Falcons Have a Challenge Against Tampa That Could Be Their Biggest To Date

TAMPA – The Atlanta Falcons will have a major undertaking on their hands again in Week 15. Their division rivals are on the slate, and this Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad will potentially have its full array of weapons back for this matchup. Their looming return creates what may be the Falcons’ greatest challenge to date.

The Buccaneers will enter this game having lost four of their last five games and five of their last seven after starting the season 5-1. Despite that fact, Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich appreciates the challenge that this team will present him on Thursday night.

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The long-term injury to Mike Evans, which so happened to coincide with their losing stretch, appears to be coming to an end. The absence of Evans, paired with the prolonged injury issues with Chris Godwin, has forced the rookie Emeka Egbuka to step up this season – a role the young wideout has taken advantage of.

“The receiver corps, it's a very unique situation because obviously they have a ton of talent from a receiver standpoint,” he said after Tuesday’s practice. “But because Mike [Evans] has not played a ton this year, and he's been out from time to time, [Emeka Egbuka] has taken a lot of those roles. And he's been featured in ways that, in the past, they featured Mike Evans.”

Egbuka leads the Buccaneers in receiving this season with 54 catches for 806 yards and six touchdowns. The rookie is one of only four rookies since 1980 to have 700 or more receiving yards and 6 or more receiving touchdowns in his team’s first 10 games of a season, joining his teammate Evans, Ja’Marr Chase, and Marques Colston.

He is a weapon that the Falcons know all too well, having allowed him to pop for four catches, 67 yards, and a pair of touchdowns in their Week 1 matchup.

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With Godwin, Evans, and McMillan – the team’s three leading wide receivers from last season – having not played a single game together in 2025, the Buccaneers have managed not to skip a beat on offense. Now, it appears the proverbial band is getting back together.

“So now with the full contingency here with [Chris] Godwin, [Emeka Egbuka], Mike [Evans], Tez [Johnson], all of them, you're not quite certain how they're going to feature each particular receiver,” Ulbrich finished. “We're really studying this from a conceptual standpoint, as opposed to a personnel standpoint, but it's maybe our greatest challenge to date.”

Godwin has played a handful of games already this season and has yet to really take off. Evans, on the other hand, is a six-time Pro-Bowler with over a decade of showing the Falcons what makes him so dangerous.

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris understands this will be a unique challenge for this secondary.

“Mike Evans is an excellent player. He's one of the best, if not the best, that we see,” Morris said. “And he's just one of those guys. He's been an all-time great – he'll be an all-time great for the Bucs. He's been a great that we've competed against for a very long time. He competes at a very high level.”

The veteran has recorded 1,000 or more yards in each of his 11 professional seasons, and has been the lifeblood of that offense for a long time. He will not reach that mark in 2025 due to his collarbone injury, but he will work to get the Buccaneers back to the postseason for a sixth season in a row.

With him back in the fold of this dangerous wide receiver room, the Falcons will have their work cut out for them. This unit has regressed a bit after its strong start to the season, but division matchups always figure to make for a compelling showdown.

Kickoff between the Buccaneers and Falcons is set for 8:15 on Thursday night in Tampa at Raymond-James Stadium.