Buccaneers Top Rival Atlanta in Week 1

JerseyBorn

All-Star
Buccs Banner 2.png

Season 12 - Week 1
The Buccaneers traveled to Atlanta and started their season against the division rival Falcons. Both teams are coming off disappointing seasons and are looking to get themselves back to the playoffs.

Winston.png

The game started off with an unproductive drive from Tampa Bay but when Atlanta got the ball they didn't have much trouble moving the ball into the red zone. However, their drive stalled out as Devonta Freeman was stuffed on 3rd and 1 to force 4th down and Falcons kicker, Matt Bryant, shanked the 38 yard field goal wide left. The game remained scoreless through one quarter.

In the second quarter is where the action really started. The Buccaneers came into the game really wanting to get Doug Martin rolling and they combined some decent runs from him with some nice pickups from veteran wide receiver Vincent Jackson on their second drive of the game. The drive was capped off with a touchdown pass to Mike Evans and after the extra point they went up 7-0 in the game. Winston put the pass where only Evans could catch it and he went up and came down with the reception over Jalen Collins. When the Falcons took over on offense Matty Ice led them down the field with a few 3rd down conversions but ultimately were stopped in the red zone again. Though this time Matt Bryant nailed the field goal and made it a 7-3 game. On that scoring drive, Tampa Bay corner Brent Grimes tore his pectoral and has since been ruled out for the rest of the season. Huge blow for the Buccs as Grimes was their number one corner and now those reigns are handed over to first round pick Vernon Hargreaves III. Tampa Bay was able to drive down the field and kick a field goal before halftime as it was 10-3 Buccaneers at half.

In the third quarter not much went the Buccaneers way. They were able to disrupt a Falcons drive which looked destined to put points on the board when Bradley "Scottish Thunder" McDougald got a hand on a pass intended for Julio Jones and it fell into the hands of a sliding Kwon Alexander. However, Tampa Bay wasn't able to do anything with the turnover and Atlanta would get the ball back with the same score. On the next Atlanta drive Matt Ryan was able to hook up with Julio Jones for a 72 yard scamper to the end zone. The touchdown made it a 10-9 game and everyone figured the extra point would tie the game but kicker Matt Bryant continued his struggles and missed the extra point. Buccaneers still had a 10-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter started off with the Falcons on offense on their own 20 yard line. Although on first down Freeman was stopped for a loss of 2 yards by Donte Whitner. Then on 2nd and 12 Matt Ryan made a mistake by throwing into coverage and Alterraun Verner was able to leap into the path of the ball and picked off Ryan's pass. Buccaneers got the ball on the Atlanta 21 yard line but ended up having to settle for a field goal to take a 13-9 lead. After a few stalled drives from each team Tampa Bay found with possession of the football with less than 2 minutes left in the game and they took advantage of that. Winston would hook up with Vincent Jackson for a 57 yard touchdown to take a 20-9 lead. Most people thought the ballgame was over at that point but Atlanta had other ideas. Matty Ice came out and hit Julio Jones for a 67 yard touchdown pass. Jones burned rookie corner Hargreaves III, who was only on Jones because of the Grimes injury, and that made it a 20-17 game. Atlanta still had a chance but they needed the onside kick and despite a funky bounce on the kick Tampa Bay recovered and would seal the win in week 1. Buccaneers start their season at 1-0 and will head to Arizona and take on the Cardinals in week 2.

Stay up to date with all things Buccaneers football here on The Plank. Be sure to follow "BuccsPX1" on Twitter for updates as well.

Key Stats:
Jameis Winston: 12-16, 188 yards, 2 TD, 153.1 QBR
Vincent Jackson: 5 rec, 134 yards, TD
Matt Ryan: 18-27, 297 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 97.2 QBR
Julio Jones: 5 rec, 150 yards, 2 TD


Here are highlights of the week 1 win:
 
Top