Tampa Bay Buccaneers Given Slight Edge Over Atlanta Falcons

NFL News - December 28th, 2009 - Written by John

While the regular season has begun winding down, and handfuls of teams are still tensing over possible playoff berths, there are still another segment of the NFL that can simply relax and just play football. Two of those teams play this Sunday in a conference battle that simply offers bragging rights.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fresh of a stunning overtime win over the New Orleans Saints, are favored by one over the Atlanta Falcons, according to NFL Weekly Betting Trends. They have all the momentum after winning back-to-back games for the first time this season.

The over/under is 41 1/2, according to BetUS Sportsbook.

But the Falcons are similarly warm, winners of two-straight as well. Getting Matt Ryan back in the lineup after a foot injury has only benefited a team that struggled in the middle of the year and missed out of the playoff because of it. Out is the chance to make the playoffs in consecutive years, but back-to-back winning seasons are still available. They are 8-7 after burning the Buffalo Bills for 31 points last week.

Matt Ryan did the bulk of the damage with 250 yards and two touchdown passes to Roddy White. But the running back committee combined for 157 yards and an average above four yards a carry. Seven different Falcons had at least one rush, which is more than players who had receptions.

White had 139 yards in the win, and has 1,089 on the year. He is just ahead of Tony Gonzalez, who is 63 yards short of 900 for the seventh-straight season.

But if there's one thing that Tampa Bay does well it's defend the pass. It is 13th in the league against the air attack, and has the 11th-most interceptions in the league.

The Bucs held Drew Brees to his fourth-lowest passing total last week, and Ronde Barber recovered a fumble in the Saints lone turnover. Quarterback Josh Freeman wasn't terrific, but didn't throw the game away, which allowed Cadillac Williams run for 129 yards and a score. It was the first time since 2006 that Williams hit the century mark, and only the first time this season that a Buccaneer did it at all.

Tampa Bay is ranked 23rd on the ground, while Atlanta is 17th defending it.

Freeman has 1,683 yards and nine touchdowns so far this year in only eight starts, and has seen his play rolling up and down throughout. He started with seven touchdowns in his first four games, but went on a two-game drought of zero scores and eight interceptions. Since then, it's gotten moderately better with two touchdowns two weeks ago, but he threw two more picks last week. The one encouraging sign is the fact that he spread the ball out to eight receivers, and completed almost 70-percent of his passes.