Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons Week 13 Game Preview, Game & Broadcast Details, Key Players, Top Storylines, Injury Updates - Buccaneers.com

KEY MATCHUPS

1. Buccaneers WR Mike Evans vs. Falcons CB Fabian Moreau

Second-year cornerback A.J. Terrell has turned into something of a lockdown corner for the Falcons in 2021; according to NFL Next Gen Stats he has allowed only 17 receptions for 114 yards and a passer rating of 47.9 when he was the closest defender on a pass. Terrell plays almost exclusively on the left side of the Falcons' defense (to the quarterback's right), so if he is as effective this Sunday Tom Brady may be looking to his left a lot. There he will find Fabian Moreau, who signed with Atlanta this offseason after four years of intermittent starting in Washington. When Moreau has been the nearest defender on passes by Falcons opponents, the pass-catchers have recorded 36 receptions for 398 yards, five touchdowns and a passer rating of 111.1. Mike Evans lines up on both sides of the offense from time to time, of course, but he has been split wide to the left about twice as often as he's been split wide to the right. Unless the Falcons change their approach and shadow Evans with Terrell, there should be a lot of individual matchups featuring Evans and Moreau. The Buccaneers haven't gone vertical in the passing game particularly often in recent games because their opponents have employed a lot of two-safety shells and soft zones that encourage more underneath throws. That has largely worked for the Bucs, too, but at some point, given Bruce Arians' 'no risk-it, no biscuit' philosophy, they will be trying to hit some deep shots, and Evans is one of the best deep threats in the entire NFL. On go routes since the start of the 2018 season, he ranks first in the NFL in targets (98), receptions (42), yards (1,189) and touchdowns (17).

2. Falcons G Jalen Mayfield vs. Buccaneers DL Vita Vea

The Falcons drafted Michigan's Jalen Mayfield in the third round this past April and originally had him slated to start his rookie season as a reserve. However, a hand fracture suffered by veteran Josh Andrews opened the door for Mayfield to start at left guard and he has held down that position for the balance of the season so far. In fact, while Atlanta has recently started splitting snaps at center between Matt Hennessy and Drew Dalman, Mayfield has taken every offensive snap for the last 10 games in a row. Mayfield has helped Atlanta's line provide good protection to Matt Ryan, who has only been sacked on 5.36% of his dropbacks. That's the 10th-best mark in the NFL. However, the Falcon rushing attack has struggled, ranking 30th in the NFL in both yards per game and yards per carry. Mayfield will have his hands full on Sunday with a very strong Buccaneers' defensive front, including Will Gholston, Ndamukong Suh, Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Steve McLendon. Perhaps the strongest of that group – and certainly the biggest – is the 347-pound Vita Vea. Vea's relatively modest pass-rush numbers this year (1.0 sack and six quarterback hits) do not adequately portray how much of a game-wrecker he can be, particularly if he is able to consistently overpower the guard or center in front of him. According to Next Gen Stats, Vea does have 17 quarterback pressures, and the Bucs' sack rate jumps from 4.2% when he's not on the field to 6.9% when he is. The Buccaneers also allow roughly one fewer yard per carry when Vea is in the mix.

3. Buccaneers T Donovan Smith vs. Falcons OLB Dante Fowler

At practice on Wednesday, with a group of media members just a few yards away, multiple offensive linemen began loudly stumping for Donovan Smith to get the first Pro Bowl nomination of his career. Both of Tampa Bay's offensive tackles, Smith and Tristan Wirfs, have had outstanding seasons and have helped Tom Brady enjoy the lowest team sack rate (3.22%) in the entire NFL. Smith has long been underappreciated but the Buccaneers know how important his performance is to the NFL's highest-scoring offense. On Sunday, Tampa Bay's line will face an Atlanta pass rush that has produced the league's lowest sack rate (3.93%), which looks like an area of the game in which the visitors have a clear edge. However, outside linebacker Dante Fowler does have 1.5 sacks in the Falcons' last two games and he got Brady down once in the Week Two meeting between these two teams. Overall, Smith and his linemates held Fowler mostly in check in that game, though, as the Falcon edge rusher had just two pressures on 27 pass-rush snaps, including none in the second half. The third-overall pick in the 2016 draft, Fowler has produced just 6.5 sacks in 22 games as a Falcon over the past two seasons, but he did have an 11.5-sack campaign for the Rams in 2019 and an eight-sack season in Jacksonville in 2017. Fowler went so high in the 2016 draft because he checked off all the boxes for a dominant edge rusher: He has a fast get-off, he can win with power, he plays with a high motor and he is very athletic.

4. Colts TE Kyle Pitts. vs. Buccaneers S Antoine Winfield, Jr.

Speaking of extremely high draft picks, the Falcons made Florida's Kyle Pitts the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history when they grabbed him with the fourth-overall pick in April. Few expect Pitts to be anything but a superstar in the NFL and he's off to a good start with a team-leading 45 catches for 661 yards. The rookie has only found the end zone once so far this year but has the size (6-6, 246), hops and athleticism to be a serious red zone threat. He had five catches for 73 yards against the Buccaneers in Week Two. The scariest thing about Pitts for opposing defenses is his speed and how quickly he can get down the seams and make plays downfield. His 14.7-yard per-catch average is second among all qualifying tight ends this season. Tight ends are often the responsibility of safeties in opposing defenses, particularly when they are working down the middle of the field, and the Buccaneer safety most likely to be in that position is second-year man Antoine Winfield, Jr. The 5-9 Winfield showed that he can win battles against pass-catchers of Pitts' size last Sunday when he made an acrobatic leaping interception over 6-4, 226-pound receiver Michael Pittman, Jr. Winfield has good instincts and recognition skills and plays with the savvy of a veteran far more advanced in age. With Julio Jones no longer in an Atlanta uniform and Calvin Ridley currently away from the team, Pitts is the primary concern for opposing defenses in the Falcons' passing attack.

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https://www.buccaneers.com/news/2021-game-preview-buccaneers-atlanta-falcons-week-13-21-evans-vea

2021-12-02 13:01:12Z
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