NFL 2014 !! (Official Thread)

Coming off their bye week, The Falcons may also have a couple of key players back against the Bucs. Explosive running back Antone Smith may return after suffering a neck stinger in the Falcons’ 22-21 loss to Detroit in London. Smith leads the team with five touchdowns (three receiving and two rushing), giving the Falcons a live scoring threat.

Atlanta will also have starting defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux back to bolster their defense. Babineaux is efficient in generating pressure against opposing quarterbacks. Pressuring Tampa Bay’s Mike Glennon into making bad throws has proven to produce interceptions in the past, and if Glennon gets loose cornerback Robert Alford will be on the case. Alford has three picks and 10 passes broken up this season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 22-17 to the Cleveland Browns Sunday, after leading 17-16 heading into the fourth quarter. The Bucs have now lost four in a row by six points or less.

Quarterback Mike Glennon went 17 for 33 for 260 yards with a pair of touchdowns thrown to rookie receiver Mike Evans. The rookie wide receiver caught seven passes for 124 yards and the two scores for his best start this season. Evans should be able to make a couple of noteworthy plays when he takes on Atlanta’s pass defense, which has allowed 280.8 yards per game (30^th in the league).

However, the Bucs had a terrible passing performance when they faced the Falcons in Week 3. They only managed to throw for 153 yards with then-starter Josh McCown.

McCown’s replacement, Glennon has been more effective for the Bucs, despite going 1-4 as a full time starter.  Glennon is averaging 259.2 yards per game as a starter and has thrown at least a touchdown per game. However, he must cut down on the mistakes as he has thrown six interceptions in the same time span. 

The Bucs may also benefit from a much better rushing performance. Leading running back Bobby Rainey ran for 87 yards on 19 carries against Cleveland, after he had failed to rush for over 50 yards since exploding for 144 in Week 2. Rainey should be able to find the gaps left by Atlanta’s front seven, which has looked vulnerable (allowed 130.2 yards per game) against the run during their five game losing streak.

On the other side of the ball, the Bucs will need to establish the pass rush if they want to avoid another blowout loss to the Falcons. Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy leads the team in this regard with five sacks, three coming from his last two games. Establishing the pass rush could prove to be pivotal to limit Atlanta’s quarterback Matt Ryan.

May add a large play on this game