Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons Prediction

Fresh off calling his shot against the New Orleans Saints, Terrance Biggs is back with his Buccaneers at Falcons prediction.

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson will play a big role if the Falcons are to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons, in a quick turnaround, welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a Thursday night clash. With a comeback win for the ages, Atlanta enters with a bit of newly-found confidence. Sending the Saints back to the bayou, holding the tastiest loss in recent memory. Now, with the euphoria subsided, getting down to brass tax sits at the top of the list.

We called our shot, well, Koo's shot, against the New Orleans Saints, let's take a look at the Buccaneers at Falcons:

Impressive Start

The Buccaneers currently lead the NFC South with a 3-1 record. More importantly, two of those wins came at the hands of quality teams: the Eagles and Lions. Right now, Tampa plays at a better level than many expected when the season started. The Buccaneers excel on both sides of the ball, at least for the first part of the season. 

Tampa ranks among the league's best passing offenses. Baker Mayfield resurrected his career after heading down the journeyman's route for a few years. Now, the former Heisman winner can stretch his legs and call Tampa home for the foreseeable future. In completing 70.5 percent of his passes with a 7.6-yards-per-attempt means that Mayfield will take the occasional vertical shots. 

The Falcons Podcast: Spotify | Apple Pods | iHeart

Mammoth Issue

The player that will affect the Atlanta offense most will be Tampa Bay nose tackle Vita Vea. Vea, the 350-pound agile condominium, moves with the footwork and grace of an edge rusher. While he does use power to disrupt, the ability to disengage causes problems for Atlanta's running game and will see him drop interior offensive linemen in Kirk Cousins' lap. 

It's not a coincidence that the Buccaneers' lone loss came when Vea was out of the lineup against the Denver Broncos.

Perhaps no one can articulate Vea's presence better than teammate/linebacker Lavonte David, who spoke to reporters this week.

“For a guy like that to be able to do the things he does and be considered a nose tackle and still be in on third down and make plays and pressure the quarterback and stuff like that? That’s very rare," David said. "Him coming back last week got us off to a big step. But when he does those things, it’s just expected. We just have to follow his lead.”

Matchup

Kirk Cousins, as the case with many recent Falcons games engages in an offensive outburst of sorts. Cousins enjoys a pedestrian statistical day. Figure something in the range of 200-210 yards passing and two touchdowns. 

Unfortunately, Tampa picks off Cousins twice, with one pick setting up the offense deep in Falcons’ territory. By the same token, Baker Mayfield suffers at the hands of the Falcons defense, who drop him at least three times. Mayfield matches Cousins with a similar statline: 200 yards and two touchdowns.

Final Predictions

Like every other Falcons game this season, this contest boils down to a one-score game. The player with the big game ahead feels like Darnell Mooney. While not the biggest wideout, Mooney's speed will see him get behind secondaries. During the game, Mooney will lead the team in receiving yards, due to two 30-yard catches, one of which that leads to a touchdown. 

The Bucs take the lead after halftime and look to pull away. However, the Falcons' pass rush forces a sack-fumble recovery. Cousins shakes off two interceptions and leads the team down the field and Bijan Robinson punches in the game-winner.

Falcons: 29
Buccaneers: 26