NFC South Showdown: Atlanta vs. Tampa Bay

November 7, 2010

Two of the most surprise team in the NFC will bang heads Sunday. Both the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were expected to be middle-of the-pack teams in 2010, but have shown that they have what it takes to be legitimate contenders for the NFC title.

Atlanta has turned the corner with a solid offensive attack that has been led by running back Michael Turner. Turner has been the focal point this year as quarterback Matt Ryan is taking a back seat. Ryan has the capability of being one of the best QB’s in the league, but is being brought along slowly by the offensive coordinator and head coach. The Falcons are currently ranked 5th in the league in rushing yards per game, and 6th in rushing yards allowed. This is a great recipe for success in the NFL.

With the defending Champion New Orleans Saints were supposed to be the odd on favorites in the NFC South as most NFL experts and football handicappers had them repeating at the NFC conference winners for 2010. Things don’t always go as planned as the Saints are off to a 5-3 start and are currently in 3rd place in their own division behind Tampa and Atlanta. This may be just a week 9 game, but this game has the potential to determine who will or who won’t make the playoffs this year. You can bet that the Saints will rebound from what many NFL handicappers believe to be a bad start. If the Bucs can keep their string of good-luck going, then they will have a huge advantage heading into the second half of the season. If not, they will most likely be fighting the entire second half with the defending champs.

Tampa’s head coach Raheem Morris has said several times that he believes his team in the best in the NFC. As long as he3 and his players buy into that thought process, who are we to tell them otherwise. Josh Freeman has been a big surprise at the quarterback position. He has thrown for 1500+ yards thus far, and is on pace for almost 3600 yard this season. His accuracy has been tremendous this year as he has completed over 60% of his passes this year with 8 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions. The presense of a good passing game has been a big part of the Bucs success this year. They have had a solid running game for years with Cadillac Williams, but the addition of LeGarrette Blount has given them a power runner that they haven’t had in years. Blount is expected to get the majority of the carries for the remainder of the season, and should be effective in this system.

Atlanta has been on the doorstep for years. Matt Ryan was expected to be the answer for this team, but too much was expected of him out of the gate. Now that he is in his 3rd year in the NFL, he is starting to show the improvements that will make him a Pro-Bowl type QB in years to come. His 1714 yards passing and 12 touchdown passes are amongst the league leaders. He is on pace for a 4000 yard year with 27 touchdowns. If he can continue his dominance throwing the ball, it will help the running attack that is led by Michael Turner. Turner hasn’t had as many touchdown as he would like to, but his 600 yards rushing has him on track to finish with almost 1400 yards. He is clearly on of the best backs in the league and will benefit from Ryan’s improvements as a QB.

This game may not seem like much, but it may be the most important game of the year for two teams that are playing for a potential NFC South title. Tune in Sunday as the Bucs and Falcons fight to retain the lead over the surging Saints.

Written by Glenn Andrew · Filed Under NFL

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