Atlanta Falcons face Buccaneers in divisional showdown

The Atlanta Falcons enter Week 13’s road game against division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a slight favorite. Can Atlanta keep the Bucs at bay in Week 13? Kickoff is at 1PM ET and coverage with air on Fox.

The Atlanta Falcons have lost their last four games and five of their last six. Fortunately, the Dirty Birds still sit a game above .500 at 6-5 and are still in the mix of the NFC Wild Card race. How Atlanta handles their Week 13 battle with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will go a long way in seeing if the Falcons have staying power in the NFC Wild Card race the rest of the way.

Atlanta has already lost to Tampa Bay this season, in overtime at home in Week 8. The Falcons were the better offensive team that day, but could not get out of their own way when in came to turnovers. The takeaway differential has ruined the Atlanta Falcons really since their Week 4 home victory of the Houston Texans. If Atlanta wants to turn their season around, they will have to in this must-win game.

Week 13’s matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is essentially a win or go home game for both clubs. A loss for Atlanta would mean that the Falcons would fall into third place in the NFC South at 6-6, losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Bucs, 0-2. Tampa Bay would fall to 5-7 on the year and would need others to stumble in the final quarter of the season to keep their slim playoff aspirations alive.

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The Falcons will see the regular season debut of dynamic kick returner Devin Hester, who has not played for the team since suffering a toe injury in Week 2 of the preseason. However with Hester finally coming off Injured Reserve, the Atlanta Falcons will no longer have the services of wide receiver Leonard Hankerson, as he goes on season-ending IR with a hamstring injury. Hankerson’s injury is yet another big blow to the Atlanta Falcons’ receiving corps that has not been healthy all year.

Atlanta also gets back their starting running back in Devonta Freeman, who missed Week 12’s game versus the Minnesota Vikings as he was in the NFL’s concussion protocol stemming from a blow to the head suffered in Week 11’s home loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Getting back both Hester and Freeman gives quarterback Matt Ryan two familiar receiving targets. Ryan has not played all that well of late, partly due to the ineffectiveness of his receiving corps. Also the weekly dumb interception isn’t helping either, especially when it comes in the red zone half the time.

For the Atlanta Falcons to win this afternoon, the Dirty Birds will need to do four things:

1. Matt Ryan needs to play a turnover free game. Tampa Bay has an explosive offense and should do great job of capitalizing on Atlanta’s offensive mistakes.

2. The run defense will need to contain Buccaneers running back Doug Martin. Martin is resurging at the tailback position in 2015 after a down year last year in his sophomore slump.

3. The pass rush will need to challenge rookie starting quarterback Jameis Winston into a few tough passing situations. Winston will one day become a great quarterback in this league, but forcing the number one overall pick into making a rookie mistake or two could help offset any turnovers on the offensive end for Atlanta.

4. The Atlanta Falcons will have to make a play on special teams. Could Devin Hester provide the spark the Falcons have sorely missed in the crucial third phase of the game? Will kicker Shayne Graham have to convert on a 50+ yard field goal?

Atlanta enters their Week 13 game against the Bucs as a 1-point road favorite. Tampa Bay usually plays better on the road than they do at home. Since Atlanta looked better against Indianapolis in Week 11 than Tampa Bay did in Week 12, I still feel that the Falcons are the slightly better team this season.

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The game will likely go down to the wire like the previous meeting in Week 8. Atlanta will end their four-game losing streak with a late fourth quarter drive to move to 7-5 on the year.

Prediction: Atlanta Falcons 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23

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