Where its at

First off I would like to thank the beaten (previously 0-8) St. Louis Rams for laying the smackdown on the hopeful Saints... sorry New Orleans it's not your year... The Saints go marching down... down a game in the standings... and they lost to a team who hadn't won a game all year... consistency...

Secondly I would like to thank the Atlanta Falcons (who the Bucs play this week) and the Golden Boy Joey Harrington for stomping the panthers into the mud... and smearing Vinny Testaverde's dusty old face in it.

The Bucs are alone atop the NFC South and both the aforementioned teams had a chance last weekend to tie them up there. Instead these teams dropped games and thats really good for Tampa.

In fact of the nine times that Tampa has been in first place this late in the season, they have made the playoffs eight.

The Bucs face off with the Falcons this weekend in Atlanta, but it doesn't matter. Falcons fans are still having an identity crisis after finding out the face of their team was a two-bit criminal, a mindless psychopath who would have killed people next had he not been caught. Seriously, isn't killing animals one of the first hints of sociopathic behavior? So Atlanta goes from a Stone Cold Dog Killer to a Golden Piano Player?. Are you gonna tell me the fans are excited? As if finding out your star player got pleasure in murdering animals wasn't enough the Falcons owner Arthur Blank goes and signs proven failure Joey Harrington. Why didn't they sign Testaverde? Vinny was available up until Carolina Panthers QB Jake Delhomme went down. The Falcons fans don't care so this might as well be a home game for the Bucs.

If the Bucs can shut down the run like they did the other week, and they did so against a much better rushing attack in the Cardinals Edgerrin James, then they should win the game. It's not like I should be worried about Joey Harrington hurting us through the air, should I?

The Buccaneers pass defense is now rated 3rd in the NFL in yards per game and 2nd in pass touchdowns in allowed with six. The Seahawks defense has only allowed five pass touchdowns this year but are 20th in the NFL in yards per game against them. The only defenses with less yards per game against them are Pittsburgh and Indianpolis yet both these teams have given up 10 and 8 touchdowns through the air respectively. With these statistics I make my argument for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the best passing defense in the NFL. That is why I'm not too worried about the Golden Boy having a "breakout" game.

The Buccaneers rush defense is ranked 18th in the NFL in yards per game but only 8 teams have allowed less than the Bucs 3.8 yards per rush. The Bucs are tied for 26th with nine rushing touchdowns allowed but only seven teams have had more rushing plays run on them. The Bucs defense in general is right in the middle at 17th in the NFL in total plays run against them (558). Only 3 teams however allow less than the Buccaneers 4.6 yards per play. Only three teams have allowed less than the Buccaneers 144 points this season and therefore only three teams have less than the Buccaneers 16 points per game average allowed.

The Falcons are 30th in the NFL as they only average 15 points per game. Even the 0-9 Dolphins have scored more points then the Falcons. The Falcons pass attack is ranked 23rd in the NFL in yards per game and 27th in the NFL in touchdowns per game. The Falcons pass attack has a rating of 70.8 while the Buccaneers opponents are averaging a pass rating of 70.9. The Falcons stand to gain a tenth of a percentage point in their passer rating in this game, WOOOO-HOOOO. Thats actually a joke. There is no correlation between the statement I made two statements ago and the last one. Only two teams in the NFL have held opponents to a lower passer rating than the Bucs have.

If the Falcons are to win this game it is going to have to come from somewhere other than their offense. Falcons CB Deangelo Hall is always a threat to pick one and run it back. They should think about putting Hall back on special teams as well to see if they can make something happen. The one bright spot in the Falcons team has been how many turnovers they have been able to force this year. The Falcons are tops in the NFC with a +9 turnover ratio, meaning they have taken the ball away from their opponent 9 more times then they have given the ball to their opponent. Tampa has been efficient in the turnover department this year with the exception of a two game strech when they went -5 in the turnover column. The Bucs are still +3 in the turnover column and fifth in the NFC. If you take away that two game strech where they went -5 then they have been one of the most efficient teams in the NFL this year when it comes to turnovers.

WHERE ITS AT
A coach always wants to be up in the turnover column at the end of the game. If you have a dynamic offense then it is not always necessary, a team like the Patriots can turn the ball over and still win games (even though they never do, 1st in the NFL with +11 turnover ratio). It is very important for the Bucs to win the turnover battle in this upcoming game with the Falcons.

If the Bucs win the turnover battle, they win the game... Bottom line.
If the Bucs don't turn the ball over at all they will hold the Falcons under 6 points.

Final Score: Tampa Bay 31 Atlanta 3

P.S. Michael Pittman is back!! Naples, Florida native Earnest Graham remains the teams starter..