Atlanta Falcons

Falcons at Buccaneers: 3 things we learned

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Atlanta Falcons beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football, 43-28. Here are the three biggest takeaways from this NFC South rivalry game.

The Atlanta Falcons move to 6-3 on the season by crushing their NFC South division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road, 43-28 on Thursday Night Football. Tampa Bay falls to 3-5 on the season. These two teams have split their 2016 season series. This was Atlanta’s first win over Tampa Bay is four tries.

Atlanta took care of business in the second half to blowout the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. There were good signs from both teams in this game, more for Atlanta than Tampa Bay.

Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Falcons’ Week 9 win over the Buccaneers on Thursday night.

1. Matt Ryan is the NFL MVP

One could argue for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady or even rookie Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott for this distinction, but Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is the NFL MVP through nine games.

His arm strength is better than it has ever been. He’s always been an accurate passer and solid pre-snap, but an improvement in all-around athleticism has been crucial in Ryan’s 2016 MVP campaign. Ryan is guaranteed to throw for over 250 yards every week with a pair of touchdowns probably in tow.

On the night, Ryan completed 25 of 34 passes for 344 yards, four touchdowns and one fumble. His yards per attempt of 10.4 was outstanding. It’s been his calling card all year. Now that Ryan is cool with going vertical, it’ll be almost impossible to stop this Falcons aerial attack.

2. Mike Evans is the best player on the Buccaneers

There are some great players on the Buccaneers like defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and linebacker Lavonte David, but the best player on this team is without question wide receiver Mike Evans. This guy is becoming an absolute superstar in 2016.

Evans was everything for a bad Buccaneers team tonight. He had 11 catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Evans loves to do more than go up for jump balls in Dirk Koetter’s Air Coryell. He was breaking tackles and making great plays all across the Tampa gridiron.

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Tampa Bay has a ton of issues, but the Buccaneers are good at No. 1 wide receiver for a very long time. Evans is able to do things at wideout that match and even sometimes succeed what Julio Jones does for the Falcons. He’s one of the most athletically gifted perimeter players this game may ever see. Evans is the best player on Tampa Bay as of Nov. 3.

3. The young defensive players on the Falcons are rising up

Atlanta is still giving up points defensively, but as the season progresses, its young defensive players are starting to show signs of being really special. There is a chance Falcons head coach Dan Quinn might have a few of those Seattle-level players on his defense.

The Falcons have had a shutdown corner for about 2.5 years in Desmond Trufant. It seems that the Falcons have hit on three 2016 defensive draft picks in strong safety Keanu Neal and linebackers Deion Jones and De’Vondre Campbell. Undrafted rookie free agent Brian Poole has looked great as a slot corner.

Even pass rusher Vic Beasley is starting to pop. The schematics of this Atlanta defense are simple in nature and its young defensive players are buying in to what Quinn and defensive coordinator Richard Smith are preaching.

It will take another year before this defense reaches a level that it can start winning games for this team. Atlanta is an offense-first football team that is now playing respectable ball on defense. This team could play in Super Bowl LI in Houston this February.