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Brady has 276 yards, 5 TDs; Buccaneers rout Falcons 48-25

Expectations were pretty low following a Week 1 dud against Philadelphia.

ATLANTA — You couldn't call a Week 2 game "must-win" - especially when it's against the defending Super Bowl champs - but for the Falcons it might have at least qualified as "must-look-good."

But on Sunday Tom Brady threw for 276 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers extend their winning streak to a franchise-record 10 consecutive games with a 48-25 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Brady improved to 9-0 lifetime against the Falcons, who’ve lost seven in a row going back to last season. Three of those setbacks have come against the Bucs, who’ve outscored their NFC South rivals 124-62 over the past 10 quarters of those outings.

After an offseason for the Falcons that included bringing in a new coach, adding a historic tight end prospect in the draft, and retooling significant parts of the roster, the team came into Week 1 at home against the Philadelphia Eagles with a smidge of optimism that they'd look solidly improved over the 2020 team that went 4-12.

They failed, badly, to clear even that low bar.

RELATED: NFL Week 2 Power Rankings: Steelers, Cardinals leap into top ten; Packers, Titans fall

There was very little that's instructive for Atlanta to take away from the opening loss, a beatdown by Philadelphia. 

The basics

  • Who: Atlanta Falcons
  • What: Week 2 at Buccaneers
  • Where: Tampa, Fla.
  • When: 4:05 p.m. ET
  • TV: FOX

They had a pretty good opening drive, in which Matt Ryan connected with new No. 1 receiver Calvin Ridley three times for 10+ yards, new No. 1 running back Mike Davis helped them move the chains, and then... they stalled out inside the Philly 10-yard line, settling for a field goal.

The next drive went a lot the same way, this time with Cordarrelle Patterson doing a lot of the work, and ended the same way - three points.

That made it 7-6. The game ended 32-6.

So, yes, after very little going right in the opening quarter, decidedly nothing went right the rest of the way.

Which brings us to Week 2, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

The Bucs weren't exactly invincible in Week 1 - only just edging out Dallas in a two-point win - but Tom Brady didn't look like he's slowed down (379 yards on 32-of-50 passing, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions) which is probably the most important barometer of what Tampa is going to be this year.

It's also more than plenty to keep expectations extremely modest for the Falcons in Week 2.

For Atlanta's offense the big question was whether they could get into the end zone - they showed they could move the ball on their first two drives against the Eagles - driving 146 yards in total - but only coming away with six points seemed to have a deflating effect. They only mustered 73 yards on eight more drives the rest of the game.

They didn't make bad turnovers or shoot themselves in the foot with a lot of penalties - they were just bad. With talent like Ryan, Ridley, Patterson and Kyle Pitts, there's no reason for them not to be better. The Bucs are champs for a reason, but the Cowboys put up 29 points on them - the Tampa defense isn't insurmountable.

The defense mostly did an okay job keeping things in check against Philly, but - in a theme that extends back to last season - they need to generate more pressure up front. The team recorded just one sack, which also was their only hit on Eagles QB Jalen Hurts all game. 

Whatever hint of high expectations Falcons fans might have had going into Week 1 have already evaporated, so the least Atlanta could do on Sunday is show things could go uphill from here.

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