What happened to the Bucs?
After they went 9-7 in Dirk Koetter’s first season as head coach this was supposed to be their year.
The NFC South Takeover was supposed to come from the 813 area code.
But third-year quarterback Jameis Winston has regressed and was injured as they got off to a 2-6 start and dropped five straight games to re-settle in the basement of the perhaps the league toughest division. Koetter, who was the Falcons offensive coordinator from 2012-2014, is in scramble mode.
Longtime NFL backup Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was shunned by the quarterback-starved New York Jets, has guided the Bucs to two straight victories and will start when the Bucs (4-6) face the Falcons (6-4) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Winston, the former Heisman Trophy winner from Florida State, started the first eight games. The Bucs elected to rest his throwing shoulder and the team doctors didn’t clear him to start throwing after an examination on Monday.
He was first injured against Arizona on Oct. 15 and subsequently against New Orleans on Nov. 5.
Fitzpatrick will be backed up by Ryan Griffin, who played at Tulane.
The Falcons have taken note of Fitzpatrick’s play.
“So far he’s completing passes, he’s got seven touchdowns, only three picks and you can see the different weapons that are coming alive in (rookie O.J.) Howard at the tight end, the receiving corps is one of the very best in my opinion because of their versatility of DeSean (Jackson) and the versatility of (Mike) Evans on the side and they’ve got runners,” Quinn said in a conference call on Tuesday.
Since the Falcons played Monday night, Quinn said he hasn’t had time to go study the tape of the Falcons next opponent and why the team seems improved under Fitzpatrick. But he does see a dominant defense led by former Falcons coach Mike Smith.
“(The defense) creates takeaways so if those things happen and you end up in the plus, generally you’re off to a pretty good start,” Quinn said.
Fitzpatrick started for the Buccaneers for the team’s 15-10 win over the New York Jets on Nov. 12 and Buccaneers’ 30-20 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
The rushing attack was supposed to be improved with the return of Doug Martin. He’s their leading rusher with 112 carries for 343 yards and two touchdowns. Former Falcons running back Jacquizz Rodgers is the second-leading rusher with 186 yards.
The addition of Jackson in free agency and Howard were expected to transform the passing game along with some continue high-level play from Mike Evans.
Jackson has 35 catches for 532 yards and three touchdowns. Howard has 17 catches for 249 yards and four touchdowns.
Fitzpatrick, 34, has been in the league for 12 seasons and has 118 career starts. He has a 48-69-1 record as a starter after being undrafted out of Harvard. He’s been with St. Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Tennessee, Houston, New York Jets and now the Bucs.
"Ryan has done exactly what I thought he would do,' Koetter said to the Tampa media. "I can understand why other people who haven't seen him in practice would not necessarily expect that. He's playing how I thought he would play."
Fitzpatrick passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Dolphins.
"He made really good decisions," Koetter said. "We didn't turn the ball over. We say every week in our meetings, 'If we don't turn it over we've got a great chance to win.' "
Koetter believes he's getting some quality play out of the veteran journeyman.
"He made really good decisions," Koetter said. "Sixty-percent completion (rate), but then you factor out a couple of drops (and) I think four throw-aways.
"No matter how much of a veteran quarterback you are, throwing the ball away when the play is not there is still, to this day, one of the hardest things to get a quarterback to do, and Ryan did a good job of that."
The Falcons split the series with the Bucs last season.
The Bucs won in Atlanta last season defeating the Falcons 31-24 on Sept. 11, 2016. The Falcons defeated the Bucs 43-28 on Nov. 3.
Sports Content producer JuliaKate E. Culpepper contributed to this story.
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