Buccaneers, without Evans & Godwin host the Falcons in the NFC South – NFL Week 8 Odds

First place in the NFC North is on the line Sunday as the Atlanta Falcons look to complete the season sweep of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are without both star receivers due to injury and short home dogs on the NFL odds.

Atlanta at Tampa Bay: 2024 NFL Expert Analysis in Week 8

Atlanta Falcons NFL Line -143

The Falcons had a three-game winning streak snapped Sunday in a surprising 34-14 home loss to Seattle. Kirk Cousins completed 24 of 35 passes for 232 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions and rushed once for minus-1 yard. He also lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. Cousins’ trio of turnovers certainly had a part to play in the lopsided loss, as he handed the ball to the Seahawks on three consecutive second-half possessions. The miscues netted a total of 10 points for Seattle.

Drake London

No. 1 WR London secured six of eight targets for 63 yards and a touchdown. The third-year pro scored for the third straight game on a five-yard grab midway through the third quarter for his fifth TD of the year. His streak of three straight games with a TD catch is the longest for a Falcons player since tight end Hayden Hurst in 2020 when he did so from Weeks 14-16. London has emerged as Cousins’ clearcut No. 1 target as it was London’s sixth consecutive game with at least six receptions and 50 yards, the longest active streak in the NFL. Bijan Robinson had 21 rushes for 103 yards and a touchdown, adding three catches for 40 yards. He now has two total TDs on the year, already matching his rookie season.

.@Bijan5Robinson making video game moves 🔥https://t.co/4yVnQQsWkZ pic.twitter.com/a2yRGc934f

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 22, 2024

Atlanta struggled to get much going against the beleaguered Seahawks defense, which gave up an average of nearly 36 points a game during a three-game skid entering Sunday. “A tough day at the office,” Cousins said. “Pro football has a way of testing you like that.”

The Defense

Defensively, the team’s lack of a pass rush was obvious yet again. The Falcons have a league-worst six sacks, and their pass rush win rate (34.4%) is the sixth-worst in the NFL. Atlanta made a trade on the eve of the season by sending a 2025 third-round pick to the New England Patriots for edge rusher Matthew Judon. Judon had 15.5 sacks in 2022 but a season-ending bicep injury cut short his 2023 campaign. So far, Judon has just 1.5 sacks through seven games. He’s tied for the team lead in sacks with interior defensive lineman Grady Jarrett.

The Falcons have not had a respectable pass rush in nearly a decade. They were near the bottom in every pass rush statistical category in 2023 and haven’t had a double-digit sack producer since Vic Beasley in 2016. The Falcons defense gave up six plays of more than 20 yards Sunday. Coming into the game, Atlanta had allowed a league-low 11 plays of 20-plus yards.

Penalties and miscues hindered the Falcons at the start of the season, and they returned against the Seahawks. Atlanta committed nine penalties setting them back 72 yards. The timing of those penalties was impactful, stalling drives for the Falcons’ offense and keeping the Seahawks’ drives alive.

Injuries

For this game, the Falcons have several injured players trending in the right direction, headlined by left guard Matthew Bergeron and inside linebacker Troy Andersen. Bergeron was hurt in Sunday’s loss while Andersen has missed the past three with a knee injury but has been practicing this week. Andersen was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week earlier this season.

Raheem Morris

“We’ll get him out there, get him to move around a little bit, and see where he is,” Head Coach said. “Troy is a Ferrari, so to speak, and Troy’s game is based off being able to move fast and vicious and speed. What makes Troy special, scoring touchdowns for us, is his ability to run and be as healthy as possible.”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL Line +117

The Bucs not only lost 41-31 at home to Baltimore on Monday night but also lost their two Pro Bowl receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, to injuries. Godwin’s season is expected to be finished as he needs surgery for a dislocated left ankle. Evans, a future Hall of Famer and franchise leading scorer, suffered what Coach Todd Bowles described as a “moderate” hamstring strain and will be sidelined “a couple weeks.” He said Evans likely won’t return until after the team’s Week 11 bye week, meaning they’ll be without nearly 50% of their team’s offensive receiving production until then.

Mike Evans and Chris Godwin

Evans and Godwin entered Week 7 tied for the league lead in touchdown receptions with five each, with Evans recording a sixth on a 25-yard touchdown Monday, making him just the 11th player in NFL history to reach 100 receiving touchdowns. Evans had hoped to tie Jerry Rice this season for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons after recording 10 in his first 10 campaigns. Up until this point, Evans has only missed nine regular-season games, with just seven due to injury or illness.

THE DEFINITION OF GREATNESS 🐐 pic.twitter.com/jTEumlEdLJ

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 22, 2024

Godwin was putting forth a career season, leading all receivers with 50 receptions and 33 receiving first downs, while trailing only Ja’Marr Chase (620) in receiving yards (576) and tying for third in the NFL in receiving touchdowns (five). Evans and Godwin are 1-of-3 sets of teammates to go over 1,000 yards each in both 2022 and 2023 and the only duo to do so in each of the past three seasons.

Todd Bowles

“We’ve looked at outside the building, but to get a true No. 1 in here, you got to make some massive trades and give up quite a bit. That’s not where we are at this point,” Bowles said in regards to a possible trade for a wideout . “We feel comfortable with the guys in the building. They’re probably not of name status of Mike and Chris or as accomplished right now, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play. We’ll alter some things and [Rakim] Jarrett will be back this week. We’ll look at him in practice as well and we’ll make a decision off of that.”

Baker Mayfield

Needless to say, those injuries are going to hurt QB Baker Mayfield, who is having a career season. In Monday’s loss, he completed 31 of 45 passes for 370 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions and added five rushes for 22 yards. He also threw a two-point conversion pass. Mayfield has now eclipsed 300 yards on three occasions overall in the first seven games and has had at least three touchdown passes in three consecutive contests.

Mayfield has the second-highest passer rating by a Tampa Bay quarterback through seven games of any QB who has started at least five of the team’s first seven games (107.1), trailing only Tom Brady in 2021 (108.2). Tampa Bay has amassed 1,075 net yards of offense in its last two games – the most across any two-game span in franchise history and the most across a two-game span by any team this season. The team’s 82 points are the fourth-most points scored across a two-game span in franchise history.

The Running Backs

With contributions from Rachaad White, Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker, Tampa Bay’s running back corps ranks first in the NFL in scrimmage yards (801) and receiving yards (275) since Week 4, while ranking second in rushing yards (526) during that span. All three Tampa Bay running backs are averaging over 5.0 yards per touch this season, including Tucker leading all running backs with 9.7 yards per touch. The Bucs 5.1 rushing yards per attempt is the team’s highest average through seven games in team history.

How to Watch Falcons at Bucs in Week 8

When: Sunday, 1 PM ET
Where: Raymond James Stadium
TV: FOX
Stream Option: https://tv.youtube.com/learn/nflsundayticket/

Falcons vs Bucs Last Meeting

This already will conclude the season series as on Thursday night in Week 5, the Falcons beat the visiting Bucs 36-30 in overtime. Atlanta QB Kirk Cousins threw for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime. Younghoe Koo kicked a 52-yard field goal at the end of regulation to send it to OT for the Falcons. Baker Mayfield threw for three scores, two to Mike Evans, in a losing effort.

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