Atlanta Falcons vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Predictions, Pick, Preview & Odds - September 25, 2011 | Sportsbookbuzz.com

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Atlanta Falcons vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Raymond James Stadium – Tampa, Florida
Sunday September 25 – 4:15PM on FOX

Spread (ATS): Tampa Bay Buccaneers -2
Over/Under: 46
Odds courtesy of BetOnlne

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Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons picked up a huge victory on Sunday night. The game was overhyped because of the return of Mike Vick, and his subsequent concussion, but what was lost was how devastating it would have been for the Falcons to lose that one and drop to 0-2. This team thinks it is ready to compete for a Super Bowl and that definitely would have put them behind the eight ball.

You gotta hand it to Matty Ice for bringing the Falcons back on Sunday. After getting dominated in the 3rd quarter it looked like curtains for Atlanta but he led two key TD drives and threw for four TDs in the game, even though he didn’t have superlative yardage numbers. One of his great assets is patience but I would like to see him trust his guys a little more and try and force it in there sometimes. Julio Jones, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez are not just good players, they are physical mismatches in most situations.

This is a really important game for both teams – both 1-1. The is the first division game for either and for Atlanta they need a couple of important streaks to continue: 5 straight wins against the Buccaneers and 4 straight road victories against the NFC South. This line on this one has dropped to a pick’em which feels about right.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Just like Atlanta, the Bucs had to fight back in the second half last week to avoid dropping to the dreaded 0-2 start. The team looked dreadful in the first half and in some way their performance was even more impressive than that of the Falcons as they shutout the Vikings for a half to win it late. The Bucs will definitely be looking for a better start to this one as they try and get a leg up on the Falcons at home.

I really like the makeup of this Tampa team. Josh Freeman keeps exceeding my expectations and the other offensive playmakers have room to grow. They did a good job rushing the ball at Minnesota ripping off at 5.5 yards per carry and anytime they have that kind of success they are going to be tough to stop. I especially like what they showed last year when they ran the ball to control the tempo of the game and grind out victories.

I think this is a great spot for Tampa to break their run of failure against the Falcons. These are two good teams and being at home should be a difference maker. The other key will be which team can run the ball more effectively. Both quarterbacks can bring their teams back but they would rather use a time of possession, play good defense approach.

The odds makers have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a -2 point favorite with an over/under of 46.

ATS Pick: Tampa Bay Buccaneers -2
Over/Under Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Tampa 28 – Atlanta 23

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