The first-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers hit the road in Week Five to take on a team that helped them get to that top spot in the NFC South. And they won't have to wait long to take on the Atlanta Falcons in Mercedes-Benz Stadium for their first division game of the 2024 season.
The Buccaneers and Falcons will do battle in prime time on Thursday night, with kickoff scheduled for 8:15 p.m. The game will be televised by Prime Video. The Bucs will have time for only a few walk-throughs before heading up to Georgia on Wednesday afternoon, but quarterback Baker Mayfield says that can't be used as an excuse.
"Guys have to be pros when it comes to taking care of your body," said Mayfield. "You've got, obviously, short weeks. Everybody's got to deal with it; there's no excuse. You've got to do all the rehab you can. It's more so studying and understanding the game plan without getting the live reps because you're trying to rest your body. For us, get physically as healthy as we can and then be dialed into the plan, just like we were today."
Mayfield is coming off an outstanding performance in the Buccaneers' rousing 33-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. He completed 30 of 47 passes for 347 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions as the Bucs rang up 445 yards of offense compared to 227 for the Eagles. Mayfield threw touchdown passes to Mike Evans and Trey Palmer and also ran one in for another score as the Buccaneers built a 24-0 lead by midway through the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the Falcons were locked in a back-and-forth battle with the New Orleans Saints, which ended on a 58-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo as Atlanta prevailed, 26-24. Atlanta scored touchdowns on a muffed punt and a deflected-pass pick-six as both teams went to 2-2 on the season, putting them one game behind the Buccaneers.
The Falcons have played a series of close games in their first season under the stewardship of Head Coach Raheem Morris. Buccaneers fans are familiar with Morris from his decade with the team in the 2000s, including three seasons as the head coach, and Mayfield also got to know him during a brief stint with the Los Angeles Rams late in the 2022 season. Mayfield expects a complicated defensive game plan from Morris that will lean on the multi-talented safety pair of Jessie Bates and Justin Simmons.
"Knowing the head coach from being out in L.A., knowing their DC, Jimmy Lake, I'm just expecting them to be versatile, especially with the guys they have," said Mayfield. "They've got great players. They've got a couple good safeties out there. We haven't watched any of their film but I'm sure they're able to do a lot of different stuff with those guys."
