Your Thursday night open thread
Week 5 of the 2024 NFL Season kicks off tonight with the Atlanta Falcons hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football.
The NFC South has gotten off to a much more interesting start to the season than many predicted.
The Falcons were expected to run away with the division after signing Kirk Cousins in free agency with the hopes of unlocking their impressive array of skill position players. Instead, the Falcons are 2-2. The Buccaneers, meanwhile, were considered too talented to be truly irrelevant, but few gave them much credit after settling on Baker Mayfield as their starting quarterback.
And yet, the Buccaneers are 3-1 and leading the division, and Mayfield is playing like a Top 10 quarterback.
Both teams are coming off of wins, but which team will start a winning streak tonight? The Falcons are scant 1.5-point favorites per FanDuel Sportsbook
Chris’ pick: This is one of those games where pretty much anything could happen, from a blowout to an over-time thriller. But I think I’ll be going for the home team and picking the Falcons tonight.
The Buccaneers haven’t been significantly tested through the air on offense since the Lions game, and I do think that’s made their pass defense look a bit better than it actually is. Short weeks have a way of forcing teams to strip their game plans back to the basics, that could be just what they need to get on track with Cousins. Assuming, of course, that they get back to the basics of what works for Kirk Cousins — which is something Atlanta hasn’t really done consistently. A steady diet of play-action to Drake London and Kyle Pitts, with hand-offs to Bijan Robinson in between to stress the defense could make for a long night for Tampa.
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What: Atlanta Falcons vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
When: Thursday, Oct, 3rd
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA.
Game time: 8:15 p.m. ET
TV: Amazon Prime
Announcers: Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung (sideline reporter)
Radio: Westwood One: Ian Eagle, Tony Boselli | SiriusXM: 88; Atlanta Falcons – 226 or Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 225
Referee: Ron Torbert
Streaming: NFL +
Fanduel Sportsbook odds: Spread: Falcons (-1.5 |-115) | Buccaneers (+1.5 | -105) Moneyline: Jets -130, Patriots +110 | Over/Under: 43.5 (Under -105, Over -115)
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Use this as your open thread for Thursday Night Football.
