Tampa Bay won’t let Atlanta Falcons playoff hopes die

The Tampa Bay Bucs continue to be the best weapon for the Atlanta Falcons when it comes to keeping Atlanta relevant in the playoff hunt. The Falcons have dropped four of their last five games and the Bucs after a short surge continued to drop very winnable games against average teams.

Tom Brady helping the Atlanta Falcons in any capacity is shocking his inability to run a consistent offense with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Julio Jones adds to the level of surprise.  Matt Ryan was able to run a more consistent offense for the Atlanta Falcons last season without one good option at the receiver position and an offensive line that allowed Ryan to lead the league in hits taken.

Tom Brady isn’t showing any obvious signs of finally finding the elusive cliff and has the benefit of a good Tampa defense. The Bucs have no business being as bad they have been as we near the end of the season. What the problem is exactly in Tampa is hard to pin down, however, there is no question that the Atlanta Falcons are continuing to benefit from their ineptitude.

With Desmond Ridder set to take over for the Falcons and the Bucs dropping back to within a game of the Falcons suddenly Atlanta is relevant once again. Ridder will have a chance to push the Falcons into playing meaningful football with three games left to catch the Bucs before what could be a division-deciding matchup with Tampa ends the season.

It would be fitting for the NFC South to be decided in the final week of the season in what is clearly the worst division in football.

Atlanta has done everything in their power in the last five weeks to hand Tom Brady another division title and a playoff berth. A gift Brady is unwilling to accept with his offense continuing to invent ways to fail and give life to an Atlanta team that should already be focusing on next season.