The Falcons from the first half of the season showed up during Sunday’s 35-22 loss to the Buccaneers. What should have been a competitive game between two teams fighting to avoid an eighth loss ended up as an embarrassing defeat in front of Atlanta’s home crowd.

Here’s our instant analysis of Sunday’s loss to Tampa Bay.

Offense

Quarterback Matt Ryan didn’t have his best day, and the rest of the offense followed suit. Ryan finished with 271 yards and an interception, while completing just 50 percent of his passes. The running game was again absent. Qadree Ollison led the way with a measly 20 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Untimely penalties hurt the team’s ability to sustain drives.

Matt Schaub came in late and fared a little better, throwing a touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley in garbage time. This was the same type of frustrating offensive performance fans got used to seeing over the Falcons’s first eight games.

Defense

After what looked like a great start with an interception on Jameis Winston’s first pass, the wheels came off. The Bucs were sloppy, but the Falcons couldn’t take advantage of two early turnovers and the defense got exposed on the back end. Winston threw for 313 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Tampa’s two elite receivers gave the Falcons headaches all day. Chris Godwin and Mike Evans combined for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Worst of all, Atlanta would fail to record a sack.

Special Teams

This was one area that actually kept the Falcons in the game. Younghoe Koo was 3-3 on field goals and made his only extra point. Meanwhile, the Bucs missed three extra points, with one of them being blocked and nearly taken back the other way by Atlanta. Punter Ryan Allen was better than last week, averaging 43.5 yards per punt.

It was an ugly loss in front of the Falcons’ home crowd, but it wasn’t because of special teams. There isn’t much time to dwell on this loss as the team plays the Saints on Thanksgiving.

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