National Football League

Yarcho's Pick Six: Buccaneers Beat Falcons

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

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Oh yes! The triumphant return of Yarcho’s Pick Six! Yesterday, the Buccaneers kicked the season off right by beating Atlanta 31-24 for a big road win.

It was ugly, then it was pretty, then it was beautiful, then it was nerve-wracking. With a roller coaster of emotions in three and a half hours, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers escaped Atlanta with a huge road win in the division, where they currently sit alone at the top. Without further adieu, I present the first pick six of the 2016 Buccaneers season!

Six Topics Suitable For Debate

1.) Were the Buccaneers this good? Or the Falcons this bad? It was a rough start for Jameis Winston, but he turned it on in the second and third quarters. The Bucs at one point had an 18-point lead and were cruising. However, the defense seemed to fall apart and the offense had two consecutive three-and-outs allowing a Falcons comeback. Had the Bucs been facing a better team, are we discussing another Bucs collapse today?

2.) Mike Evans – Have a day, young man! You all thought the same thing I did. That Evans touchdown catch was a drop last season. Mike was as sure handed as they come yesterday, catching anything that came his way. He got into a verbal confrontation with a Falcon that turned physical. Luckily, it was Evans who did a good job keeping his composure while drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty that resulted in a first down for the Bucs. Evans would go on to score a touchdown on the drive. Has he turned the corner from a maturity standpoint?

3.) Kwon Alexander was our spotlight player – and boy, did he SHINE! You kidding me with this? Kwon returns to the site of his breakout game of 2015 to have yet another. 17 tackles and a sack for the second year player from LSU. Is this the Kwon we can expect to see all season long? And will Pro Football Focus finally wake up and give him the props he deserves?

4.) The defense is still not there yet. Brent Grimes got worked on Mohamed Sanu‘s touchdown, but bounced back with two fantastic pass breakups. Alterraun Verner got beat bad by Julio Jones. Vernon Hargreaves played extremely well, but blew a coverage that led to Sanu’s 59-yard reception in the first quarter. The defensive line had three sacks, but had no answer for Tevin Coleman. They looked improved, but not nearly where they need to be yet.

5.) Guys – chill out about Jameis Winston. Twitter was LIT with people freaking out over Winston and his slow start. He missed two touchdown passes early – one to Adam Humphries, one to Mike Evans – in addition to missing Vincent Jackson on a third down pass and a bad interception on a pass intended for Jackson. I even had one guy tell me Winston looked like the worst quarterback in the NFL. Seriously? All he did was come out in the second a third quarters and throw for 262 yards on 19 of 24 passing and four touchdowns. We’ve seen this before. Yes, his slow starts can be a problem at times, but relax. You know Jaboo is gonna come through.

6.) Gerald McCoy haters…time to shut up. Was there any defensive lineman that came up bigger than Gerald McCoy down the stretch? NO. Period. He was in Ryan’s face, he was disrupting the run game, and he was batting balls down at the line of scrimmage – including the fourth down pass by Matt Ryan that sealed the game. Find something else to cry about haters…and apologize to Gerald.

Six Numbers To Consider

4 – Number of touchdowns thrown by Jameis Winston, the most ever by a Bucs quarterback during week one

8 – Consecutive home openers won by the Falcons, a streak snapped yesterday

56 – Consecutive games by Lavonte David of five or more tackles – longest current streak in the NFL

1 – Number of touchdowns by Brandon Myers as a Buccaneer. He got his first one yesterday.

3 – Sacks by the defense against the Falcons

5 – Number of Bucs coaches to win their coaching debut with Tampa Bay, including Dirk Koetter

Six Top Performers

6.) Roberto Aguayo – A guy that made headline after headline for a slow preseason start, Roberto Aguayo made his first career field goal attempt as well as all four extra points. I bet Matt Prater won’t get any headlines for his missed extra point…

Sep 11, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans (13) celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome. The Buccaneers won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

5.) Charles Sims – That run after catch on his touchdown was one of the best plays of the day by far. Sims looked outstanding, even though his stats won’t jump off the page. Anyone who watched saw what a good game he had.

4.) Mike Evans – Five receptions on seven targets for 99 yards and a touchdown. Oh…and no drops or offensive pass interference flags. This kid can be one of the elite if he keeps it up.

3.) Jameis Winston – 23 of 33, 281 yards, four touchdowns, an interception, and a quarterback rating of 122.1. Not a bad day for everyone talking about how awful he was during the first quarter…

2.) Gerald McCoy – Three tackles including a sack. Two of those tackles were for losses. Two passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. Oh, and one of those just happened to be with the game on the line. The “McCoy disappears in the second half” narrative needs to go away.

1.) Kwon Alexander – I already gave you his numbers. Alexander was a monster Sunday and was all over the field. As we said over and over during the game, #KwonIsKey

Six Best Game Tweets

Here’s the debut of a new Pick Six segment. Tweets appear in no particular order;

Six Best Things About Football Being Back

6.) It gives Reds, Rays, Twins, and Braves fans a welcome reprieve from baseball season

5.) FANTASY FOOTBALL! Unless you use ESPN and had to deal with the app crashing. You had seven months and one job, guys…

4.) Jerry Jones‘ struggle face after a loss

3 – No Tom Brady for an additional four weeks

2 – The epic finishes, upsets, and jaw dropping plays

1 – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in sole possession of first place in the NFC South

Next: Bucs Week One Winners And Losers

Six Final Words

Don’t get cocky…Cardinals are next

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