Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Brandon Myers, left, celebrates his touchdown reception with Ali Marpet during the first half of an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016.
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But Dirk Koetter and Mike Smith are not conservative coaches, so when they said those same statements during the preseason, there was reason to be optimistic that it was true.
The Atlanta Falcons gave up an early lead to fall in their final home opener at the Georgia Dome to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-24 Sunday. He finished with a passer rating of 122.6.
Opening day in the NFL saw Kansas City cornerback Marcus Peters raise a black-gloved fist during the national anthem, a protest amplified later Sunday when four Miami Dolphins kneeled on the sideline with hands on their hearts as “The Star Spangled Banner” played in Seattle. Atlanta committed seven penalties accounting for a total of 74 yards.
A bounce back was hoped for this year, but instead the Bucs and Winston beat them for a third straight time in Koetter’s first game as a replacement for Lovie Smith.
Smith joked that he’s had a lot of “sleepless nights” lately, preparing to face a Falcons offense led by Ryan, receiver Julio Jones and running back Devonta Freeman. On the ground, Terron Ward rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns in 22 attempts while Simms added 25 yards in six rushes. Winston overthrew passes to Adam Humphries and Mike Evans and Tampa Bay had to settle for a field goal.
Tampa Bay trailed 10-3 early as an early Winston interception set up a Falcons touchdown.
Matt Ryan found Mohamed Sanu for an explosive 59-yard pass.
Atlanta’s comeback ended with Matt Bryant’s third field goal, a 29-yarder in the fourth quarter. Second-round pick Roberto Aguayo will be taking on the kicking duties. Mike Evans was the team’s leading receiver, with five catches for 99 yards and one of those four touchdowns. Sims looked as if he would get a nice 15-yard gain to the Falcons’ 10 as he was approached by four Atlanta defenders. In the other game, he put up a respectable 90 yards.
Jamies Winston led a 75-yard touchdown play as the running game opened up the Bucs offense. Winston got hot. The Falcons went splat.
Winston was 23 of 33 for 281 yards, using just about every weapon at his disposal. Freeman had three TDs and 141 yards in Week 3 a year ago against the Dallas Cowboys, and it proved to be the start of a good season for him as he finished with 1,056 yards and 11 rushing TDs, which was tops in the NFL. Inside linebacker Kwon Alexander had one of the sacks for the Buccaneers and was in on 17 tackles.
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The Falcons are now tied with the Saints in their opening game of the season with their lone touchdown coming on a five-yard completion from quarterback Matt Ryan to Sanu. The third-year player was injured while covering a punt in the first quarter.
