'It's A Playoff Game!' Can Tampa Bay Bucs 'Steal the South' from NFC Playoff-Contending Atlanta Falcons?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been there and done this, as recently as last season, when they won the NFC South and made the NFL playoffs, despite sporting a subpar record.
The Atlanta Falcons are hungry to follow that same path - or any path, frankly - in order to supplant the Bucs as the division champs.
All of that adds to the importance of this Sunday's meeting between the foes, with the 6-6 Falcons clinging to an edge over the 5-7 Bucs ... and with another edge in their pockets.
Earlier this year, the Falcons managed to record a road win, 16-13, at Tampa. That was big at the time, as it nudged the Falcons into the division lead.
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But it looms even larger now. Can Atlanta sweep Tampa Bay? Can Atlanta keep alive its undefeated run against their divisional opponents?
In evaluating their playoff hopes, the stakes here are large.
“The first game was a little hard to watch, film-wise, going back through it and seeing the improvements that we've had,” Bucs QB Baker Mayfield said. “We're definitely a lot better on offense."
But, countered Falcons defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, speaking to his team's mentality: "This one is (like) a playoff game ... It’s the mindset this late in the season, and we’ve got to win every single one of them."
In the last meeting, the Atlanta offense survived three turnovers in part because Nielsen's defense limited the Bucs to those paltry 13 points. Meanwhile, the Atlanta offense can fall back on the fact that in the last meeting, the Bijan Robinson-led room ran for 156 total yards last time.
Can Atlanta put it all together in a way that gives the Falcons a playoff path? We're about to find out just how much NFC South duels matter.
"The reason why this game is so big," Nielsen said, "is we have an opportunity to go one up on these guys being a division game."
