The Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off for the second time this season. These two NFC South opponents will play on Sunday. The last time these two played the Falcons demolished the Buccaneers in an embarrassing loss. The Bucs are hoping this isn't a rerun of what happened the first time. There are some keys for both teams on things each team needs to do to win. First, this is the 43rd game played between the two. Right now both teams are even with 21 wins a piece, but this Sunday's matchup will change that. The Buccaneers are 13-9 at Raymond James Stadium against the Falcons. The Buccaneers are 8-12 while playing in Atlanta.

An important pre game note is that Josh McCown has regained his starting job. He lost it against the Falcons on that horrendous Thursday night game. Mike Glennon wasn't doing as well as Lovie Smith would have liked. Therefore, he's back to being the back up. McCown really needs to step up and play his best. He needs to prove he can be the man he was while in Chicago. 

Another note is Charles Sims is back. The rookie is making his NFL debut. He will be expected to make an impact on the running game. The Bucs running backs need some help so he hopefully can provide a spark. Charles Sims looked great in the preseason and Bucs fans are hoping he can remain great. 

Typically, you'd want a team to forget a game that they didn't play well in. For the Bucs this may be the opposite. The Bucs need to remember the mistakes that they made. By remembering them, they can try to figure them out and fix them. The Buccaneers have been playing better as of late despite their overall record. If they can fix some mistakes they will be better. A surprising mistake from the last game was Lovie Smith kicking it to Devin Hester. Hester was a former player under Smith in Chicago. It was very surprising that Lovie didn't kick it away or out of bounds. 

The final key for the Bucs is to use the long ball. Against the Cleveland Browns, the Bucs utilized Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson. That's something there going to have to do. The Bucs receivers are so tall they create matchup problems for defensive backs. Mike Evans has to be a factor in this game. However, they don't want to throw so many times that they forget the run and become predictable. They started doing that against the Browns and it cost them the game.

The Atlanta Falcons have great weapons on offense like Harry Douglas, Roddy White, Julio Jones, and Steven Jackson. They need to use the wide receivers. Especially against Alterraun Verner. Verner hasn't played like the Bucs had hoped. In fact, he had one of his career worst games against the Browns. By going after him the Falcons can score some points. Harry Douglas has a big game every time the Bucs play him, and he needs to get the ball in his hands.

The Falcons need to run the ball right at Michael Johnson. Michael Johnson has been very inconsistent this season. He's really not even been a factor on defense. If the Falcons run it towards his way he really won't be able to stop it. 

Despite the Bucs being at home, they're going to lose. This should be an easier game for the Falcons. The Falcons will probably end up dominating like they did on the first matchup. Look for the Falcons to score a lot of points. Patrick Murray, the Bucs kicker, might be the only Buccaneer to score points against the Falcons.