X Marks The Spot! X-Factor Matchup: Buccaneers vs Falcons

The kickoff to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers season is upon us. Their week one opponent is a team that beat the Bucs twice last year in the Atlanta Falcons. This is a key divisional matchup that should set the tone early for the rest of the season.

—

While there are a lot of pivotal matchups in this game between two potential playoff teams, there is one that jumps out to me more than the rest. A game within the game that will have a huge effect on if the Bucs emerge victorious or if they fall behind in the playoff race to start the season. X marks the spot! It’s the X-Factor matchup between the Buccaneer and Falcons.

This matchup will be the chess game between Falcons head coach Raheem Morris and Buccaneers new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. A clash between defensive and offensive minds that will play a critical role. Whoever wins this specific matchup will very likely be the winner in the game.

Grizzard was hired as the Bucs offensive coordinator with no previous experience at the position. Not even at the college or high school level has he held this type of role. In terms of play calling experience, Grizzard has less than I do.

Of course, this is not to say he’s unqualified for the job. He was a critical part of designing the Buccaneers offense last year, specifically the third down offense which was the best in the NFL. Grizzard also served in different offensive staff roles during his time in Miami and learned under their offensive minded coach Mike McDaniel. 

—

However, while this promotion was warranted, we don’t know exactly what that will look like on the field. It’s fair to expect some growing pains and a lack of rhythm early on this season. All we really know is what Grizzard has told us that he wants to do.

Part of that is to air the ball out more this season. Utilizing the skill set of Mike Evans down the field more in the passing game. It seems like that is one of Grizzard’s big focuses this season.

My concern is that he becomes too stuck on what he wants to do and not adjust well enough to what the game dictates. It might not be wise to throw a lot of deep passes when your star left tackle is out. It might be difficult to find the balance to the offense and adjust to what the defense is doing.

Morris runs a fairly straight forward defense. We saw it work very successfully when he was defensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams and even at times when he was head coach in Tampa Bay. He’s a good defensive mind, even if he wasn’t entirely successful last season.

—

In 2024 the Falcons allowed the 2nd most passing touchdowns in the NFL. This was a backbreaking flaw to their team which they could not overcome. Atlanta could have very well won the division if they were just a little less terrible in this category. 

For this reason, they invested a pair of first round picks into pass rushers Jalon Walker and James Pearce. They had the second fewest sacks in the NFL last year which allowed quarterbacks to pick them apart. They also drafted ball hawk safety Xavier Watts to help prevent teams from throwing the ball at will against them.

Now that Morris has some more toys to play with, this defense should be better. However, these players won’t fix all the problems and especially not in their first NFL start. With the talent the Bucs have, it’s fair to expect them to score their fair share of points in this game.

Morris has a lot more experience working in his favor, but Grizzard has the talent on his side. It won’t take a master class in offensive coaching for the Bucs to get the job done. However, if the moment is too big for Grizzard in week one then Morris could take advantage.