The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in a game featuring two 3-7 teams.
But, records can be deceiving, especially in the case of the Falcons.
Entering Week 10’s game against the New Orleans Saints, the Falcons were just 1-7, and the calls for head coach Dan Quinn’s job were at a season-high. But, the Falcons turned in one of their best defensive performances of the season that day, sacking Drew Brees six times in a stunning 26-9 road upset over one of the best teams in the NFC.
Then, last week against the Carolina Panthers — again on the road — Carolina sacked Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen five times and picked him off four times.
That means, when the Buccaneers roll into Atlanta Sunday, Jameis Winston and the offense will be going up against a defense that has 11.0 sacks and four interceptions in their last two games, both against divisional opponents.
The Bucs currently have the league’s sixth-best scoring offense, averaging 27.7 points per game. But a recharged Falcons defense would love nothing more than to keep Tampa Bay’s offense in check and further add to their disappointing season.
Jameis Winston, who had four interceptions last week against the Saints, has been a turnover machine this season, already matching his season-high in interceptions with 18. If Atlanta gets to him early, it could start a snowball effect and have the Bucs playing catch up the whole game.
Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich may want to turn to the run more against Atlanta. Asking Winston to throw the ball over 50 times like he did last week isn’t the way to go about beating a divisional opponent, especially one so familiar with Winston’s style of play.
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