1. The no-spin zone: Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans put on a show, as he had seven catches for 162 yards and a touchdown in the Bucs’ 21-18 win over the Panthers on Sunday.
Evans became the first wide receiver in NFL history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in each of his first 10 seasons. Jerry Rice, the league’s all-time receiving yards leader with 22,895 yards, did so 11 times from 1986-96 and had 14 total 1,000-yard seasons.
Rice had 927 yards in his rookie season in 1985.
“Mike Evans is a great player,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said.
In the previous meeting, Evans caught 6 of 8 targets for 82 yards and a touchdown. He caught a 40-yard touchdown in the game with A.J. Terrell in coverage. Terrell is in the NFL’s concussion protocol this week, and Jeff Okudah also sustained an undisclosed injury late against the Jets on Sunday.
Mike Hughes was out Sunday with a hand injury.
Rookie Clark Phillips III took over for Terrell against the Jets. The Falcons likely would have to switch veteran Okudah to cover Evans in man-to-man situations if Terrell doesn’t make it out of the concussion protocol.
How the Falcons match up with Evans will be key.
“Every week in this league – like (rookie left guard Matthew) Bergeron (against the Jets),” Smith said. “I told him that’s one of the better matchups you’re going to have. You find out a lot about yourself. Quinnen Williams is a great player.
“That was a good matchup for Berg, but yeah, Tampa, we have a lot of respect for them. It’s just like a lot of teams they’re dealing with some injuries. We’ll have to see who they have up, but they will be ready to go.”
Also, cornerback Tre Flowers started early in the season and could be pressed into duty. The Falcons likely will have to keep safety Jessie Bates over the top of Evans, which would leave nickel back Dee Alford on Chris Godwin.
2. Last meeting: In the last meeting against the Bucs, quarterback Desmond Ridder had three red-zone turnovers, and the Falcons needed a 51-yard field goal at the buzzer by Younghoe Koo to pull out the 16-13 victory Oct. 22.
3. Smith stepped in for Landman: Falcons linebacker Andre Smith stepped in after Nate Landman sustained a knee injury against the Jets.
“He had a really good day on (special) teams, and then he had to go in there and play linebacker,” Arthur Smith said. “They tried to (isolate) him on one. We rallied to the tackle. That’s the NFL, and then played really solid football. Got the fumble. Yeah, did a good job.”
4. Pinion named team’s Walter Payton man of the year: Punter Bradley Pinion was named the Falcons’ Walter Payton NFL man of the year. Pinion is the team’s nominee for the national award, which recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service.
5. North Clayton’s Diaby starting: The Bucs have gone 2-4 since they played the Falcons, with losses to Buffalo, Houston, San Francisco and Indianapolis. They defeated Tennessee and Carolina.
Linebacker Lavonte David (groin) and Devin White (foot) did not play against the Panthers. Rookie YaYa Diaby, who played at North Clayton High and Georgia Military College, started the past two games. He had six tackles against the Panthers and has five sacks on the season.
The secondary is led by Antoine Winfield Jr., who has 86 tackles, two interceptions and five quarterback hits. In the previous meeting, Winfield hit Ridder before he crossed the goal line and the ball went out of bounds, resulting in a touchback.
The Falcons are not expecting a major overhaul by the Bucs.
“It’s not like you’re going to get a wholesale schematic change, but they have different pressure packages than they used last time,” Smith said. “We’ll have different things that we didn’t use, but you know the personnel pretty well.”
The Bucs, who give up 99 yards rushing per game (10th in league), remain stout on defense. They also have 34 sacks.
6. Pass protection: The Bucs had only one sack and one quarterback hit in the last meeting.
“They do a great job with their rush plans,” Smith said. “Some people call them pressures, but I always appreciate and why I’ve always had so much respect for (Bucs coach) Todd Bowles – there are a lot of great coaches in the league – but I do appreciate, you can see what they try to do week-in and week-out.”
The Falcons’ pass protection will get tested.
“There’s a lot (blitzes),” Smith said “When you study each other so much, they have some really good stuff. They’ve had to plug and play guys in. They’re a physical team. It’s a good challenge. We’re excited.”
7. Series history: This will be the 61st meeting. The series is tied 30-30, with the Falcons winning the past two meetings.
8. Where to watch, listen and livestream: What you should know about Sunday’s game between the Falcons (6-6) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-7), which is set for 1 p.m. at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
TV: CBS. Play-by-Play: Spero Dedes. Analyst: Adam Archuleta. Sideline: Aditi Kinkhabwala.
Local radio: 92.9 The Game. Play-by-play: Wes Durham. Analyst: Dave Archer. Executive producer: Beau Morgan. Engineer: Miller Pope. Pregame/postgame show – Hosts: Chris Goforth and Mike Johnson, with Dylan Matthews and Orin Romain as studio producers at 11 a.m.
Satellite radio: SiriusXM NFL Radio. Falcons channel 85, 225 or the App.
Bucs 137, 380 or the App. (Games also are available on the SiriusXM App. Fans can find their team’s channel under the “NFL Play-by-Play” tab or by searching their team’s name.)
Livestream: Streaming inside the Atlanta market: Fans in the Atlanta market can stream the game on the Atlanta Falcons app. NFL app (subscription required). Out of the country: GamePass International.
9. Depth chart: The Falcons (6-6) are set to play the defending NFC South champion Bucs (5-7) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons opened the game against the Jets in 22 personnel, with two tight ends (Kyle Pitts and MyCole Pruitt) and two running backs (Keith Smith and Bijan Robinson) and one wide receiver (Drake London).
Mack Hollins’ ankle injury has caused him to miss the past three games. Last week, he tested it Wednesday, but was back out Thursday. He hasn’t played since the Vikings game Nov. 5.
He played 23 offensive snaps (35%) in the previous meeting with the Bucs.
Here’s the depth chart for the Bucs’ game:
OFFENSE
WR Mack Hollins, KhaDarel Hodge
TE Kyle Pitts, John FitzPatrick
LT Jake Matthews
LG Matthew Bergeron, Jovaughn Gwyn
C Drew Dalman, Ryan Neuzil
RG Chris Lindstrom, Kyle Hinton
RT Kaleb McGary, Storm Norton
TE Jonnu Smith, MyCole Pruitt
WR Drake London, Scotty Miller, Van Jefferson
FB Keith Smith (Team list him as Pitts backup, but he lines up at fullback in games)
RB Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier
Joker Cordarrelle Patterson
QB Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinicke, Logan Woodside
DEFENSE
DL Kentavious Street, Albert Huggins, Travis Bell
DL David Onyemata, Ta’Quon Graham
DE Calais Campbell, Zach Harrison, Joe Gaziano
OLB Bud Dupree, Lorenzo Carter
ILB Kaden Elliss
ILB Nate Landman, Andre Smith Jr.
OLB Arnold Ebiketie, DeAngelo Malone
CB A.J. Terrell, Mike Hughes
S Jessie Bates III, Micah Abernathy
S Richie Grant, DeMarcco Hellams
NB Dee Alford, Clark Phillips III
CB Jeff Okudah, Tre Flowers
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Younghoe Koo
P Bradley Pinion
LS Liam McCullough
H Bradley Pinion
PR Dee Alford, Scotty Miller, Mike Hughes, Bijan Robinson
KOR Cordarrelle Patterson, Mike Hughes
The Bow Tie Chronicles
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