The Atlanta Falcons face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, September 19th, at Raymond James Stadium for a Week 2 NFL matchup.
The Atlanta Falcons are coming off a 32-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1. The Falcons struggled mightily on both sides of the ball in that loss, losing the yard battle by almost 200 yards. Offensively, the Falcons could not get much going. Quarterback Matt Ryan completed 21-35 passes for 164 passing yards. Overall the Falcons only managed 260 yards and could not move the ball much against a weak Eagles defense on paper. Defensively, the Falcons struggled to stop the run. The Eagles ran for 5.6 yards per carry and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had 264 passing yards. It was not a strong showing from Arthur Smith in his first game as the Falcons' head coach, and things will not get any easier when Atlanta takes on the defending Super Bowl Champs on the road.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have a few days of extra rest for this game after they beat the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football in Week 1. The final score of that contest was 31-29 and the game came down to the final moments in Tampa Bay. Tom Brady had himself a night in the win, throwing for 379 passing yards and four passing touchdowns (as well as two interceptions that were not his fault per se). Brady has always spread the wealth in terms of his targets in the passing game, as three different pass catchers had touchdowns and those same three (Gronkowski, Brown, and Godwin) all had 90 or more receiving yards. The Bucs' defense was certainly not as sharp as we saw it last season, but the team was dealing with some injuries particularly in the secondary.
The Buccaneers are a 12.5-point favorite and the total is set at 52. It may be a public play but I like the Bucs at home. To me, this is a complete mismatch. The Buccaneers' defense will bounce back from a weak performance and Brady should be able to score at will against arguably the worst defense in the NFL. I will lay the points with Champa Bay.
AUTHOR: Ron Romanelli
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