At the time, it seemed a harbinger of bad things for the Falcons. If the mediocre-at-best Buccaneers beat them at home in the season opener, then how good could they really be?
A four-game Falcons winning streak allayed some of those concerns before they resurrected them by blowing leads in back-to-back games. Now, after the Falcons outlasted the Packers on Sunday and blasted the Buccaneers four days later, there are fewer reasons for skeptics to doubt that they are for real.
The Falcons offered more proof by turning that 31-24 loss to the Bucs on Sept. 11 into a 43-28 romp at Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
“We are a lot different from Week 1 to Week 9,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Friday. “We showed that we’ve improved in a number of areas in all three phases. I would say our team really has a very good understanding of our identity, our toughness, our resiliency, the balance we have on offense, the ball-hawking mentality defense, (and) the way we want to run and hit on special teams.”
The Falcons (6-3) showed all of those elements while routing the Buccaneers and joining the Cowboys (6-1) as the only two NFC teams with six victories. The Eagles (4-3) play at the Giants on Sunday before playing host to the Falcons on Nov. 13.
The Buccaneers (3-5) had just held Oakland’s high-powered offense to 24 points in regulation time, but couldn’t stop the Falcons, who scored on eight of 11 possessions (halftime and the final whistle ended two of them). Quarterback Matt Ryan, operating from a clean pocket all night, was 25-of-34 for 344 yards and four touchdowns, without an interception.
The Falcons’ defense forced and recovered two fumbles to set up good field position for the offense. Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston encountered more resistance than he did in the first game, as the Falcons recovered from shaky early play to shut down the Buccaneers until the game was no longer competitive.
“First game of the year, (the Buccaneers) played a little bit better than we did that day,” Ryan said. “I felt like we have continued to improve from that time of the year. For me, that’s like the best thing from a confidence standpoint is that we continue to get better week-in and week-out.”
The Buccaneers had some key players out with injury for the rematch, but so did the Falcons.
The Falcons’ secondary held up after its top cover man, Desmond Trufant, left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury. They generated an effective pass rush even with Dwight Freeney out because of a thigh injury. With running back Tevin Coleman out, Devonta Freeman, Terron Ward and wide receiver Taylor Gabriel combined for 131 rushing yards to help set up the play-action passes that are integral to coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
Several NFL teams have looked sloppy and lethargic while playing on Thursday nights this season. The Falcons were sharp and spirited in spite of the short preparation time.
“Really pleased with the players and their readiness for the game,” Quinn said. “I thought we had a real edge about us and that came with the preparation guys did during the week. It was really evident. We looked fresh; we looked fast.”
The Falcons headed for a weekend break with injuries as their only major concerns.
A shoulder injury forced Desmond Trufant to leave the game in the first half Thursday. Quinn said Friday that he had no update on Trufant’s condition.
With Trufant sidelined, Jalen Collins got his first extended playing time this season. Collins missed the first four games because of an NFL suspension for performance-enhancing substances and was inactive for three of the next four games.
Collins played 49 defensive snaps and had two tackles and a pass defended. Winston suffered a knee injury when Collins smashed him with a hard hit to prevent Winston from converting a two-point conversion run late in the game.
“It was really good to see him being physical,” Quinn said.
Quinn said he’s hopeful Coleman can return to play against the Eagles after missing the past two games because of a hamstring injury. Quinn said the plan is for Coleman to test the hamstring during practice Monday and then see how it responds before determining if he can practice the rest of the week.
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