Tampa Bay Buccaneers Lead NFC South Division After Beating Falcons
The Buccaneers controlled the game for about 3 quarters until the offense went quiet and the defense softened up a bit. Luckily there were enough plays, and calls made that went in Tampa's favor as they snuck by the Atlanta Falcons at home with a score of 21-15.
The first half for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appeared to be much of the same through the first quarter as they were unable to put up any points offensively. However, Atlanta wasn't able to reach the endzone either thanks to the Bucs' defensive efforts.
The team started to find its groove in the 2nd quarter as they were able to score 13 points.
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On the offensive side of the ball, Tom Brady has been spreading the ball all over the field to a number of different wide receivers. 6 out of 7 receivers caught more than one pass from Brady. So far this season, the Buccaneers have found it difficult to get the ball to their tight ends. Things seemed to have turned around a bit this week as rookie tight end, Cade Otton, appears to have found chemistry with Brady - reeling in 5 catches for 40 yards in the first half. Brady targeted Chris Godwin on crucial plays and was his go to target in the first half going for 5 catches and 58 yards.
So far the running game has look somewhat improved since last weeks' debacle, but there is room for improvement. Combined, Leonard Fournette and Rachaad White had a total of just 39 rushing yards and 1 touchdown through the opening half.
Defensively, the Bucs' did an incredible job to shut down the 4th best run offense in the NFL - having allowed just 53 yards and 0 touchdowns. Without their running game, the Falcons relied on Marcus Mariota's arm a bit more, but it was to no avail. The Bucs' defense came to play today and did a great job getting into the backfield and applying pressure to Mariota. Antoine Winfield Jr. and Joe Tryon-Shoyrinka were both able to get to Mariota for a sack.
Special teams played well in the first half, highlighted by Ryan Succop going 2-2 on his field goal attempts.
The Buccaneers kept their momentum from the second quarter into the third as they got a huge sack from Deadrin Senat that eventually led to an Atlanta punt. On the following possession, the Bucs' drove the field in large part due to a Mike Evans' 40-yard catch that looked like it could have been a TD, but was held as out at the one.
With both sides of the ball playing well, the Bucs were able to take a 21-0 lead into the fourth quarter.
After converting pretty much all game on third down situations, the offense slowed and weren't able to get anything going midway through the final quarter. The gradually coldness of the Bucs' offense has allowed the Atlanta Falcons to hang around in this game.
In the fourth, Falcons' running back Avery Williams was able to punch it in for a touchdown from 8-yards out. A couple possessions later Marcus Mariota found Olamide Zaccheaus in the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown followed by a successful 2-pt conversion from Mariota to KhaDarel Hodge to cut the Bucs' lead to six with just over 4.5 minutes remaining.
The Bucs followed up the Falcons' scoring drive with a methodical one of their own. Atlanta could have gotten off the field and give their offense the ball back, but a roughing the passer penalty gave Tampa Bay an automatic first down. All it took from there was a successful first down and the Bucs kneeled on the ball.
Week 5 against the Falcons didn't come without theatrics and drama, but thanks in part to huge games from Tom Brady (35/52 for 351 yards and 1 TD) and Leonard Fournette (139 all-purpose yards, 1 rushing TD and 1 receiving TD) along with 5 sacks from the defense Tampa Bay was able to do enough to come away with a massive divisional win by a score of 21-15. The Bucs now sit at 3-2 (2-0 NFC South) heading into their week 6 matchup when they head to take on the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
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