Thursday Night Football: Atlanta Falcons (4-9) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-6)
The Tampa Bay Bucs looked like world beaters early this season. Truly, they scored some surprising and hugely impressive wins while racing out to a hot start. That included road wins at Houston and Seattle, and a home win against San Francisco. They also played the Eagles tough, and raced out to an impressive 5-1 start, and still held a 6-2 record at midseason. It seemed that they might contend for one of the top seeds in the NFC, and possibly even the number one overall seed.
Then it began to unravel. Granted, it was a tough schedule, but the losses definitely began to pile up. They lost to the Patriots, then the Bills. They got blown out against the Rams.
Finally, they seemed to stop the bleeding with a narrow win against the lowly Cardinals. Yet the problems persisted, as evidenced by their home loss to the Saints last week. For all intents and purposes, that really was a just win for the Bucs to stay ahead of the Panthers in the NFC South. Instead, they compromised their own cause with a rather startling loss, allowing New Orleans to come into their home and play the part of spoilers.
So now, they absolutely need to win this one. Not in order to stay ahead of Carolina, but simply to keep pace with the Panthers. Carolina will be playing the Saints in New Orleans this weekend. And while another upset with the Saints playing the role of spoilers is possible, it seems unlikely. So if the Bucs want to keep at least a portion of the NFC South lead which they have literally had all season long, they surely need to take care of the Falcons.
If they don't, then maybe it's time to recognize that there really is something wrong with these Buccaneers. That they are not the same team now that they were earlier this season, when they were regularly earning impressive wins against some playoff bound teams.
The thing is, it seems that the Bucs have a problem with their confidence at this moment. Why else would they have lost so many games in recent weeks? It was one thing when they were losing to some of the tougher teams. But there simply is no excuse losing to a team like the Saints while at home. These same Bucs easily dispatched with the Saints in New Orleans, 23-3, earlier this season. It was a sign of just how far they have fallen to see them lose that game last weekend.
All of that makes it difficult to see how Tampa responds in this game. They could come out firing on all cylinders, and winning this one going away. Indeed, a blowout win would be a statement, and might get some of that good feeling which was in such abundance earlier this season back.
However, it is also all too easy to picture them coming out struggling. Perhaps the Falcons keep it close, and the Bucs never quite can close them out. In such a scenario, it is all too easy to picture Atlanta pulling off another stunner, and handing Tampa Bay a shocking loss, at which point it might start to feel really scary for the Bucs and their fans. After all, they were so far ahead for most of the season, that a division title seemed a sure thing, almost an afterthought. Now, not only is that division title in jeopardy, but the playoffs might even be in doubt if this keeps going. Indeed, the Bucs absolutely need to win this to stop the bleeding.
My expectations are that they will win. Not sure that they will blow the Falcons out, but they should at least earn a win. Whether or not the concerns and questions now swirling around this team are answered, however, is another matter.
My pick: Tampa Bay
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