The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost a showdown of two first-place teams in Week Six against the Detroit Lions but still held onto the top spot in the NFC South. They'll try to stay there when the Atlanta Falcons visit for an intradivisional tilt on Sunday, October 22.
Before the Buccaneers dropped a 20-6 decision to the visiting Lions on Sunday and dropped to 3-2 on the season, the Falcons absorbed a 24-16 defeat to the Washington Commanders that left them at 3-3. The New Orleans Saints also lost in Week Six to the Houston Texans to fall to 3-3. That means the winner of next week's game at Raymond James Stadium will have at least a share of first place in the NFC South after seven weeks.
The Buccaneers failed to maintain their momentum coming out of a bye week after a 3-1 start and were held to just 251 yards of offense and two field goals by the Lions. While the Bucs' defense did hold the high-powered Detroit offense to nearly 10 points below its season average, the Lions' repeated conversions on third downs proved to be the difference in the game against a Tampa Bay offense that struggled badly in the same category.
With their bye week already in the rear view mirror and an upcoming run of 12 uninterrupted game weeks, the Bucs will try to regroup quickly and be at their best for just their second game against an NFC South foe so far.
"Work, practice, effort, coming together," he said. "We're 3-2. We'll get back to work tomorrow and we'll go from there. We know what we looked like [against Detroit] and we've got to get back to work and fix it."
Atlanta won a thriller against Houston in Week Five to snap a two-game losing streak but couldn't summon up the same late-game magic Sunday against the Commanders. Second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder, who led a last-minute field goal drive to down the Texans a week earlier, was picked off three times by Washington's defense, including one with the Falcons approaching the red zone in the game's final 30 seconds. Ridder did throw for 307 yards and two touchdowns and the Falcons rang up 402 yards of offense overall. Second-year wideout Drake London had one of his best games as a pro so far, with nine catches for 125 yards. Atlanta's defense, which has been working to build a more robust pass-rush for several years now, sacked Sam Howell five times, including 1.5 times each for Arnold Ebiketie and Bud Dupree.
