3-time defending NFC South champion Bucs face Falcons with chance to build off strong 3-1 start

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3-time defending NFC South champion Bucs face Falcons with chance to build off strong 3-1 start

2024-10-03 04:48 Last Updated At：04:51

Tampa Bay (3-1) at Atlanta (2-2)

Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EDT, Amazon Prime Video

BetMGM NFL Odds: Falcons by 1 1/2

Series record: Buccaneers lead 31-30.

Against the spread: Buccaneers 3-1, Falcons 1-3.

Last meeting: Buccaneers defeated Falcons 29-25 on Dec. 10, 2023, in Atlanta.

Last week: Buccaneers beat Eagles 33-16; Falcons beat Saints 26-24.

Buccaneers offense: overall (16), rush (24), pass (10), scoring (10).

Buccaneers defense: overall (19), rush (22), pass (16), scoring (11).

Falcons offense: overall (20), rush (20), pass (18), scoring (21).

Falcons defense: overall (20), rush (25), pass (13), scoring (15).

Turnover differential: Buccaneers plus-2, Falcons minus-1.

WR Mike Evans became Tampa Bay’s all-time leading scorer last week and has compiled some impressive numbers against Atlanta. In 18 games against the Falcons, Evans has 92 receptions for 1,407 yards and 11 touchdowns. Among active players, it’s the fourth-most receiving yards against an opponent. Evans is first with 1,480 against Carolina, followed by Travis Kelce, who has 1,472 against Denver and 1,424 vs. Las Vegas. Evans was limited in practice during the short week by knee and calf issues.

QB Kirk Cousins has logged two game-winning drives despite uneven production through his first four games after signing a four-year, $180 million contract that included $100 million in guaranteed money. Cousins has four TD passes and four interceptions and couldn't produce a touchdown as the Falcons leaned on their defense and special teams to beat the Saints. Most troubling is the Falcons' continued inability to convert third downs. The Falcons were 4 of 11 on third down against the Saints and are 10 of 38 (26.3%) on the season. The spotlight is on Cousins to generate more offense against Tampa Bay.

Atlanta RB Bijan Robinson vs. Tampa Bay run defense. Robinson has been limited to a combined 59 yards on the ground the past two weeks and has 224 yards and one touchdown through four games. The Falcons rank only 20th in the league in rushing while Tampa Bay ranks 22nd against the run, allowing 131.5 yards per game. Tyler Allgeier gave Atlanta's run game a boost last week by gaining 60 yards on only eight carries. Bucs LB Lavonte David and the run defense could put more pressure on Cousins by limiting Robinson and Allgeier.

The Buccaneers have a lengthy injury report, with RT Luke Goedeke (concussion), S Antoine Winfield Jr. (foot), DL Calijah Kancey (calf) and WRs Jalen McMillan (hamstring) and Trey Palmer (concussion) all ruled out. In addition, LB SirVocea Dennis (shoulder) was placed on injured reserve. Atlanta LB Troy Andersen, who has led the team in tackles the past two games, won't be able to play because of a knee injury. The Falcons signed LB Rashaan Evans, an Atlanta starter in 2022, to the practice squad. OT Kaleb McGary (knee) is expected to return after missing last week's victory over New Orleans.

The NFC South rivalry remained difficult to predict last season when each team won on the other's home field. The Falcons won the first game of the series on Nov. 27, 1977, with a 17-0 victory at Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers have had the upper hand in recent years, winning six of the past eight games. The Falcons are 3-0 in prime-time games against the Buccaneers.

Falcons first-year coach Raheem Morris was Tampa Bay's coach from 2009-11. ... The Buccaneers have won the past three NFC South titles. The Falcons' most recent division championship came in 2016, when they advanced to the Super Bowl. ... Bucs QB Baker Mayfield is fourth in the NFL in passer rating (106.9), second in TD passes (eight) and fourth in passing yards (984). In three games against the Falcons, he’s thrown for 635 yards and six TDs vs. one interception. … In his past 11 games against Atlanta, WR Chris Godwin has 70 catches, 45 of them for first downs. He’s averaged 13.8 yard per reception and scored nine TDs. … Mayfield leads the Bucs with two rushing TDs. … The Bucs defense limited the Eagles to 227 yards. They sacked Jalen Hurts six times after only getting opposing QBs on the ground two times through the first three games of the season. … PK Chase McLaughlin has made 25 consecutive regular-season field goals. ... Falcons PK Younghoe Koo set a Mercedes-Benz Stadium record with his game-winning 58-yard field goal, the longest in the history of the facility, to beat the Saints last week. Koo has made each of his nine field goals this season. ... WR Darnell Mooney leads Atlanta with 225 receiving yards on 15 catches. Mooney also leads the team with 15 yards per catch. ... Andersen's 16 tackles last week were the most in the NFL for Week 4.

While Mooney has gained attention as a surprise to many, WR Drake London remains Cousins' favorite target. London has a team-leading 20 catches for 200 yards and two TDs. With the Falcons under pressure to jump-start their attack after the offense was held out of the end zone against the Saints, London could be a smart start in fantasy leagues.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Southerners stay in touch the old-fashioned way after Helene cuts roads, power, phones

2024-10-03 04:49 Last Updated At：04:51

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Isolated and without electricity or phone service since Hurricane Helene inflicted devastation across the Southeast nearly a week ago, residents in the mountains of western North Carolina are relying on old-fashioned ways of communicating.

At the town square in Black Mountain, local leaders stood atop a picnic table shouting updates about when power might be restored. Alongside a fencerow, a makeshift message board listed the names of people still missing. And mules delivered medical supplies to mountaintop homes.

While government cargo planes brought food and water into the hardest-hit areas Wednesday and rescue crews waded through creeks searching for survivors, those who made it through the storm, whose death toll has reached 179, leaned on one another — not technology.

“We have no water; we have no power; but I think it’s also been humbling,” Anna Ramsey said as she and her two children carried water in plastic bags from a distribution site in Asheville. “It’s been humbling ... what we need to do for ourselves.”

Fallen trees left her family stranded for several days, so they’ve bailed water from a creek in their backyard to flush toilets and cooked on a propane grill.

President Joe Biden took in a view of the devastation while flying over North and South Carolina on Wednesday and announced the Defense Department will send 1,000 active-duty soldiers to help distribute food, water and supplies.

In remote mountain areas, helicopters hoisted the stranded to safety while search crews waded through floodwaters and moved toppled trees so they could look door to door for survivors. In some places, homes teetered on hillsides and riverbanks that had been washed away.

More than 1.1 million customers still had no power Wednesday in the Carolinas and Georgia, where Helene tore far inland after barreling over Florida’s Gulf Coast six days ago as a Category 4 hurricane. Deaths have been reported in six states: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, in addition to the Carolinas.

Robin Wynn, who lost power at her Asheville home early Friday, was able to grab a bag of canned goods and water before getting to a shelter despite water up to her knees.

“I didn’t know where I was going, didn’t know what was going to happen next. But I got out and I’m alive,” she said.

Wynn is now back home, said her neighbors have been watching out for one another and said plenty of people have come around to make sure everyone has a hot meal and water.

The widespread damage and outages affecting communications infrastructure left many people without stable access to the internet and cell service.

Zeb Smathers, the mayor in Canton, North Carolina, said the streets were filled with people holding their phones in the air “trying to catch a cellphone signal like it’s a butterfly.”

Eric Williamson, who works at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, normally makes home visits to members who can’t physically get to church. This week, he’s their lifeline, delivering food that meets dietary restrictions and tossing out food that had spoiled.

He has a handwritten list of everyone he needs to visit. “They don’t have telephone service, even if they have a landline, a lot of that isn’t working,” Williamson said.

Volunteers in Asheville gathered before going out to help find people who have been unreachable because of phone and internet outages. They took along boxes of drinking water and instructions to return in person with their results.

Even notifying relatives of people who died in the storm has been difficult.

“That has been our challenge, quite honestly, is no cell service, no way to reach out to next of kin,” said Avril Pinder, an official in Buncombe County where at least 57 people have died. “We have a confirmed body count, but we don’t have identifications on everyone or next-of-kin notifications.”

Biden surveyed the devastation in the Carolinas from a helicopter on Wednesday as he and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to different parts of the Southeast.

Biden has estimated the recovery will cost billions. “People are scared to death. This is urgent,” he said Tuesday.

While Biden is in the Carolinas, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to neighboring Georgia.

The president plans on traveling to the disaster areas in Florida and Georgia on Thursday.

Employees at a plastics factory in rural Tennessee who kept working last week until water flooded their parking lot and the power went out at the plant were among those killed. The floodwaters swept 11 workers away, and only five were rescued. Two are confirmed dead.

Now Tennessee state authorities said they are investigating the company that owns the factory after some employees said they weren’t allowed to leave in time to avoid the storm’s impact.

Hospitals and health care organizations in the Southeast mostly stayed open despite dealing with blackouts, wind damage, supply issues and flooding. Many hospitals halted elective procedures, while only a few closed completely.

It may be weeks, though, before water is fully restored in Asheville, which supplies almost all of Buncombe County’s 275,000 residents. Thousands of feet of pipe from one reservoir were washed out and will have to be rebuilt, and a second intake is not working, said water system spokesperson Clay Chandler.

“There are portions of our distribution system that are going to have to be completely rebuilt,” Chandler said.

In Florida, coastal communities were still trying to clear huge piles of debris stacked on roadsides and tons of sand pushed inland from massive storm surge.

Verduzco reported from Swannanoa, North Carolina, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Brittany Peterson in Hendersonville, North Carolina; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Florida; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; and Cedar Attanasio and Jim Mustian in New York.