FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Falcons maintain their perch atop the NFC South after a 31-26 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The victory improved Atlanta's division record to 4-0, a feat the Falcons haven't achieved in a decade.
"There was a little bit more urgency this week with it being a divisional opponent," safety Jessie Bates III said. "The Bucs are defending NFC South champs for the last — what? — three years. We knew the mindset was to come in here and take it from them."
The Falcons have only had an undefeated start through the first four divisional games twice since the NFC South was established in 2002.
In 2014, the Falcons started 4-0 against the division. Despite finishing with a 6-10 overall record, Atlanta was hot against the division that year. All but one of the Falcons' victories were against divisional opponents. Unfortunately, the only division lost that year came in the season finale and prevented the Falcons from reaching the playoffs.
The Falcons' first 4-0 start against the NFC South came in 2010. Atlanta finished that season 5-1 in the division and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC thanks to a 13-3 record, but the team lost in the divisional round of the playoffs. Atlanta has had a Super Bowl and NFC Championship run since, but neither of those seasons included a 4-0 start against division opponents.
Sunday's win moves the Falcons to 5-3 on the year, while the Buccaneers drop to 4-4. Atlanta sits in the division driver's seat almost halfway through the season, and the Bucs, New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers all have two division losses thus far. With two wins against Tampa, the Falcons hold the tie-breaker in the event that the two teams end the season with the same record.
If the Falcons continue on this path, they're on track to win the division and secure their first playoff berth since 2017.
"Outrun the South" has been a rallying cry for this squad since before the season started, since before the Falcons even added quarterback Kirk Cousins. Eight weeks into the year, they're outpacing the rest of the pack.
Atlanta faces its next NFC South opponent on Nov. 10 when it travels to face the Saints in New Orleans. Then, the Falcons close the season — and their divisional schedule — versus the Panthers at home in Week 17. With another win they'll swell the undefeated record to 5-0, something Atlanta last did in 2014 as well.
And while Atlanta hasn't charted this territory in a while, the Falcons aren't content just yet.
"We got to go out there, and we got to keep applying pressure and keep going," Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. "That's got to be the mentality in Atlanta."
Get an inside look at the matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium during Week 8, presented by Grady.