Road trips have not been kind to the Falcons this season as they came into the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a 0-4 record. And after they faced the Bucs on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, it was the same story as the Falcons came up short 41-28.
The first half for the Falcons (specifically the second quarter) was not pretty to say the least. After the Falcons tied the game a three with a Matt Bryant 46-yard field goal, the Bucs scored 21 unanswered points.
The first set of seven points came shortly after the Bryant field goal when Bobby Rainey scored from 43-yards out. That play came right after Mike Glennon threw a 47-yard pass to Vincent Jackson to put the Bucs at the Falcons 37-yard line.
The next scoring drive came midway through the second quarter when Matt Ryan’s pass was intercepted by Mason Foster and retuned for a 37-yard touchdown. Ryan’s pass was intended for Patrick DiMarco, but he was hit as he was throwing the pass.
The final set of points came after a Roddy White fumble and that led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Rainey. White fumbled the ball after a pass he caught from Ryan. Dashon Goldson forced the fumble and it was recovered by Mark Barron.
The Falcons were able to add more points on the board when Bryant kicked a 49-yard field goal with less than a minute before halftime.
At the start of the second half, the Falcons looked to add more points as they started the half with possession. That did not pan out as they turned the ball over on downs at the Bucs 33-yard line. That led to a Glennon 4-yard touchdown pass to Rainey. The Bucs added seven more points to their lead five minutes later when Glennon threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson. The Bucs had as short field to work with due to Dekoda Watson blocking a Matt Bosher punt.
The Falcons did answer on the ensuing drive when Ryan threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Harry Douglass to cut the Bucs lead to 25.
The Falcons looked to cut the lead to 18 to start the fourth quarter, but Ryan’s pass was intercepted by Goldson, which led to a Ryan Lindell 46-yard field goal.
The Falcons were able to make score respectable as they scored the last 14 points of the game. After Lindell field goal, backup running back Antone Smith scored on a 50-yard touchdown run to cut the Bucs lead to 20. Four minutes later, the Falcons scored seven more points when Ryan threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to White to cut the lead to 13. Ryan had to come into the game for an injured Dominique Davis who took the place of Ryan earlier in the fourth quarter.
Turnovers were the big reason the Falcons came up short in Tampa as they committed three and two of those turnovers led to 14 points. Ryan’s two picks puts him at 12 of the year, but 11 of those have come on the road. He did finish the game with 254 passing yards and two touchdowns.
The Falcons defense could not stop the Bucs offense as they had 186 rushing yards and 224 yards through the air. Rainey had 163 rushing yards and three total touchdowns and Jackson has 10 catches for 165 yards and one touchdown.
One of the bright spots for the Falcons is they were able to run the ball effectively. Smith had two carries for 88 yards while Steven Jackson had 11 rushes for 41 yards. Another bright spot was Paul Worrilow who had 16 tackles in the loss. This is the third consecutive game where he has had 15 tackles or more.
The loss puts the Falcons at 2-8 on the year and they have now lost four consecutive games. They will look to end the skid on Thursday night when they face the New Orleans Saints at the Georgia Dome.
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