We all know that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers run defense has been one of their biggest strengths this season, but they may not be getting the full credit they deserve given that their pass defense is second to last in the NFL.
Plus, the Bucs are giving up the most points in the league, a whooping 31.3 per game. If you think that’s bad, it turns out that in the past eight games, Tampa Bay has tied a lowly NFL record, as pointed out by NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal in his prediction for the Bucs-Falcons game.
Take a look.
“The Falcons just outscored the best two teams in the NFC South 55-12 on the road, so their unlikely escape from the division basement Sunday should be no problem. A suddenly frisky Atlanta front is bound to force Jameis Winston into mistakes, and the Falcons’ secondary looks nearly whole again with Desmond Trufant back to balling. The Bucs are a study in the limited usefulness of a great run defense, giving up at least 27 points for eight straight games, tying the NFL record. Any team led by Matt Ryan doesn’t need an excuse to pass like crazy.”
Rosenthal predicts that the Falcons will prevail on Sunday, 33-21, so clearly he believes the Bucs will break the record and make it nine games. In their past four meetings, Atlanta has averaged 31.5 points per game.
The Bucs defense is due for a big-game performance. Hopefully, Sunday will be that day.
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