Here are five things to know before today’s Buccaneers (2-2) at Falcons (1-4) kickoff at 1 p.m. at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
1. Injury report: Falcons running back Devonta Freeman (foot), defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (sprained ankle) and defensive end Derrick Shelby (groin) have been declared out for this game.
2. Jones' touchdown drought: Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones has gone 10 regular season games without catching a touchdown pass. Jones last touchdown catch was in the 26-13 win over the Rams in the wild-card round of the playoffs on Jan. 6, 2018. He last regular-season touchdown catch was against Tampa Bay in a 34-20 win on Nov. 26, 2017. He caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan against the Bucs. Earlier in the game, he caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Mohamed Sanu.
3. Poor defenses. The Falcons and Bucs are struggling mightily on defense, in part because of varying degrees of injuries. The Bucs are 32nd in the NFL scoring defense at 34.8 points a game and the Falcons are 31st at 32.6 points per game.
4. Series history: This will be the Falcons' 50th regular-season meeting with the Bucaneers. The Falcons lead the series, 25-24. Here's the analysis of this game.
5. Where to watch, listen: Here's the broadcast information for Sunday's game which is being televised by Fox NFL withThom Brennaman handling the play-by-play, Chris Spielman the commentating and Karyn Bryant as the sideline reporter.
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