Atlanta at Tampa Bay

Did Atlanta turn its season around last week, or will we see more of a team that just can't get it done? They were on the verge of going down yet again, but Washington leading 14-10 deep in Atlanta territory gets picked off, and shortly after a long return, instead of 21-10, it became 17-14 Atlanta. It was, in our opinion, somewhat of a false win for Atlanta. Tampa Bay has been one of the toughest places to play in the NFL. There have been only 6 of the last 38 teams that have come in here leave with a victory of more than 4 points! The biggest problem Atlanta has is their offense is extremely unbalanced. They are averaging just 119 yards passing in the last five and of course four of those have been losses. They scored the most points when they passed the ball. They had a two game stretch (the only two games all year they threw the ball effectively) where they passed for 503 yards, and scored 70 points. Teams let them run the ball, and eventually the drive breaks down. They have averaged just 15 ppg over the last 5, and that won't get it done here. Their defense ranks 24th in yards allowed while Tampa's is ranked much better at #18. Poor offensive teams that are off a very inept offensive performance last game are very good bets in the NFL. People want to believe in Michael Vick and the Falcons and they want nothing to do with a 3-9 team that scored 3 points last game and 10 the game prior. But this is a perfect time to jump on the down-and-out team.