The Atlanta Falcons will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Georgia Dome Sunday in Week 7, after a much-needed Bye. But the Falcons still won’t be healthy for this one, missing several key players for the season, led of course by leading receiver Julio Jones. This will be a 1pm ET kickoff on Fox.
- When:
Sun., Oct. 20th, 2013 @ 1:00pm ET
- Where:
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
- Who’s Favored?
Falcons by 7.5 ~ 41.5 o/u @ BetOnline
- More Info:
Heading into this Week 7 matchup, it would be hard to have thought at the beginning of the season that the combined win-total of these two would be a whopping one victory. But that is exactly where the situation lies. Tampa Bay is 0-6, while Atlanta is just 1-4.
The Falcons continue to be ravaged by injuries this season, with Jones simply the latest casualty. And with Roddy White also hampered by an injury, that takes away arguably the best wide receiver duo in the NFL. The status of running back Steven Jackson is also unknown. Jackson has missed the last three games with a thigh injury. That means that Matt Ryan will be featuring tight end Tony Gonzalez, receiver Harry Douglas, and a host of names that most fans won’t be familiar with.
The Buccaneers situation isn’t much better. While they are relatively healthy, they are without quarterback Josh Freeman who was released by the team to weeks ago. Rookie Mike Glennon is going through the growing pains as expected. The latest loss was at home to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tampa Bay is the underdog going into this one, and in most years a win at home for Atlanta is all but guaranteed. But this is not most seasons, so it’s hard to predict what to expect with a revamped game plan for the Falcons.