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Adam Schultz
Falcons 33 - Buccaneers 21
Jet Jones takes flight, breaks the sound barrier, and careens right into our heart of hearts.
William McFadden
Falcons 35 - Bucs 27
I predict there is at least a 90 percent chance that Jeanna does this to someone at some point in the night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLKwX5bot0E
Caleb Rutherford
Falcons 31 - Bucs 27
Gerald McCoy and the Bucs front 7 scare the heck out of me, but even with the addition of Falcon Favorite Antone Smith, I expect their offense to be relatively tame. That won’t matter, though, because I expect this game to be like most of the rest this year: Falcons offense has little trouble scoring, then the defense has big trouble stopping. One thing’s for sure, this ain’t the same Falcon team that lost to them in week 1.
Kyle McClendon
Falcons 34 - Bucs 27
The Falcons shouldn’t have too much trouble with the Bucs’ defense despite Gerald McCoy and Kwon Alexander, but I am not comfortable enough to say that the defense won’t have any trouble stopping a banged up Bucs attack. Atlanta matches up pretty well against this team if they can limit big plays and minimize missed tackles--something they struggle with the last few weeks. The Falcons should be able to win this game without an incredibly stressful fourth quarter, but if they play a sloppy brand of football full of missed tackles and dumb penalties, the Bucs will make this one very interesting. Matt Ryan keeps up his high quality of play and the Falcons get some decent yards on the ground against the Tampa Bay defense, and the Atlanta defense forces Jameis into some bad throws--we may even see another defensive touchdown.
Matt Chambers
Falcons 38 - Bucs 23
The Falcons have a few big name injuries, but oddly enough I don’t think their losses will be heavily felt. Atlanta loses some flexibility on offense, but can manage a game or two without Jacob Tamme and Tevin Coleman thanks to impressive play by Austin Hooper and Terron Ward. Dwight Freeney is going out but Adrian Clayborn is playing great football. The Falcons have been pretty strong, even in losses. The wheel are falling off the Bucs in an all too familiar way: inconsistent, pass-saturated offense and the league’s worst defense. The game might be closer than this, but I just can’t fear a Mike Smith defense.
Dave Choate
Falcons 31, Buccaneers 21
If you’ve followed my predictions over the last half-season, you’ve noticed that I’ve anticipated a lot of close games, both because of this team’s defense and their penchant for tightening things up even when they wind up down big early in the game. As tired and banged up as this team is heading into Thursday night, though, I think they’re just better than a tired and banged up Buccaneers team, and they should win this one handily.
Kevin Knight
Falcons 35 - Buccaneers 24
This is a game that the Falcons should control from start to finish. Somehow, Dan Quinn just hasn’t been able to beat the Bucs thus far. I think he figures it out this week: eviscerate them through the air and force them to rely on Jameis Winston. Tampa is playing very uninspired football and will be exhausted from their overtime loss. Atlanta should walk out of Tampa with a convincing win.
DW
Falcons 35 - Infamous Crablegs 21
Mike Smith defense meets multi-tiered offense lead by one of the best QBs of 2016. This really says it all.
Allen Strk
Falcons 34- Buccaneers 23
Barring red zone miscues or bizarre turnovers, this should be a relatively comfortable win. The Falcons offense shouldn’t have any issues moving the ball downfield. Blocking Gerald McCoy is always a concern. If they can limit him like they did with Mike Daniels, Tampa Bay doesn’t present many pass rushing concerns. After facing three outstanding quarterbacks, the defense needs to show some improvement. They responded well in the second half last week. Putting four quarters of solid play together would be massive for their confidence. They’ll come close to that in an important road victory.