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Bucs try to avoid 0-3 start, visit Falcons

Sep 18, 2014 - 4:50 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - It just got late early for Lovie Smith and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs will be aiming to avoid an 0-3 start under their new head coach when they visit NFC South rival Atlanta on "Thursday Night Football."

Tampa Bay is coming off a disappointing 19-17 home loss to a St. Louis Rams team with Austin Davis, who began the season No. 3 on the depth chart, as the starting quarterback.

The Bucs had a chance to go home happy when Josh McCown found rookie receiver Mike Evans for a 29-yard gain down to the Rams' 32-yard line in the waning seconds. Evans, however, was hit hard on the play and failed to get off the field under his own power resulting in a 10-second runoff to end game.

Bucs kicker Patrick Murray, who was 1-for-2 on field goal attempts in the contest, had missed a chip-shot 24-yarder earlier in the fourth quarter so it's certainly no guarantee he would have been able to boot a 50-yarder to win the game but it would have been nice to have the opportunity.

"It's unfortunate we didn't handle the situation as well as we needed to there at the end," Smith understated.

McCown threw for 179 yards and an interception in the contest while adding two rushing scores on his only two carries for Tampa Bay, which has started 0-2 for the second straight season.

Bobby Rainey, starting in place of an injured Doug Martin, ran 22 times for 144 yards.

The Falcons, meanwhile, are coming off their first setback of the season, a 24-10 hiccup in Cincinnati.

Matt Ryan ended up with 231 yards passing and one touchdown on just 24-of-44 efficiency for the Falcons, who couldn't maintain momentum from a season- opening overtime win against the Saints.

Julio Jones recorded Atlanta's lone TD, finishing with a game-high 88 yards on seven catches, while Steven Jackson was limited to 46 yards on 11 carries.

Roddy White added five receptions and he and Ryan have now combined for 530 career completions, the most by any quarterback and receiver duo in the NFL since Ryan entered the league in 2008.

"At the half, we knew we were right in the game," Ryan lamented. "But when you turn the ball over three times, you're not going to win. I have to be better. That's the way it goes sometimes."

The Bucs hold a slim 21-20 advantage in the all-time series and took that sight edge thanks to a win in November of last season when Vincent Jackson had 10 receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown in a 41-28 victory.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

A revamped Atlanta defense hasn't shown much yet in a very short sample size. Mike Nolan's unit enters Week 3 ranked dead last in the league and has yet to record a sack in 120 minutes of football.

"We've got to put more pressure on the quarterback," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "It's not where we want to be at after the first two games. I think that's translated into us not playing the type of defense that we want."

The positive is that Tampa is ranked a dismal 31st in passing offense with just 168.5 yards per game behind free-agent pickup McCown. If McCown is going to get it going with a short week of preparation, Vincent Jackson is likely going to be involved.

Since joining Tampa Bay in 2012, the 6-foot-5 Jackson has amassed 449 receiving yards against the Falcons, the most of any receiver over that span. Jackson is also tied with New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham for the most receptions (28) against Atlanta in that period.

"Normally when you're playing a division opponent, we have some familiarity with them," Smith said. "This is a new (Bucs) coaching staff, so I think we're at a little bit of a disadvantage compared to other years."

The best route for Tampa may be the running game because both Martin, who may return from a knee injury, and Rainey have had solid success against Atlanta. In three career games against the Falcons, Martin has rushed for 239 yards (79.7 yards per game) and three touchdowns. In Rainey's only career matchup against Atlanta last season, he rushed for a career-high 163 yards and scored three touchdowns.

The other side of the ball was supposed to be a strength for the Buccaneers under the defensive-minded Smith but things have started slow there with Tampa Bay recording just one takeaway in two games.

Things won't get easier in the Georgia Dome against Ryan and the Falcons, who are second in the NFL, averaging nearly 440 yards a game. Ryan, meanwhile, has 62 touchdown passes since 2012, tied for the third-most in the NFL during that span.

"A lot is being said about the offense, and what we're doing in certain situations, but where we're really not performing well enough right now is on the defensive side," Lovie Smith said. "From long drives to taking the ball away. Our first goal on the defensive side is to score. We haven't come close to doing any of those things at this stage."

Making things tougher is the fact that the Bucs will likely be without Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (broken left hand) and middle linebacker Mason Foster (shoulder). The Falcons, meanwhile, could get back rookie left tackle Jake Matthews, who sat out last week with an ankle issue.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Heading into Thursday's contest at the Georgia Dome, Ryan is 37-10 as a starter at home, including a 5-1 mark against Tampa Bay with a 100.6 passer rating in those contests. Ryan also generally excels on short weeks, compiling a 3-1 record in Thursday games with seven touchdowns and no interceptions.

Chalk up 0-3 for the Bucs.

"In this league it's about bouncing back," said Ryan. "It comes quickly for us this week. We'll take a quick look at this game and try to make some corrections and move on. It is a good thing we're going on Thursday."

Sports Network predicted outcome: Falcons 31, Buccaneers 17