Falcons at Buccaneers
The last time the Atlanta Falcons won five straight games, they were doing the “Dirty Bird” all the way to the Super Bowl. Twelve years later, Matt Ryan has the Falcons looking super again.
The jury is still out on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, however, despite their winning record.
After pulling off more late-game heroics, Ryan looks to guide the NFC-leading Falcons to a sixth straight win at NFC South rival Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Atlanta (9-2) never has to sweat close games with “Matty Ice” under center. Ryan has led the team to five straight wins – four of them by seven points or less.
As a result, the unflappable third-year quarterback has Atlanta in the midst of its longest winning streak since a nine-game run in 1998, when Jamal Anderson and company danced their way to Super Bowl XXXIII.
Atlanta may be headed down that road again this season, thanks to Ryan.
Last Sunday, Ryan completed 14 of his last 15 passes and led yet another fourth-quarter comeback in a 20-17 victory over Green Bay.
Aaron Rodgers tied the game with a 10-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds left, but after a facemask penalty on the ensuing kickoff, Ryan drove Atlanta into field goal position.
Matt Bryant kicked a 47-yard field goal with nine seconds left, helping Ryan continue his magic at the Georgia Dome. He improved to 19-1 there since taking over as the starter in 2008.
The win over Green Bay increased the Falcons' chances of playing at the Georgia Dome well into January. Atlanta holds a one-game lead over New Orleans (8-3) and Chicago (8-3) for the best record in the NFC.
Ryan is receiving all the praise for the Falcons’ strong season, and rightfully so, but Atlanta has also benefited immensely from Michael Turner’s bounce-back season.
Turner, who is fifth in the league in rushing with 974 yards, has four 100-yard games in his last five contests. “The Burner” has already surpassed his injury-shortened totals of last season (871 yards in 11 games).
Turner ran for 107 yards and two scores in a 27-21 victory over Tampa Bay on Nov. 7 and he could gash the Buccaneers’ 26th-ranked rush defense (132.5 ypg) once again.
The Falcons hold a two-game lead over the Buccaneers (7-4), who have turned some heads this season after finishing 3-13 in 2009.
Still, the Buccaneers are being overlooked as a legit contender mainly because Raheem Morris’ team has been outscored by a combined 113-50 against teams with a winning record (0-4).
Tampa Bay was held to a season-low 263 yards in a 17-10 loss to Baltimore last week. Josh Freeman was 17 of 37 passing for 162 yards and the Buccaneers converted just 6 of 16 third downs.
Tampa Bay has struggled against most of the upper-echelon teams, but the Buccaneers were a goal-line stand away from stunning the Falcons on the road last month.
The Buccaneers were driving for the go-ahead score when LeGarrette Blount was stuffed on fourth-and-1 from the Falcons’ 2-yard line with 2:37 left. It was Tampa Bay’s fourth straight loss to Atlanta.
This is the first meeting in Tampa since Ryan threw a pair of touchdowns in a 20-10 victory on Jan. 3, 2009.