Falcons loss gives Buccaneers hope in NFC South race

The Atlanta Falcons just lost their second game of the season, 26-24, to the Seattle Seahawks. On a botched call on the final play — Richard Sherman definitely interfered with Julio Jones on that play — but that doesn’t matter. A win is a win is a win. And that’s good news for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Just two weeks ago, the Bucs season was close to ending. They were 1-3, the Atlanta Falcons 3-1, and there was little hope that Tampa Bay would actually be good this year. Two weeks later, and things look a little different.

That difference started with last week’s win against the Carolina Panthers, which gave the Bucs a slightly better looking 2-3 record, as well as a confidence boost. And today’s Falcons loss, which gives them a 4-2 record, makes an NFC South title a little more likely too.

Now they’re only two wins removed from the number one spot — it certainly helps that they beat the Falcons when both teams were fully healthy, back in week one, in Atlanta.

With the bye week now, the Bucs expect to get five or six starters back from injury next week. They’ll face the San Francisco 49ers, who just got crushed by the Buffalo Bills. A win then will get the Bucs back to .500, and make the division title just a little more likely. All the Bucs need to do is start winning games.