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Kwon Alexander's two takeaways give Bucs a half-time lead in Atlanta

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are leading the Atlanta Falcons 13-3 at the half, in the Georgia Dome. Three takeaways and some solid play by the offense have compensated for the Bucs' secondary allowing Julio Jones to rack up 104 receiving yards on six catches.

All three turnovers were interesting, to say the least. Julio Jones saw the ball get ripped out of his hands by Kwon Alexander, setting up the Bucs' first field goal, while a botched snap at the Bucs' goal-line saved Tampa Bay for a second time.

Whereas they mostly ran the ball early in the game, here they repeatedly threw the ball. Jameis Winston completed a beautiful out route to Mike Evans and a nicely designed throwback to Cameron Brate to get the Bucs into the red zone. That only got the Bucs three points, as Lovie Smith refused to go for it on fourth-and-three.

That gave the Falcons a chance to drive for the tie or the lead, but Kwon Alexander once again saved the day, dropping back in Tampa 2 for once and jumping on a poor throw over the middle. Jameis Winston then drove the Bucs down the field and capped off the drive with a beautiful seam throw for the touchdown to Cameron Brate.

At the half, Jameis Winston has completed seven of 11 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown with one sack and no turnovers, while Matt Ryan has managed 12 of 16 passes for 161 yards and an interception. Those are shootout statistics, but turnovers and red zone inefficiencies have kept the score low and the Bucs on top.