FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons (4-3) will attempt to start another win streak when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) for the second and final time this season on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
After a 3-0 run through the division from Weeks 4-6, the Falcons fell to the Seattle Seahawks 34-14 in Week 7 at home. Head coach Raheem Morris said his team "came out flat" in the loss, so that is sure to be an area of emphasis heading into the weekend.
With that in mind, our editorial team has been tasked with answering the following question:
Which player needs to have a bounceback game against Tampa?
McELHANEY: This is less about one specific player and more just an entire group: the secondary.
The last two games have seen the Falcons give up two end-of-half touchdowns. As I wrote in my notebook Monday, that touchdown against the Panthers didn't have much of a sway on the game itself. I don't think we can look back at the loss to the Seahawks and concur, though. In the postgame locker room in the aftermath of the loss, you could feel the conviction in the voices of Jessie Bates III and Justin Simmons, particularly Simmons.
I do not believe the last two games of play by this secondary are indicative of what we've seen from them to this point in the season. Unfortunately, because of the deficiencies in sacking the quarterback at the current moment, if the secondary is not playing to near perfection, the Falcons are going to do a lot more breaking than bending.
As Bates and Simmons said after the game, it's not time to hit the "panic button." But the level of play that we saw from the secondary against the Seahawks was not the way the group wants to play, and it's something they're attempting to rectify quickly. Especially when facing Baker Mayfield and the Bucs in Tampa Bay this weekend.
"That's not good enough, unacceptable. There were a lot of things that didn't go well, and just speaking defensively we didn't play nearly well enough today to even give us a chance to win the game, regardless of what happened around the offense and special teams," Simmons summarized Sunday. "... especially situational ball at the end of the half, on me giving up that score. That can't happen. So, if we want to be where we want to be, and there's no panic mode button, but you can't do stuff like that."
WAACK: Quarterback Kirk Cousins – solely because the final three drives he led during the fourth quarter resulted in turnovers. Those are definitely on his mind, and he'll want to right the wrongs with his next opportunity. So, I think he believes he needs a bounce-back game in Week 8.
Cousins was sacked on a third-and-9 and fumbled the ball in the process, which the Seahawks recovered and returned for a touchdown. He was then intercepted on two different first-and-10 plays. One set up a Seahawks' field goal; the other, a punt. Those turnovers ultimately gave the Seahawks an additional 10 points and solidified their victory.
The Falcons were only down by 10 points entering the fourth quarter, which marked the most they had trailed this season. But Atlanta was more than capable of closing that gap. The Falcons have scored at least 10 points in a quarter five times through seven games.
Turnovers aside, Cousins had an above-average game. His 68.6% completion rate was above his season average of 66.9%. His 232 yards passing fell below his per-game mark of 261.4 yards, but that average includes the outlier of 509 yards passing in Week 5. Without that, his average is 220.2 yards per game, which is less than last Sunday's total. And without the turnovers, Cousins likely would have had many more yards.
That's why, at the very beginning, I said Cousins solely because of the turnovers. They were costly, and they quite possibly cost the Falcons the game.
SUBHAN: Drake London. London didn't have an off-game per se in the Week 7 loss. The receiver totaled 63 yards and a touchdown, but like much of the rest of the offense, he never seemed to get into a flow against Seattle.
Not to mention, the third-year receiver has played exceptionally well against the Buccaneers throughout his young career. London has had four games with at least 100 receiving yards. Three of the four came against Tampa Bay, including a career-high 172 yards last season in Week 14.
When the Falcons met the Bucs earlier this season London racked up a season-high 154 yards while catching 12 of his 13 targets, an impressive 92.3% catch rate.
Against the Seahawks, London had his first catch of the day midway through the second quarter and half of his receptions, including his touchdown, occurred on a single drive. The first game between Atlanta's and Tampa's offenses resulted in a 36-30 shootout, so getting London involved early and often would be important if it trends that way again.
While London is on pace for his best season so far, he has only had two games with 70 or more yards and no games with multiple touchdowns. So, there's potential for a huge game for London in Week 8.
