If the Bucs want to have a chance at a deep playoff run, they need to finish their already solid regular season strong.
That means no falling behind Matt Ryan and the Falcons 17-0 at halftime, and no multi-interception game from TB12. The Bucs are 0-4 when Brady throws multiple interceptions.
But, there is reason to be optimistic. The Bucs have outscored their opponents 78-14 in the last six quarters. Yes, you read that correctly. The Bucs have played a dominant game-and-a-half in the past two weeks, and honestly, I don’t see any reason for it not to continue. The team is possibly going to be without Ronald Jones for another week, but that didn’t seem to affect Tampa Bay too much last week, eh?
Leonard Fournette, Ke’Shawn Vaughn, and LeSean McCoy are all very capable of stepping up and filling those shoes, and playing against the Falcons’ solid rush defense it might not matter anyways. TB12 needs to come out with the same intensity and fire that he did against Detroit, hitting guys down the field and looking like, well, Tom Brady.
Atlanta has been dealing with a laundry list of injuries, as wide receiver Julio Jones continues to be out with a hamstring along with a long list of other players dealing with various ailments and such. The Falcons' starting center Alex Mack returned to practice today in a limited capacity, but both his and Jones’ status for Sunday are still very much up in the air.
The Bucs could be playing for some individual accolades, as well. Mike Evans is vying to rack up his seventh straight 1,000-yard season, a record for consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to start a career. Considering the fact that he’s a mere 40 yards away, it would be a huge surprise if the former Texas A&M Aggie failed to reach that mark. Tom Brady already set a Buccaneer record for passing touchdowns for a season, but he could hit 40 with four more TDs, as he ended up with 36 after his dominant first half in Detroit (remember, he didn’t play the second half since Tampa Bay was up by 100 points). If ROJO ends up playing, he would need a 100-yard performance to break that 1,000 yard mark for the season, a feat that has only been accomplished 12 times in Buccaneer history (Doug Martin was the most recent Buc to do so, with 1,402 yards in 2015).
The Falcons are essentially playing for a higher draft position. If they want to secure their place in the Top 5, they would need to lose, as three other teams also have four wins. Currently, if everything holds and everybody around the Falcons in the draft order loses, Atlanta would end up drafting fourth. Not too shabby. However, if Atlanta wins and everyone else loses, the dirty birds could fall as low as ninth pick, as every other team around them has a higher strength of schedule, except the Denver Broncos. But, if the Falcons fall Sunday and the Houston Texans manage to pull one out against the Titans (let’s not hold our breath), Atlanta would leapfrog Houston (or Miami, as due to a previous trade for left tackle Laremy Tunsil the Dolphins will get Houston’s pick) as they would have a worse record and get to pick third. So, it’d be in the Falcons’ best interest to lose Sunday.
But it’s the NFL. Nobody loses on purpose (except for maybe the Jets and the Jaguars), especially against division rivals with playoff implications, so expect a fight from Matt Ryan and those pesky Falcons. Unfortunately for them (or fortunately, depending on if you’re a Falcons fan that would rather have a better pick than win some meaningless game against the Bucs), it won’t be enough.
The Bucs will win this game, 31-13, as they look like they are beginning to figure it out, firing on all cylinders and playing some damn good football.
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This article appears in Dec 31, 2020 – Jan 6, 2021.