Arizona and 26 percent for the Rams. That feels about right to me.
Howe makes a great point about the defensive inconsistencies. If the Bucs had a solid defense with their run game, this division would just about be over.
Zero edge rush — and Joe means zee-ROW edge rush — with injuries to starters in the secondary is not normally a recipe for success. Luckily, the Bucs can play keepaway with a solid run game.
If the Bucs can just play decent defense, Joe will feel much more comfortable about all of this.
December 11th, 2024 at 9:11 am
We need more healthy defenders. If SirVocea Dennis is able to return for the playoffs, we can do some damage in the playoffs.
December 11th, 2024 at 9:11 am
With this team and their inconsistent play they could win out or lose them all. Extremely tough to be a Bucs fan.
December 11th, 2024 at 9:14 am
Media calling Atlanta frauds is comical. Yeah and Brady was to old in 2020. That was another crystal ball moment. Lol
December 11th, 2024 at 9:14 am
Maybe Deion Jones will be motivated and be a surprise. His experience hopefully will be a plus
December 11th, 2024 at 9:15 am
Having been a Bucs fan since the early 80’s I’m all about getting to the playoffs even with a .500 record. I know there are some fans not happy about it, but when you’ve lived through so many 2 and 4 win seasons it’s awesome just to get in the playoffs.
December 11th, 2024 at 9:16 am
They are frauds but the Bucs did themselves no favors getting swept by them.. That choke job on TNF will haunt this team the rest of the way. Win that game and you are 8-5 and the Falcons are 5-8. 3 game lead with 4 games left. This division should have been wrapped up by week 17 the latest
December 11th, 2024 at 9:16 am
Speaking of edge rush…when is the last time anyone tipped or batted down a pass? If you can’t get to the QB, at the very least put your hands up!!!
December 11th, 2024 at 9:20 am
Again please because I’m too lazy could one of our stat guys like D.R. or perhaps this is a great question for Rod Munch.
If you look at the Bucs starting lineup over the first 13 games how many games did the SAME defense start.
I found this nationally but it only goes back to October when the Bucs were already tied with the Browns for most games lost to injuries and those two teams lost more than the others by a lot.
And I’m going to keep pounding this home until some of the slower guys here can absorb it. You absolutely need to differentiate between “excuses” and valid “reasons”! That btw is true of virtually anything you do in any business or effort of any kind. It takes some very honest self evaluation but it’s obviously incredibly clear that the Bucs D has been RAVAGED by injuries!!!
Somehow though there is a coterie of guys here who simply want to blame it ALL on the Todd’s…mostly Bowles but occasionally Licht. And so where one group of “experts” acknowledges the TRUTH, others prefer hyperbolic insults for Bowles. One guy is so consistently over the top you gotta wonder if his wife has an affair with Bowles.
December 11th, 2024 at 9:23 am
I can see the Bucs going 2 and 2 over the next 4 weeks with all the injuries to the defense. I don’t think anyone believes they will beat the Chargers so hats off if they do. It is a West Coast game, usually not good for the Bucs, The Chargers have a tough defense, although apparantly weak against the run. Herbert is a much more danderous qb than the Bucs have faced in awhile and lighting up the secondary especially with no pash rush seems likely. With that said if the Bucs can rely on the ground game and Baker is safe with the ball the Bucs have a chance.
Dallas, well that game could go either way. I think with Derek Carr now out, believe the Bucs at home will likely sweep the Saints. However, yes believe it or not it could be Car that beats the Bucs. They have been playing much better as of late and their defense has been rising to the occasion. They are hungry and this is a div. game so sweeping them is no certainity. So 2 and 2 sounds like a real possibility. 9 and 8 would be about right the way this team has been playing. Playoffs? can’t even imagine unless we get a lot of starters back on defense and something is done against the open middle field.
December 11th, 2024 at 9:32 am
Injuries is the excuse we should have never been in this position and we wouldn’t if he didn’t get us beat twice
December 11th, 2024 at 9:40 am
If Joseph A Banks was anything like Davis, he’d sue the NFL to make let them play Tampa Bay every week for the rest of the season. Bowels defense is definitely not their kryptonite
December 11th, 2024 at 9:55 am
Fire Bowles, we suck
December 11th, 2024 at 10:07 am
Not to mention a glaring, massive hole in the middle of the D.
December 11th, 2024 at 10:17 am
After delving into this injury report, there should no excuse for using injuries as reasons for losses. The Lions are still bowling over opponents with street walkers on defense, including one of the league’s best pass rushers.
Of all the 32 NFL teams the number of reported players on the injury list (IR, out, doubtful, and questionable) the mean/average number of players was 14.53 and a median of 14.5. The maximum number of players was Detroit with 25 injured players and the minimum was Chicago and Denver with 6. The mean/average number of players on IR was 8.9 and a median of 9. The maximum was Detroit with 15 and the minimum was Denver and Greenbay with 4. The Lions are about 75% more injured than the league average and have 70% more players on IR than the league average.
This doesn’t take into account the impact of the players that are injured/on IR so take it with a grain of salt. The information was retrieved from https://www.espn.com/nfl/injuries.
December 11th, 2024 at 10:22 am
The Falcons also look like fraud…
And they looked so from the start. If they win the division its because of injuries to opponents and poorly timed reffing errors.
December 11th, 2024 at 10:36 am
Where’s Defense Rules? He’d probably explain that we’ve given up 15.5 average points a game the last 4 games. And how that’s darn near impossible with the injuries we’ve had. I think he left the group because of all the negativity. Wish he’d come back, at least for the stretch run!
December 11th, 2024 at 10:37 am
The Falcons are what I thought they were before the season started and its showing now! The first matchup was BS, they should have NEVER had a second to kick the tying FG as the ref may have tapped the ball at best as the OL placed the ball. The 2nd loss to them was avoidable had Pitts TD been correctly called a FUMBLE!
Will we do damage if we make the playoffs…probably not thanks to our injuried and under performing defense. But the Falcons absolutely do not deserve to win our division…they are 100% FRAUDS!!
We choked away a few wins, keeping us from running away with the division as we SHOULD!!
December 11th, 2024 at 11:01 am
It feels like we should be like 9-4 based on how many games we let slip away, but we also kind of stole the one vs the Lions and the Panthers.
Either way let’s just go beat the Chargers. We’ve played teams that good or better this year that we have beat (Lions/Eagles) or should have beat with better end-game management or defense (Chiefs, 49ers).
Need to establish the run and get ahead. Herbert is very legit.
December 11th, 2024 at 11:07 am
Bucs and Bowles are frauds and should be better that’s why why a team with no offense is favored this week. They aren’t motivated at all. Week 2 not Winfield Zyon just coming back from concussion protocol, no Kancey, no Goedeke and lost Vea during the game and the offense only scored 20 points. It’s Bowles not the players for why this defense collapsed
December 11th, 2024 at 11:56 am
We look like frauds too.. we barely beat the panthers and raider.. that’s concerning.
December 11th, 2024 at 11:58 am
The Falcons were frauds when we lost to them twice.
December 11th, 2024 at 12:02 pm
As long as Britt is out, and we do this thing with one linebacker and multiple DBs, we have a good chance
December 11th, 2024 at 12:12 pm
Does Chris Brawell have ant stats?
December 11th, 2024 at 12:19 pm
Bucky fumble near the end of the 1st Atlanta game cost us that gam. However the Carolina fumble at the end of that game allowed us to win that game. We may need to win the rest of our games to win the division due to Atlanta having the tie breaker
December 11th, 2024 at 12:39 pm
Lord Cornelius if we had a better system of defense and a coach who realized we needed some new blood to help because of all the injuries we might have won 3 out of the 4 we lost in a row.
December 11th, 2024 at 1:02 pm
@stpetebucsfan nailed it. The reason WHY it matters is that the cap limitations require us to lay down the cap we kicked down the road from the Super Bowl spending spree. It allowed us to address offensive needs, but typically you could have dipped into the free agency pool to pul out a couple of elite/really good edge/corner/ILB – but we had NO access to that this past season.
Also NOT a Bowles issue. Some may claim this is due to his poor drafting – but we’re a victim of Todd’s success at winning the division/playoffs for 4 straight seasons…draft picks way down deep in every round of the draft. Hard to find defensive edge/Corner/ILB diamonds in a copper mine…we have on some occasions – but you can’t consistently do it. It’s the clarity trap the NFL sets up to keep it exciting for us fans…
Todd’s done a great job of rebuilding the offense, while holding the defense together with bubble gum & baling wire.
Anyone who thinks differently is a fantasy football GM who just doesn’t know what they don’t know, yet.
Our ownership group is better, but they’re not so far removed from mediocrity that they aren’t above teaching you some lessons that many of us have years of experience learning.
Keep yer trap shut and enjoy your wins, there are no guarantees.
December 11th, 2024 at 1:29 pm
DR hope all is well with you.
December 11th, 2024 at 2:16 pm
Baking with Coen, stpetebucsfan, and Kenton – Hoping DR is okay too. It’s been awhile. Hope Pickgrin is okay too. Haven’t seen comments lately.
December 11th, 2024 at 2:40 pm
the defense id playing better maybe bc we’re playing not great teams but we seem better without winfield and britt
December 11th, 2024 at 3:28 pm
It will come down to the Stainks game. As always.
December 11th, 2024 at 3:32 pm
Bucs may split 2 and 2 and Falcons go 3 and 1. Then what?
December 11th, 2024 at 3:34 pm
On Jan 5 we might be hoping to beat the Stainks and have the Panters whup the Falcons.
December 11th, 2024 at 3:40 pm
WhiteTiger
I appreciate when somebody turns a good phrase. I know it’s a sports blog and we’re just supposed to say who sucks and who doesn’t but it’s nice to see a guy turn a nice phrase…
“Hard to find defensive edge/Corner/ILB diamonds in a copper mine…”
Good one and I hadn’t heard it before. Turning Chicken spit into Chicken salad is something I stole from the late great Big Dog, who knows where he stole it.
Now I’m going to have to steal finding diamonds in a copper mine.
December 11th, 2024 at 3:58 pm
HEALTH HEALTH HEALTH. Not worried about offense because a strong run game wins in Dec/Jan. O is avg 28pts even without CG14 and some time without ME13. If Baker doesn’t give the goods away, O will score 28+ on any team
BUT if we lose either Tykee or Izien or LVD, we are toast. Need to get Mike Edwards and JWhitehead back healthy for final run, but in the meantime (Chargers and Cowboys), we cannot afford to lose Tykee nor Izien.
December 11th, 2024 at 4:22 pm
Don’t know about Falcons being a fraud. I do know they spanked us twice. Which means they own us. Face the Music Buc fans. We will be exposed because of our lowly Defense.