PLAYER NOTES
–DE Jason Pierre-Paul has four of the Bucs eight sacks this season.
–WR DeSean Jackson has 36 100-yard receiving games, the fourth most of any active player.
–QB Jameis Winston has 70 career TD passes and needs one more to pass Trent Dilfer for the fourth most in club history.
–DT Beau Allen, who has not played since injuring his foot in Week 2 against the Eagles, returned to practice on Wednesday.
–TE O.J. Howard, who was expected to miss 1-2 weeks with a MCL sprain, practiced on Wednesday on a limited basis.
–S Jordan Whitehead, who did not play at Chicago due to a hamstring strain, had full participation in practice on Wednesday.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: DE Jason Pierre-Paul is off to a fast start and leads the Bucs with four sacks. While the rest of the defense struggled at Chicago Sept. 30, Pierre-Paul had 10 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack and a quarterback hit. Pierre-Paul injured his knee in the season opener at New Orleans. But he has been the Bucs’ most consistent player on defense and has a chance to become the first Bucs player to record at least 10 sacks in a season since Simeon Rice in 2005.
GAME PLAN: Somehow, the Bucs have to find a way to slow the Falcons passing game. Julio Jones has destroyed the Bucs, particularly at home. And now Tampa Bay also has to deal with former Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley. The Bucs need to get pressure on quarterback Matt Ryan, the league’s sixth-rated passer. That won’t be easy because he gets the football out of his hands and has lots of targets. The Bucs also have struggled getting consistent pressure on the quarterback. Their eight sacks is tied for 27th in the NFL. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has accounted for four of them.
The Bucs could have three rookies either starting or playing big roles in the secondary and there is no way to prepare them for what they are about to see. Outside of Brent Grimes, who was benched at Chicago, safety Justin Evans is the most experienced in the secondary. The success will have to rest with the defensive line, which could have a full complement of defensive tackles with the return of Beau Allen and rookie Vita Vea playing in his second game of the season.
Offensively, the key will be whether quarterback Jameis Winston can have the same success throwing the football down the field that Ryan Fitzpatrick had. Winston had an outstanding training camp and preseason. But in the past, he has struggled to get the ball deep to DeSean Jackson. There has been very little rushing attack to lean on as Peyton Barber has been ineffective and Ronald Jones II saw his first action of the regular season in Chicago. But with Evans, Jackson, tight end O.J. Howard and wide receiver Chris Godwin, the Bucs will put a lot of pressure on the Falcons’ beleaguered defense, which is allowing 32.6 points per game.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Falcons WR Julio Jones vs. Bucs CB Brent Grimes. In his last four games in Atlanta, Jones has 37 catches for 642 yards and six touchdowns. That includes last season when he had 12 receptions for 253 yards and two TDs. Grimes was benched in the second half at Chicago.
–Bucs RT Demar Dotson vs. Falcons DE Takkarist McKinley. Dotson struggled in the last game against Bears OLB Khalil Mack, allowing a sack and forced fumble. McKinley leads the Falcons with five sacks, which is tied for fifth in the league.
