Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving was questionable for the Atlanta Falcons game on Wednesday's injury report. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
The Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers meet up in Sunday in a battle for the lead in the NFC South. Despite both teams coming off double-digit losses in Week 7, there's a very different feel around each team.
The Falcons are kicking themselves for an abundance of mistakes including three turnovers in their loss to the Seahawks, and the Buccaneers are licking their wounds after a series of costly injuries has decimated their team.
Despite the loss of starting receiver Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, who combined for 10 catches, 126 yards, and two touchdowns in the Falcons and Buccaneers first meeting, Atlanta's head coach Raheem Morris understands Tampa Bay is still a dangerous team.
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"That's two really good players that we know, or we think are going to be out, but they've got some really good players behind them," said Morris this week. "Obviously, Shep's [Sterling Shepard] been a great player since he came from Oklahoma and played with Baker [Mayfield]. He's been doing that league for a long time, known him from the Giants.
"Got a real speedy receiver out there in [Trey] Palmer who's done some really good things for him in the past. Then obviously, that three-headed monster at running back has been looking pretty good."
Asked to expand on his three-headed monster comment, Morris went into detail about Bucky Irving, Rachaad White, and Sean Tucker.
"The fact that they started the season with their starter in No. 1 [Rachaad White]. He's really done a nice job, ended up getting injured," said Morris. "They really had their young guy, No. 7 [Bucky Irving], going out there, really being productive. He started off as a gimmick guy, then he moved to a running back, then he moved to an explosive guy. He had some really good plays against us. And then they really got open a couple weeks ago and had some injuries and No. 44 [Sean Tucker] stepped out there, really opened this game as a kickoff return versus us.
"So, when you look at those guys, have a chance to get out there in that run game and really open it up with a bunch of guys that we know. They've really been productive in running the football the last couple of weeks, which I know was something that wasn't perceived strength for those guys in the beginning. But it's just become that."
The injuries haven't been limited to the wide receivers. Bucky Irving, part of that three-headed monster, did not participate in Wednesday's practice. He's the Buccaneers leading rusher and had nine carries for 44 yards and two catches for 12 yards in the last meeting.
The Buccaneers were held to 70 and 91 yards on the ground in Weeks 2 and 3 against the Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos respectively. Since then, they've been over 100 yards in four-straight games including 160 against the Falcons and a whopping 277 against the Saints. They employ the league's No. 8 rushing attack.
Meanwhile the Falcons, playing their passive two-man front, nickel defense as a base look, have conceded the run to opponents in hopes of limiting explosive plays. As a result, they're the NFL's 24th ranked run defense at 137-yards per game.
With the absence of the Buccaneers' two best receivers and a strong running attack, if there was ever a time for the Atlanta Falcons to commit more bodies forward rather than playing a soft zone, this is the game.