NFL Game Preview: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons - Week 17

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons - Week 17

Game Preview Fantasy \| Game Notes \| Results & Schedule \| Injury Report \| Stat Comparisons \| Weather \| Team vs. Team History

TB ATL	22 17
Pre	Post

PHI NYG	7 42
Pre	Post

NYJ BUF	9 28
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JAC TEN	20 38
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HOU IND	16 28
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CLE PIT	10 24
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CHI DET	26 24
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BAL CIN	17 23
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CAR NO	44 38
Pre	Post

ARI SF	13 27
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STL SEA	13 20
Pre	Post

OAK SD	21 24
Pre	Post

MIA NE	0 28
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KC DEN	3 38
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GB MIN	34 37
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DAL WAS	18 28
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Week:	1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5 \| 6 \| 7 \| 8 \| 9 \| 10 \| 11 \| 12 \| 13 \| 14 \| 15 \| 16 \| 17
Playoffs:	Wild-Card \| Divisional Playoffs \| Conference Championships \| Super Bowl

Final Score Prediction

Falcons 27, Buccaneers 23

Fantasy Player Rankings and Projections by Mike Krueger

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 10	Josh Freeman	Pass: 260, 2 TD Rush: 10, 0
RB 15	Doug Martin	Rush: 80, 0 TD Rec: 4-30, 0
WR 10	Vincent Jackson	Rec: 6-90, 1 TD
WR 27	Mike Williams	Rec: 6-70, 1 TD
WR 79	Tiquan Underwood	Rec: 2-30, 0 TD
TE 18	Dallas Clark	Rec: 4-40, 0 TD
K 5	Connor Barth	FG: 3/3 XP: 2/2
DEF 28	Defense / ST

View all Week 17 Rankings or Projections

Atlanta Falcons
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 22	Matt Ryan	Pass: 150, 2 TD Rush: 10, 0
QB 31	Luke McCown	Pass: 130, 1 TD Rush: 0, 0
RB 28	Michael Turner	Rush: 60, 0 TD Rec: 0-0, 0
RB 30	Jacquizz Rodgers	Rush: 30, 0 TD Rec: 3-20, 0
WR 19	Julio Jones	Rec: 5-70, 1 TD
WR 29	Roddy White	Rec: 3-40, 0 TD
WR 51	Drew Davis	Rec: 4-60, 0 TD
WR 59	Harry Douglas	Rec: 2-30, 0 TD
TE 1	Tony Gonzalez	Rec: 6-60, 1 TD
K 8	Matt Bryant	FG: 2/2 XP: 3/3
DEF 18	Defense / ST

Game Notes

Buccaneers Have 3,500-yard passer (QB Josh Freeman, 3,843), 1,200-yard rusher (RB Doug Martin, 1,312) & 1,200-yard receiver (WR Vincent Jackson, 1,334) for 1st time in franchise history. QB Freeman is 1st QB in franchise history with 2 3,500-yard seasons... Rookie RB Martin is 3rd in NFL with 1,766 scrimmage yards (1,312 rush, 454 rec.). Set team rookie record for scrimmage yards. Ties for lead among NFC rookies with 10 rush TDs. Had 2 rush TDs in last meeting... WR Jackson has 80+ rec. yards in 5 of past 6. WR Mike Williams has TD in 3 of past 4. Had 7 catches for 132 yards & TD last week... S Ronde Barber is only player in NFL annals with 25+ sacks (28) & 40+ INTs (47). Had INT in last meeting. Rookie LB Lavonte David leads team with 133 tackles. DT Gerald McCoy has career-high 5 sacks. DE Michael Bennett leads team with career-high 9 sacks.

Falcons Clinched home-field advantage in NFC... QB Matt Ryan has 56 wins, most in 1st 5 seasons in NFL history. Has best home record in SB era at 33-4 (.892). Aims for 12th consecutive home win. Has 100+ rating in 20 home games & Atlanta is 20-0. In career, Falcons are 32-1 (.970) when he has 100+ rating... RB Michael Turner has rush TD in 5 of past 6. Aims for 3rd in row at home vs. TB with 100+ rush yards & 2+ TDs. In last home meeting, rushed for 172 yards & 2 TDs... WR Julio Jones has 16 catches for 338 yards & 3 TDs in 3 meetings. Aims for 4th in row vs. TB with 100+ yards or TD. WR Roddy White has 6 1,000-yard seasons in row. Since 2007, has 558 receptions, most in NFC. Had 8 catches for 153 yards & 2 TDs last week. TE Tony Gonzalez has 88 catches & needs 2 to reach 90 for 5th time... DE John Abraham has 14.5 sacks in past 18. LB Stephen Nicholas (89) leads team in tackles & LB Sean Weatherspoon (87) is 2nd. S Thomas DeCoud is 2nd among S with 6 INTs. CB Asante Samuel aims for 3rd in row with INT.

Results and Schedule

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2012-09-09	CAR	H	W 16-10	+6
2	2012-09-16	NYG	A	L 34-41	-7
3	2012-09-23	DAL	A	L 10-16	-6
4	2012-09-30	WAS	H	L 22-24	-2
5		Bye
6	2012-10-14	KC	H	W 38-10	+28
7	2012-10-21	NO	H	L 28-35	-7
8	2012-10-25	MIN	A	W 36-17	+19
9	2012-11-04	OAK	A	W 42-32	+10
10	2012-11-11	SD	H	W 34-24	+10
11	2012-11-18	CAR	A	W 27-21	+6
12	2012-11-25	ATL	H	L 23-24	-1
13	2012-12-02	DEN	A	L 23-31	-8
14	2012-12-09	PHI	H	L 21-23	-2
15	2012-12-16	NO	A	L 0-41	-41
16	2012-12-23	STL	H	L 13-28	-15
17	2012-12-30	ATL	A	W 22-17	+5

Atlanta Falcons
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2012-09-09	KC	A	W 40-24	+16
2	2012-09-17	DEN	H	W 27-21	+6
3	2012-09-23	SD	A	W 27-3	+24
4	2012-09-30	CAR	H	W 30-28	+2
5	2012-10-07	WAS	A	W 24-17	+7
6	2012-10-14	OAK	H	W 23-20	+3
7		Bye
8	2012-10-28	PHI	A	W 30-17	+13
9	2012-11-04	DAL	H	W 19-13	+6
10	2012-11-11	NO	A	L 27-31	-4
11	2012-11-18	ARI	H	W 23-19	+4
12	2012-11-25	TB	A	W 24-23	+1
13	2012-11-29	NO	H	W 23-13	+10
14	2012-12-09	CAR	A	L 20-30	-10
15	2012-12-16	NYG	H	W 34-0	+34
16	2012-12-22	DET	A	W 31-18	+13
17	2012-12-30	TB	H	L 17-22	-5

Injury Report

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Probable	CB E.J. Biggers (hip) DE Da'Quan Bowers (hamstring) TE Dallas Clark (other-illness) CB Eric Wright (other-excused)
IR	WR Arrelious Benn (shoulder, 11/22) SLB Quincy Black (neck, 11/13) DE Adrian Clayborn (knee, 9/25) SS Cody Grimm (hamstring, 11/27) WR Sammie Stroughter (foot, 9/21)

Atlanta Falcons
Out	SS William Moore (hamstring) CB Christopher Owens (hamstring)
Questionable	DT Jonathan Babineaux (ribs) DE Cliff Matthews (hamstring) DT Corey Peters (knee) WR Roddy White (knee)
IR	WR Kevin Cone (groin, 12/24) CB Brent Grimes (achilles-tendon, 9/10) FS Shann Schillinger (ankle, 8/31)

Offense Stats Comparison

	TB Offense	ATL Offense	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Points for	20.0	25.3	22.3	ATL
Rushing yards	88.5	83.5	117.9	TB
Rushing yards per attempt	4.02	3.51	4.30	TB
Completion %	53.1%	70.0%	59.3%	ATL
Passing yards	266.5	289.8	225.0	ATL
Passing yards per completion	11.63	10.80	10.90	TB
Passing yards per attempt	6.17	7.56	6.47	ATL
Interceptions	1.8	0.5	1.0	ATL
Fumbles lost	0.5	0.5	0.7	-
Sacks allowed	1.8	1.0	2.4	ATL
3rd down conversions	37.2%	45.8%	37.4%	ATL
4th down conversions	20.0%	50.0%	41.9%	ATL
Time of possession	30:30	29:20	30:27	TB

Defense Stats Comparison

	TB Defense	ATL Defense	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Points against	26.5	18.3	22.3	ATL
Rushing yards	89.0	103.5	117.9	TB
Rushing yards per attempt	3.45	4.54	4.30	TB
Completion %	64.8%	58.9%	59.3%	ATL
Passing yards	278.0	262.5	225.0	ATL
Passing yards per completion	11.81	11.62	10.90	ATL
Passing yards per attempt	7.65	6.85	6.47	ATL
INT return	0.5	0.8	1.0	ATL
Fumble recoveries	0.8	0.5	0.7	TB
Sacks	1.0	1.3	2.4	ATL
3rd down conversions	44.4%	39.2%	37.4%	ATL
4th down conversions	66.7%	44.4%	41.9%	ATL
Time of possession	30:35	30:40	30:27	TB

Special Teams Stats Comparison

	TB	ATL	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Yards per punt return	12.6	9.6	10.0	TB
Yards per kick return	21.3	23.2	22.8	ATL
Yards allowed per punt return	13.7	13.2	10.0	ATL
Yards allowed per kick return	26.3	22.3	22.8	ATL

Misc Stats Comparison

	TB	ATL	NFL Avg.	Adv.
Penalties	6.5	3.5	6.3	ATL
Penalty yards	53.5	22.5	52.9	ATL

Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game through Weeks 11 to 16 of the 2012 season after deducting the best and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per pass completion, yards per pass attempt, 3rd and 4th down conversions, special teams and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on totals through Weeks 11 to 16 with no adjustment.

Weather
Dome Stadium

Team vs. Team History

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons
Season	Week	Date	Vis	Home	Score	Winner
2000	10	2000-11-05	TB	ATL	27-14	TB
2002	5	2002-10-06	TB	ATL	20-6	TB
2002	14	2002-12-08	ATL	TB	10-34	TB
2003	3	2003-09-21	TB	ATL	31-10	TB
2003	16	2003-12-20	ATL	TB	30-28	ATL
2004	10	2004-11-14	TB	ATL	14-24	ATL
2004	13	2004-12-05	ATL	TB	0-27	TB
2005	11	2005-11-20	TB	ATL	30-27	TB
2005	16	2005-12-24	ATL	TB	24-27	TB
2006	2	2006-09-17	TB	ATL	3-14	ATL
2006	14	2006-12-10	ATL	TB	17-6	ATL
2007	11	2007-11-18	TB	ATL	31-7	TB
2007	15	2007-12-16	ATL	TB	3-37	TB
2008	2	2008-09-14	ATL	TB	9-24	TB
2008	15	2008-12-14	TB	ATL	10-13	ATL
2009	12	2009-11-29	TB	ATL	17-20	ATL
2009	17	2010-01-03	ATL	TB	20-10	ATL
2010	9	2010-11-07	TB	ATL	21-27	ATL
2010	13	2010-12-05	ATL	TB	28-24	ATL
2011	3	2011-09-25	ATL	TB	13-16	TB
2011	17	2012-01-01	TB	ATL	24-45	ATL
2012	12	2012-11-25	ATL	TB	24-23	ATL

Note: Only playoff games from the 2004 to 2010 seasons are included in the team vs. team history. Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database.