1. Andrew Deichert
Falcons Home Opener – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Atlanta Falcons will begin their 2016 NFL season with the final home opener in
the Georgia Dome against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This will mark the 25th and final
opener at the Georgia Dome before the Falcons make Mercedes-Benz Stadium home at the
beginning of the 2017-18 season. The Georgia Dome has been the host to Olympic events as
well as both NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four games, among other contests, over the
past two and a half decades.
In 2016, the Falcons will look to start hot as they did in 2015. After beginning the
year 5-0, Atlanta struggled to keep pace and finished the year on a 3-8 skid. Two key losses
that kept the team from reaching the playoffs were to this Tampa Bay Buccaneers team.
Both games came down to the wire and were lost by a combined seven points.
In the opener, the Falcons will look to use their explosive offense that ranked
seventh in yards per game (YPG) last season. The lethal duo of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones
produced 1,871 yards of passing offense and 8 touchdowns together in 2015. The two had
elevated success against the Buccaneers, as Ryan threw for 666 yards and three
touchdowns in 2 games, while Jones was able to grab 20 receptions for 255 yards and a
touchdown. The Falcons offense should be even more dynamic this year with new free
agent additions in center Alex Mack and wide receiver Mohamed Sanu. Mack will look to
improve a less than stellar offensive line, while Sanu steps into the second wide receiver
role opposite of Jones; a position that was opened after the surprising release of veteran
Roddy White this offseason.

2. In this matchup, the Falcons will look to expose a Buccaneers defense that ranked
23rd overall in Defensive YPG and gave up the 7th most Points Per Game (PPG) in 2015. The
Bucs struggled mightily against the pass as they surrendered the 5th most touchdowns to
opposing quarterbacks last season. The additions of veteran cornerback and former Falcon
Brent Grimes and rookie Vernon Hargreaves III should help improve the secondary, but it
is one that can be taken advantage of by the likes of Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu and
Devonta Freeman out of the backfield. Just as Jones had a fair amount of success against
this Tampa Bay team in 2015, Freeman also totaled over 100 all-purpose yards in both
contests. Being able to take advantage of Freeman’s unique rushing and receiving abilities
is something that offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan likes to do in order to open up more
passing lanes for Matt Ryan.
An area the Falcons must pay close attention to in this game is the trenches. Even
with the addition of Alex Mack, the Buccaneers propose a difficult challenge as All-Pro DT
Gerald McCoy leads a defense run by previous Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith that should
be much improved in 2016 with the addition of pass rushers Robert Ayers and second-
round draft pick Noah Spence. However, if Atlanta is able to fend off the pass rush, they
should have success targeting the Buccaneers secondary. As long as Matt Ryan and the
offense avoid turnovers, they should have a successful home opener on the offensive side of
the ball.
Defensively, the Falcons will be facing the offensive-minded, first year Head Coach,
Dirk Koetter and impressive second year Quarterback Jameis Winston. After finishing 11th
in the NFL in Passing YPG and 2nd in the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year voting, Winston

3. will look to improve upon his 2015 rookie campaign and beat his division foe for the third
straight time to start his career.
The Falcons spent the 2016 offseason patching defensive holes that became
exposed during 2015. Most notably, Courtney Upshaw was signed to help a weak
linebacker core and safety Keanu Neal was selected 17th overall in the draft to play the Kam
Chancellor, box safety role in Dan Quinn’s 4-3 Under scheme. Quinn has also decided to
move second-year edge rusher Vic Beasley to outside linebacker full-time. The shuffling of
the front seven will help as the Falcons try to stop the NFL’s 2nd leading rusher from last
season in Doug Martin, who totaled just over 1,400 rushing yards from scrimmage. One
area the defense can rely on in Week One is the promising young cornerback tandem of
Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford. The two will have a big test, as the Buccaneers have a
pair of 6’5” receivers in Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans that will certainly receive a fair
share of targets from Winston. Limiting Doug Martin to less than 100 yards and shutting
down Evans and Jackson on the outside will be focal points of the Falcons’ defensive game
plan.
A healthy dose of Ryan to Jones and an improved defense on paper under defensive
guru Dan Quinn should help the Falcons start off the 2016 regular season on the right foot
in the final home opener at The Dome with a “1” in the win column.