Week 8...Bucs

[ATL96Steeler]

A win is a win is a win.

The Titans game I'm sure was a lot closer than many fans were expecting...congrats on the Falcons getting a road win without their A game.

Tampa Bay...is pretty much the Titans with different uniforms.

Of course it is a DIV game so it takes on a bit more meaning...Falcons swept the Bucs last year but this series is a lot closer than you might think...several splits over the last 5 yrs.

Notable injuries...Hankerson (hamstring) and Willie Mo (groin) are both listed as questionable.

Falcons OFC...in the past the Falcons have had trouble blocking the young studs on the Buc DL, but the OL continues to look solid week in week out. Matt Ryan has been off lately...mostly throwing low and a few behind...nothing wrong with him per the beat writer so I have to assume he's working through it.

Without Hankerson last week Ryan targeted Julio 17 times and the next highest was Tamme with 6...Roddy had 4 and caught 3 so I'm a little baffled there. Seems like Shanny is riding Julio a bit too much...Freeman is proving to have a prob bowl type year...Bucs give up nearly 30 a game, but I'm not thinking the Birds fly that high this week.

Falcons DEF...they played well enough last week...I think they will need a similar type effort...Quinn doesn't like to blitz much but they sent people at Mettenberger and I expect them to do the same to Winston...But...the Bucs run it a whole lot better as of late...gotta control mighty mouse first.

I think ATL will play better this week and win, but again I'm expecting a fairly close game...6 to 8 pt margin...I would lean towards taking the Bucs and the points if I were betting on this game.

ATL 26 -20

What say you?

 

[night]

I heard Justin Hardy will have his debut this week with Hankerson out. I don't know what to think about this team anymore...we played 3 bad weeks in a row yet we have walked away with 2 wins during that stretch. I'm not sure if I should be worried or impressed.

 

[Demonjoe93]

Well deserved loss. I am putting most of this on the offense. Flag after flag on the offense and four turnovers. We simply didn't deserve this win. We're lucky we even forced it into OT.

 

[night]

We handed them that one no doubt about it.

 

[SomeGuy]

Tough loss guys. I thought for sure you'd win that one.

 

[night]

Tough loss guys. I thought for sure you'd win that one.

It's not the end of the world. We're still in the driver's seat for one of the wild cards and the Saints are still 2 games back. The Vikings game on the 29th is looking tougher week by week.

 

[SomeGuy]

It's not the end of the world. We're still in the driver's seat for one of the wild cards and the Saints are still 2 games back. The Vikings game on the 29th is looking tougher week by week.

Panthers surprise me really. I haven't watched their games either so I am curious if they are real.

 

[night]

Panthers surprise me really. I haven't watched their games either so I am curious if they are real.

As far as I've seen they're still the same team they were last year. They have a very good defense with a middle of the road offense. Right now Cam's QB rating is a little under 80 and the only real receiving threat is Olsen. They're beatable but having a great defense is a huge advantage against the rest of the teams in the NFC South.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Really nothing to add...every point in regulation the Bucs got came off a turnover....just a pure waste of great play between the 20s.

I've been saying Ryan needs to play better for the last two weeks...6-2 is not bad, but 0-2 in the DIV with 8 more to go make it critical that Ryan turn this around on the road in SF this week.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Tough loss guys. I thought for sure you'd win that one.

A lot of people want to run Lovie out of town already, but I can see he's building something down there...I don't see enough yet, but they will knock off a few more teams before '15 is put to bed.

 

[SomeGuy]

A lot of people want to run Lovie out of town already, but I can see he's building something down there...I don't see enough yet, but they will knock off a few more teams before '15 is put to bed.

I know it is a building process but Lovie reminds me of Dungy...conservative. That 4th dn call apparently was Winston begging the coach.

I was calm regarding progress of Winston so I have been pretty happy with him as of late. Don't get to watch games since I am in an Atlanta market. The one TNF game I have tickets to a movie coming out that night. Oh well, I guess that is what DVRs are for.

The NFC South will be fun to watch this year that is for sure (and not like last year thankfully).

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Well deserved loss. I am putting most of this on the offense. Flag after flag on the offense and four turnovers. We simply didn't deserve this win. We're lucky we even forced it into OT.

Self destruct after self destruct, after self destruct...the strip on JJ was a great play, but the other ones were mostly unforced errors.

Even the DEF got in on it...2 or 3 times they stayed on the field b/c of a self inflicted play....right now logic says...okay, they are not we're as good as the start...the DEF and Freeman are legit...the rest of it we will find out over these next few weeks...Ryan can play better, I do know that.

 

[Demonjoe93]

Self destruct after self destruct, after self destruct...the strip on JJ was a great play, but the other ones were mostly unforced errors.

Even the DEF got in on it...2 or 3 times they stayed on the field b/c of a self inflicted play....right now logic says...okay, they are not we're as good as the start...the DEF and Freeman are legit...the rest of it we will find out over these next few weeks...Ryan can play better, I do know that.

If we could just cut down on turnovers, we could definitely win eleven or maybe even twelve games. We got the 49ers this week, who are starting Gabbert. That worries me because I've always been of the opinion that Gabbert wasn't that awful. The Jaguars team he played for was just terrible.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

If we could just cut down on turnovers, we could definitely win eleven or maybe even twelve games. We got the 49ers this week, who are starting Gabbert. That worries me because I've always been of the opinion that Gabbert wasn't that awful. The Jaguars team he played for was just terrible.

Ryan's pressing a little and a couple were just buzzards luck I think. 8 games in...this is definitely a better team than last year even if the record were not as good...Quinn is probably not going to alter much on the numbers they bring after the QB...against the better QBs I think that will hurt them...fortunately the schedule didn't dish up many....right now, I'm penciling 10.

NFC...starting to bunch up and the once bottom feeding Saints are not out of it...the 2nd half of the season should be entertaining.