Week Five Expert Picks: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hit the road in Week Five for their second away game, this time to Atlanta to begin a stretch of three intra-division games in four weeks. It’s also the Buccaneers’ first primetime game of 2024, set for Thursday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. To find out how to watch, listen and livestream the game, click here.

The game is the first intra-division contest for the Buccaneers, and those games within the NFC South tend to take on a life of their own. There are plenty of reasons to like both teams, according to the analysts. Some cited O-Line issues for the Buccaneers, while others noted that Atlanta has the worst pressure rate on opposing quarterbacks in the league. Atlanta’s two-headed rushing attack was a deciding factor for one analyst, but another one noted that Tampa Bay draws motivation from being underdogs. Another analyst noted that short-week Thursday games often turn into “slogs” and thinks the Bucs have more team chemistry to handle that type of game.

The Buccaneers are 1.5-point underdogs on the road but they have plenty of support from the experts. Here’s what some of them are saying:

NFL.com – Four out of five analysts side with the Buccaneers

ESPN.com – ESPN amassed ELEVEN analysts, and they’ve gone 6-5 in favor of the Falcons

CBSSports.com – Pete Prisco calls this an “enormous game” for the NFC South and sides with the Bucs

USA Today – It’s split right down the middle of six predictors

Bleacher Report – Bucs pull seven of eight picks in this assemblage of experts

Pro Football Talk – This time, Mike Florio and Chris Simms agree on the Buccaneers

Sports Illustrated – Only one dissenter leans Falcons among six analysts

Sporting News – A revenge-game win for Raheem Morris? That’s what Vinnie Iyer foresees