Buccaneers Praise 'Dangerous' Falcons Offense: 'Weapons Everywhere'

The Atlanta Falcons' offense has struggled this season, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers expect a challenge on Thursday Night Football.

Atlanta Falcons wideout Drake London leads a deep receiving corps into Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

When Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles began preparing for the Atlanta Falcons ahead of Thursday night's meeting, he quickly saw new -- everything.

A new offense. New defense. New scheme. New faces.

For Bowles, who took over as Tampa Bay's head coach in 2022 and has a 2-2 record against Atlanta in that time, no notes from prior meetings are of any use this week.

"They're different offensively and defensively," Bowles said Monday. "They're playing faster and they're playing with a lot of confidence. They added quite a few guys -- they've got a lot of talent over there. They can beat you a bunch of different ways. We've got to be on our P's and Q's."

Perhaps Atlanta's biggest offseason addition was quarterback Kirk Cousins, a four-time Pro Bowl selection who signed a four-year, $180 million contract this spring.

Cousins is 0-2 against Bowles and the Buccaneers dating back to 2020, when Bowles was the team's defensive coordinator. In those two matchups, Cousins is 57-of-81 for 569 yards, three touchdowns and an interception while taking eight sacks.

Their most recent meeting came Week 1 last season, when Tampa Bay beat Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings, 20-17. But Bowles believes Cousins is in a more advantageous position this year, in large part due to having a much wider range of targets.

"He's a good football player," Bowles said. "We've had our chances to play him a few times, but he's in a different offense this time. He's got a lot more weapons than he had, than just [Justin] Jefferson and a couple guys in Minnesota.

"He knows how to play the game. He runs the offense well; he knows where to go with the ball and how to get rid of the ball. He presents a great challenge."

Through the first four games this season, Atlanta's offense has struggled. The Falcons failed to score an offensive touchdown in Sunday's 26-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints, kicking four field goals instead.

With first-time offensive coordinator Zac Robinson still finding his rhythm, Cousins returning to full health -- as much mentally as physically -- from a torn Achilles suffered in Week 8 last year and a variety of weapons working to create a more defined role, the Falcons' offense has plenty to figure out.

The unit ranks No. 19 in total yards per game (309.3) and No. 22 in points per game (18.7). Cousins has completed 64.7% of his passes for 864 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions.

In the backfield, Bijan Robinson has taken 55 carries for 224 yards and a touchdown, while Tyler Allgeier has rushed 27 times for 166 yards, an average of 6.1 yards per carry.

Atlanta's receiving core is led by Drake London, who has a team-high 20 catches and two touchdowns while accumulating 200 aerial yards. Darnell Mooney leads the team with 225 receiving yards, which he's achieved on 15 grabs.

Slot receiver Ray-Ray McCloud has enjoyed a breakthrough seventh season, hauling in 15 passes for 163 yards. Robinson has added 15 catches for 135 yards, often serving as a checkdown for Cousins.

Tight end Kyle Pitts caught Atlanta's first touchdown of the season in Week 1 but has been minimally involved since. He's grabbed eight passes for 105 yards and a score, and he was shutout against New Orleans.

Still, between capable pass-catching options at running back and tight end and a strong stable of wideouts, Buccaneers pass game coordinator and inside linebackers coach Larry Foote anticipates a mighty challenge Thursday night.

"They have weapons everywhere," Foote said Monday. "They have weapons, and [we] can't really key on one person. They're dangerous -- both of the running backs obviously [are] dangerous, Mooney's coming over here, he's dangerous. You see London and Pitts and McCloud in there, so they have weapons.

"Guys [are] going to have to be ready to tackle, vice tackle, have to read the quarterback. It's going to be a challenge for us tackling those guys and covering them in space."

The Falcons know they have offensive talent. They also know they need to turn that talent into better production.

"We have to be better as far as getting down the field and scoring the ball," Mooney said Sunday. "We've got to put some points on the board. Doesn't matter how many great names and great players we do have -- we have to go out there and do our job and put points on the board to help our defense.

"They play well every week -- to reward them, we've got to put some points on the board."

The road to doing so won't be easy. Tampa Bay's defense ranks No. 9 league-wide in scoring, holding opponents to 19.5 points per game.

But with a talented group of weapons and a veteran quarterback, the Falcons have the pieces to put together a strong offensive showing. They just have to execute -- a challenge starting at 8:15 p.m. Thursday inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.