Tom Brady and Matt Ryan will meet again on Sunday, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Atlanta Falcons. The Bucs are headed to the playoffs and want to end the regular season with a four-game winning streak. As for the Falcons, they just want to end a four-game losing skid. Check out our preview of this game below.
The Falcons suffered their fourth-straight defeat last Sunday, as they fell prey to the Kansas City Chiefs’ 17-14. However, holding down an offense led by Patrick Mahomes to only 17 games was a success on its own for the Falcons, whose defense has significantly improved in the second half of the season. The Falcons have allowed only 22.7 points over their last three games, though that stretch includes their 31-27 home loss to Tampa Bay in Week 15. The Falcons must have learned a few things from that encounter with Tom Brady and company and they will look to build on those details when these two teams cross paths again on Sunday. Matt Ryan looked great in that game, though. He had 356 passing yards and three touchdowns against zero interceptions on 34-of-49 completions, while Calvin Ridley snacked on Tampa Bay’s secondary for 163 receiving yards and a touchdown on 10 catches.
The Falcons are 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 road games.
The Bucs showed no mercy to the Detroit Lions in Week 17. With Tom Brady passing for 348 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions on 22-of-27 completions, the Bucs annihilated the Lions in a 47-7 road win. Life has just been easy of late for the Bucs. Brady has eight touchdown passes and zero interceptions in the last three games. In the win over Atlanta, Brady had 390 passing yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions. He was sacked three times in that game, so pass protection is one thing the Bucs need to improve. It could just have been an anomaly, though, as Tampa Bay’s offensive line has been stout against the pass rush for most of the season. In fact, the Bucs have allowed just 21 sacks this year — third-fewest in the NFL. The Bucs will also look to shut down Atlanta’s rushing attack (which is just 29th in the league, but still). The Falcons averaged just 2.8 yards per carry in the earlier meeting with Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers are 2-0 against the spread in their last two home games.
