The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-10) were only seconds away from their second victory of the season, but the Atlanta Falcons (6-5) came from behind and scored with only 23 seconds left to win the game.  Josh Freeman had the best game of his short career for the Bucs, going 20/29 for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns.  They were mediocre on the ground though, getting only 73 yards on 26 carries as a team, but it was the defense that could not get the job done when it was needed most.

Falcons’ quarterback Matt Ryan and their top running back Michael Turner both left the game due to injuries.  Without those two players the Falcons are just not the same, and the Bucs were almost able to steal the win because of it.  They did not do a good enough job against the Falcons’ backup quarterback, Chris Redman.  Redman threw for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns on 23/41 passes.  The special teams came up big when Corey Lynch blocked a punt that set the table for the Bucs  3rd quarter touchdown and gave them the lead.  They were able to hold onto that lead until the Falcons’ final drive, when Redman hit Roddy White for the game winning touchdown.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-9) are heading to the Georgia Dome to take on the Atlanta Falcons (5-5) Sunday.  The Falcons are a much better team at home (4-0) than they are on the road (1-5), so the Buccaneers need to be prepared to play a solid football team.  The Bucs’ defense has been giving up way too many rushing yards all season (169 yards per game), something the Falcons are going to try and take advantage of.  Good news for the Bucs is that the Falcons’ star running back Michael Turner probably wont play in this one and is listed as questionable due to an ankle sprain.  Even if Turner does play, he wont be as effective without his ankle 100%.  Jason Snelling will likely get the bulk of the carries for the Falcons, and although he is a back-up he is a very capable back.  He has had some good games for the Falcons and is averaging 4.2 yards per carry this season.  Although I expect the Falcons to run the ball a lot, the Bucs defense cannot forget about quarterback Matt Ryan.  Ryan has been having a “sophomore slump” this season, but he is coming off one of his best games of the season.

Josh Freeman will stay the starter for the Bucs’ at quarterback, despite having 11 turnovers in his three starts.  The Falcons don’t have a very good pass-defense though, so I would expect some improvement from Freeman compared to last week where he threw three interceptions.  The Falcons also give up 126 rushing yards per game so Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward could have their first good game in weeks.  I don’t think the Bucs’ offense will be able to keep up with Matt Ryan and the Falcons’ offense, so it looks like the Bucs will get their tenth loss of the season.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13, Atlanta Falcons 27

The Bucs have placed 29-year old QB Byron Leftwich on the Injured Reserve List ending his season with a elbow problem.  Leftwich played in 3 games for the Bucs this year and he completed 58 of 107 passes (54.2%) for 594 yards with 4 TD passes and 3 INTs (71.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 6 times for 6 yards (1.0 ypc) this year.  Don’t look for Leftwich to return to the Buccaneers next year.

The Buccaneers have signed undrafted rookie QB Rudy Carpenter off the practice squad of the Cowboys.  He was a darn good QB at Arizona State but he will likely be slotted as the #3 QB for the Bucs.  That could mean that Byron Leftwich is on his way out….stay tuned.

The Bucs have decided to replace Jim Bates as the defensive co-ordinator.  He will still help gameplan on Sundays but head coach Raheem Morris will be calling the game.  This was a needed move when you look at the results of the Bates’ led defense.  The Bucs are allowing 29.4 points per game and 378.3 yards of offense per game.  Opponents have rushed for 168.9 yards per game (4.9 ypc) and they have passed for 209.4 yards per game (92.6 QB Rating).  It’s about time something was done about the defense as it is very hard to watch.  Maybe Morris will be able to work some magic despite the fact that the Buccaneers don’t have much talent on that side of the ball.