The Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have faced off on Thursday Night Football in each of the last two seasons, and that was a trend I expected to continue in 2026. But, when the 2026 NFL schedule released on Thursday night, a primetime game between the NFC South rivals was absent.
Given the animosity between new Falcons' head coach Kevin Stefanski and Bucs' QB Baker Mayfield from their time in Cleveland, it's a missed opportunity to not schedule an NFC South rivalry game on primetime. Instead, their first meeting will come in Week 8 in the 1:00 window the day after Halloween.
Mayfield and Todd Bowles have been throwing haymakers at Stefanski and the Falcons all offseason and after what went down the last time these two teams met on Thursday Night, it's disappointing to see the first meeting in such a highly-anticipated NFC South affair get treated like its a snooze-fest.
The Atlanta Falcons deserved another primetime game against the Tampa Bay Bucs
It's not only the Stefanski-Mayfield drama that makes this rivalry intriguing, though, The Dirty Birds' meaningless Week 18 win over the New Orleans Saints turned out to be the reason the Bucs missed the playoffs because a tiebreaker meant the Carolina Panthers won the division with a losing record.
And then you have the elephant in the room: former Falcons' offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is the new Bucs' OC. He was such a horrible play-caller in Atlanta that Stefanski never wanted to retain him, and this game will offer him a chance to prove how far Michael Penix Jr. has come without him.
On paper, this game should have all the makings of a primetime thriller, especially with all of these connections. But instead, this game is being treated like it's inconsequential. At the very least, it deserves to be placed in a late window and garner at least some attention from a national audience.
The NFC South is wide open, and the Falcons and Bucs look to be the two favorites. The Saints got better but are still a year away, while the Panthers will get eaten alive against a first-place schedule. These two teams are the most talented in the division, and could help decide the division champion.
Not only that, the Falcons' first primetime game will come in Week 3 on the road against the Green Bay Packers, and they'll face the New Orleans Saints on MNF in Week 5. Starting the season with road games in Pittsburgh and Green Bay is absolutely brutal, so even though they got a good draw weather-wise, a Bucs' primetime game would've been preferred to the Aints,
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