Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris believes his squad may be battling
the Atlanta Falcons for NFC South supremacy for years to come.

There’s one thing the Bucs must do first in order to call it a rivalry -
beat the Falcons.

With both teams coming off come-from-behind victories, Atlanta seeks its
fifth straight win over Tampa Bay on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

Morris, in his third year as coach, has yet to beat Atlanta, losing four
games by an average of 5.8 points.

“Can’t call it a rivalry yet. We haven’t won any of them,” Morris said.

Tampa Bay (1-1) finished 10-6 last season, out of a playoff spot and three
games behind NFC-best Atlanta. Morris believes his team is on the cusp of
challenging for the division title, though, especially given last week’s gutty
24-20 victory in Minnesota.

Josh Freeman(notes) threw for 243 yards and led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives
to help overcome a 17-0 halftime deficit. Running back LeGarrette Blount(notes) scored
his second touchdown of the game with 31 seconds remaining.

“This team, I told you, they’re just young and hungry,” Morris said.

Morris, though, is concerned about being outgained 284-62 through the first
30 minutes of the game, calling it “the worst half of football since I’ve been
head coach.” Tampa Bay bounced back to outscore the Vikings 24-3 in the second
half – a performance Freeman said is exactly what the Bucs needed.

“It really reminds me of how we were playing late last season,” Freeman said
of the 2010 team which finished by winning three of its last four. “Getting
LeGarrette Blount going, getting our playmakers going. Just an all-around good
effort from everyone.”

However, Blount did not practice Wednesday, nor did Morris divulge the
injury other than to say he’s “hopeful” Blount will be ready to go by Sunday.

His potential absence may put more pressure on Freeman, who has struggled
against the Falcons.

Freeman has completed only 54.2 percent of his passes and compiled a 74.0
rating while throwing six touchdowns and five interceptions in four losses
versus Atlanta.

His counterpart, though, has been even worse against Tampa Bay.

Though Matt Ryan(notes) is 5-1 versus the Bucs, he’s thrown eight interceptions to
five touchdowns for a passer rating of 65.9 – his worst against any team. Still,
Freeman believes the two will be facing each other in divisional battles as they
continue to improve.

“That’s what I foresee. He’s a good quarterback and has a unique style,”
Freeman said. “You almost don’t like the fact that you’re going to have to be
playing him for a long time.”

If Ryan performs as he did last week, Freeman may be right.

Ryan threw a career-high four TDs in leading the Falcons (1-1) to 14
unanswered points in the fourth quarter of a 35-31 victory over Philadelphia.

“I think anytime you get the first win of the year, it feels really good,”
said Ryan, whose team lost 30-12 in Chicago in Week 1. “But we’ve got a long way
to go. One of the things I say every week is that you can’t get too high and you
can’t get too low. We’ve got a good Tampa Bay team that we’re going to be going
against down there. … We need to move on.”

Atlanta also must provide better protection for Ryan, who has been sacked
nine times through the first two games and was limited in practice Wednesday due
to a knee injury.

“You’re still a little sore, but I’ll be good to go and ready to roll on
Sunday,” he said.

The Falcons allowed only 23 sacks all of last season, which was second-best
in the NFL.

“We have got to protect the quarterback,” coach Mike Smith said. “We’ve got
to make sure schematically that we put our guys in the best situations and we’ve
got to win our one-on-one matchups. We’ve played two very good defensive fronts
in the first two games and we have not fared the way that we wanted to in the
sacks given up.”

Ryan could get some help Sunday, as veteran center Todd McClure(notes) hopes to
play after he returned to the practice field Wednesday for the first time since
undergoing minor knee surgery late in the preseason.

“It was great to have Todd back,” Smith said. “Obviously we missed his
leadership out there the first two games.”

Tampa Bay hasn’t sacked Ryan in the last two meetings, and he threw the
game-winning touchdown pass with less than five minutes remaining to give the
Falcons a 28-24 victory in the most recent matchup Dec. 5.

Read More: Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

As the NFL lockout wraps up, it looks like our deduced timeline for the start of the 2011 Atlanta Falcons training camp was on point. The Birds are set to get underway at Flowery Branch on Thursday, July 28, as is most of the rest of the NFC South. Though not all at Flowery Branch. Awkward!

The New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are also scheduled to begin camp on Thursday, with the Carolina Panthers starting a day later.

Camp schedules for this season are based off Week 1 preseason game days, so each team will have the same number of days (15) between camp kickoff and their first game. No word yet on whether the Falcons will try and practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars or New England Patriots, two organizations with whom they practiced last year and maintain close ties, as there might not be time for all that this go-’round. We’ll wait and see.

And, of course, all this depends on every last piece of the deal going through.

For more Falcons, join The Falcoholic. For more NFL, head to SB Nation NFL.

By Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Apr 05, 2011 01:52 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers biggest need is for a pass rusher and no player may fit every requirement like Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan, who is visiting with the team today according to the National Football Post.

Kerrigan led the nation with 27 tackles for a loss, produced 12.5 sacks and forced five fumbles last season. At 6-foot-4, 267-pounds, he is the perfect 4-3 edge rusher.

Kerrigan started three years at Purdue and was a team co-captain as well as the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year. Kerrigan is trying to shed the effort guy level. He was impressive with a 4.67 40-yard dash at the NFL combine and bench pressed 225 pounds 31 times.

The Bucs like to find players who were leaders of their college teams. Gerald McCoy, Roy Miller and Kyle Moore all were team captains.

Kerrigan already has visited the Buffalo Bills and worked out for the Atlanta Falcons. He has visits scheduled with San Diego, Washington, Jets and Falcons.

It’s unlikely Kerrigan would still be available when the Bucs select 20th overall, but they always could attempt to move up in the draft for the right player.

[Last modified: Apr 05, 2011 01:52 PM]

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COMMENTARY | TAMPA, Fla. — It was tough being a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2010. Attendance for the home games at Raymond James Stadium was so consistently low, the NFL’s blackout policy had to be enforced. What did that mean? No televised Tampa Bay Buccaneers home games during the entire 2010 NFL season.

Of course, there were still plenty of restaurants and bars outside the region that could air the games. There were even some local places that clandestinely aired the games via internet feed. And, of course, there were still thousands of people who attended the Buccaneers games at Raymond James Stadium. That meant thousands of people eating at local restaurants before and after the game.

When I attended the December 2010 game where the Bucs hosted the Atlanta Falcons, I met plenty of fans who flew in from Georgia. These out-of-state spectators assuredly infused plenty of money into Tampa’s economy while taking in the game here (and I’m sure it made their day that the Atlanta Falcons pulled out a win that day!)

NFL Labor Agreement Lockout Could Penalize Local Economies

With the current NFL contract expiring on March 3, there’s much concern about a lockout. On the table are retired NFL players’ benefits, revenue sharing, and the possibility of extending the NFL season to 18 games (up from the current 16 games). NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is hoping for an agreement between team owners and players, but NFL players aren’t too keen on extending the season, and there’s the always pivotal issue of retiree benefits.

What does this all come down to? While every NFL fan (including me) wants to see a full NFL season in 2011, there’s the much more important matter of the economy at hand – how will Tampa (or any of the other 31 NFL cities) cope should the pigskin not meet the gridiron in 2011? Even if a late agreement occurs, that still likely means a shortened NFL season and dire economic impacts for each NFL-hosting city.

Economic Issues Must Be Considered During NFL Labor Negotiations

With economic recovery a crucial and difficult goal for every major U.S. city, the stakes surrounding a possible NFL lockout can’t be much higher. While an agreement that satisfies both the NFL players and the club owners must be met, it’s vital that every involved party also considers the effects that an NFL lockout may have on the workers, businesses, and local governments in each of the 32 NFL-hosting cities – especially places like Tampa, Florida, where a tourism-based economy has been particularly devastated by the recession over the past few years.

A quick contract negotiation will do the NFL good, keep relationships with millions of NFL fans warm, and – most importantly – score winning economic touchdowns for all of the 32 NFL cities in the United States.

By Stephen F. Holder, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Feb 09, 2011 06:10 PM

The Sporting News got around to announcing the results of its executive of the year award today, and the panel of voters selected Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, whose team posted the best record in the NFC.

Some saw Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik as a leading contender for this honor, but he finished third with seven votes. Dominik’s Bucs became the first team since the 1970 NFL merger to start at least 10 rookies but finish witih a winning record. The Bucs also were the youngest team in the NFL this season.

Second place went to the Chiefs’ Scott Pioli (eight votes), whose team won the AFC West after going 4-12 in 2009.

Here’s how the vote is conducted. The Sporting News surveyed 47 general managers, assistant general managers, owners, personnel executives and head coaches for the award.

Dimitroff got 13 votes.

Because neither the NFL nor Associated Press name an executive of the year, The Sporting News honor is recognized as official.

[Last modified: Feb 09, 2011 06:10 PM]

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