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Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers: What Went Wrong For The Falcons?
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- Atlanta Falcons @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers: What Went Wrong For The Falcons?
The Atlanta Falcons entered Tampa Bay with a 3-4 record, looking to reach .500 and take a lead in the NFC South race. Instead, they added a shutout loss to their record. What went wrong against the Buccaneers?
A rainy day in Tampa shouldn't have been an issue for the Falcons on paper, as they have the perfect game plan: give the ball to superstar running back Bijan Robinson . Unfortunately for the Falcons, that game plan quickly fell apart.
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The Buccaneers seemed hell-bent on stopping Robinson from taking over the game. In just the first few rushes of the Falcons' first drive, it was clear Robinson wasn't going to have an easy day, but the issues didn't lie solely with him.
The offensive line was unable to create successful rushing lanes for Robinson. He was often stuffed in the backfield or relegated to measly two-yard gains.
The offensive line seemed confused about the game plan. One half of the line seemed to be pass blocking for Michael Penix Jr. , while the other half was trying to create something for Robinson to work with in the backfield.
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The offensive line did find success blocking for Penix Jr., but he couldn't create anything positive with his arm. After winning the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award in Week Seven, the game plan going into Tampa seemed flawed from the moment they got off the plane.
In the torrential rain, Penix Jr. threw more interceptions than completions in the first quarter. The day ended much the same way, with four interceptions that led to a shutout, divisional loss.
On the Buccaneer side, they quickly decided that putting the ball in the air was a bad idea. Star quarterback Baker Mayfield —still recovering from a thumb injury in his throwing hand—attempted only three passes and completed none. One pass was deflected by defensive back Mike Hughes for an incompletion. Tampa Bay decided to lean on the run game with great success.
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Both offenses had backup running back issues, but Tampa didn't miss a beat. Starting running back Bucky Irving carried the ball 27 times for a career-high 170 yards while backup running back Kenny Gainwell —who was questionable with a hip injury—also rushed for a career-high 140 yards on the ground.
324 rushing yards is a testament to the bad situation the defense was forced into. With Penix Jr. repeatedly turning the ball over in Tampa's territory, the defense had to defend short fields or stay on the field too long.
The defense's inability to tackle, however, was not the offense's fault. For the Buccaneers to run all over the front seven, the inability to tackle had to be glaring.
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And it was.
The Falcons completed their day of bad complementary football with field goal kicker Nick Folk 's inability to put the ball between the uprights.
Once Folk missed his first kick of the day, it was almost guaranteed that head coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees would try to push the ball in the end zone, instead of relying on the kicker.
This was a tough loss for the Falcons, and now they have to take it overseas to Spain to face the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday morning. The team will need a short memory to game plan against Joe Burrow and a formidable Bengals team. Right now, the Falcons' goal is just to get things back on track.
This story was originally published by Athlon on Nov 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
