Will the Buccaneers use the no-huddle in Atlanta?

That made for a positive first game as a head coach for Dirk Koetter, and some redemption for Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith, the former Falcons head coach. As the Falcons struggled to move the ball on the ground, Ryan stepped up and put Tampa’s defense on its heels.

The second-year quarterback bounced back from an early interception to throw four touchdowns passes, leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-24 victory Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons in a season-opening matchup between NFC South rivals. Jones alone gives Ryan a premier option, but he needs help if the Falcons are to be much better than.500 again. And we were out here and I was like, ‘Jameis, you don’t have to whisper.

A nice consolation prize in defeat for the Falcons was that starting quarterback Matt Ryan finally looks comfortable in offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s West Coast offense. “We just had an opportunity late in the game and didn’t make the plays”. They hit a bad punt, we got right in field-goal range.

Kwon Alexander: 17 tackles, 1 sack.

Another Tampa Bay Buccaneers season kicks off Sunday, and the dream remains.

The ex-Falcons coach is excited about the trip, though not because he’s facing his old team for the first time since being fired two seasons ago. Koetter said. “Most guys go into a funk or go into a pout and Jameis, he’s great about that”.

After the game, in a joyous locker room, there was one more football to distribute. And thank you Greg Schiano for making Genghis Khan look like a philanthropist. They force you to check the ball down, and we were preaching, ‘Check it down, check it down, check it down, ‘ ” Koetter said. “Hey, it’s a good day to be a Buc”.

Matt Ryan, looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2015 season in which the Falcons missed the playoffs for the third year in a row, hooked up with Julio Jones on a 25-yard touchdown and tacked on a two-point conversion. One last chance for the Falcons ended with a whimper as Gerald McCoy batted away Ryan’s fourth-down pass with a minute to go.

Julio Jones, who’d been extremely quiet for the majority of the game up until the third quarter, burst into life as the fourth quarter approached. The Bucs have a pretty stout front seven and if they can shake Ryan there could be trouble. “I was disappointed with the fouls and with our tackling”.

Humphries isn’t anxious. Neither is receiver Mike Evans, whom Winston missed in the end zone on the next play. Winston overthrew passes to Adam Humphries and Mike Evans and Tampa Bay had to settle for a field goal. The other one just happened to be another Jameis Winston special, as he directed TD drives of 75, 85, 80 and 80 in a 45-17 win at Philadelphia a year ago on November 22 (he threw in a ho-hum 59-yard TD drive in that game for good measure). Experts across the league tabbed Winston for a breakout year, and he certainly met their expectations in Week One.