Saturday, 3 a.m.
Before the Tampa Bay Bucs get lost in self-pity,. perhaps they should look at the poor Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons, who don't have a lot of weapons to begin with, will be hampered as they go into Sunday's game against the Bucs. Their best weapon, Cordarrelle Patterson, is hurt. Their second-best weapon, tight end Kyle Pitts, is hurt.Matt Ryan is gone. Russell Gage is gone. Julio Jones is gone.
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This time, all the advantages seem to be on the side of the Bucs. That said, the Bucs have struggled the last two weeks, losing to Green Bay and Kansas City. The running game has been missing. The pass rush has been ordinary. The run defense has backpedaled. The secondary has been confused.
So do the Bucs find a way to beat a team they have out-talented?
Look, the Bucs are too good a team to play the way they have in their first four games. While the run defense is suspect, it should be good enough to stop a team without Patterson. While the secondary was awful last week, it should be better without Pitts.
Oh, Atlanta is good enough to keep it close for a while. They'll run the ball and try to shorten the game. They'll take some chances. But Brady and Mike Evans should lead the Bucs to a win.
Otherwise, it's going to be uglier than you feared earlier than you thought
Prediction: Tampa Bay 27, Atlanta 13.
In other NFL games:
Buffalo 30, Pittsburgh 14.
New Orleans 27, Seattle 10.
San Francisco 24, Carolina 10.
Cincinnati 27, Baltimore 24.
Kansas City 33, Las Vegas 14.
And in the college games:
Cincinnati 44, USF 10.
N.C. State 21, FSU 14.
Tennessee 24, LSU 20.
Alabama 21, Texas A&M 17.
North Carolina 26, Miami 17.