The Buccaneers ended their five game losing streak and finished the season with a 7-9 record. Running back Doug Martin, who struggled during the losing streak, broke out for 142 yards rushing and a touchdown to lead the Buccaneers' offense. Quarterback Josh Freeman passed for 222 yards and a touchdown to Mike Williams in the back of the end zone during the second quarter. Connor Barth also made three field goals to complete the Tampa Bay scoring. Mason Foster led the Buccaneers' defense with eleven tackles and Lavonte David and Daniel Te'o-Nesheim both recorded sacks. The win avenged the loss Tampa Bay suffered to Atlanta earlier in the season.
The Falcons looked horrible all day and only showed glimpses of the team that went 13-2 in it's first fifteen games. Asante Samuel picked off Freeman and that set up a Michael Turner seventeen yard run for the Falcons' first touchdown. Turner carried the ball five more times and gained only one more yard combined on those carries. Later, Matt Ryan threw a seven yard touchdown pass to Harry Douglas on fourth down. It was Ryan's record-setting 32nd touchdown pass of the year, a new team record. It was also Harry Douglas' first touchdown catch this season.
Ryan finished the day with 238 passing yards and a touchdown. The offense looked sloppy all day and the running game was once again non-existent. On defense Sean Weatherspoon led the team with eight tackles, but just like the offense, the defense was sloppy too. Poor tackling allowed the Buccaneers to drive down field to score their points, including Martin's 40 yard touchdown run when both Chris Hope and Thomas DeCoud bounced off of him because they didn't wrap him up.
Another big story of the day was coach Mike Smith not taking his starters out of the game. With the Falcons' playoff positioning set, everyone thought Smith would take his starters out after a quarter or at the latest by halftime. That wasn't the case and he lost two of his biggest players on defense. The biggest blow was John Abraham, who is the team's best pass rusher and has ten sacks on the year. His ankle was bent awkwardly under some other players and he will be evaluated over the next day or two. Dunta Robinson was also hurt, he suffered a head injury in the first quarter, he also will be evaluated over the next day or two. They would be sorely missed if they can't play in two weeks.
The Falcons finish the regular season 13-3 and will have an off week next weekend before playing at home the following weekend. Their opponent will be determined next weekend after the first-round of the playoffs are completed.
Harry Douglas scores a touchdown late in the loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was Douglas' first touchdown catch this season.
Photo Courtesy of yahoo.com
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