Week 15 is officially upon us in the NFL, with the Falcons heading to Tampa on Thursday night to take on the Buccaneers.
Atlanta enters this one coming off their seventh loss in their last eight games—a 37–9 defeat at the hands of the Seahawks—and as it slowly put 2025 in the rearview and focus on '26, it has plenty more questions than answers, specifically at the quarterback position. Michael Penix Jr. is dealing with another catastrophic knee injury and while Kirk Cousins is still under contract for two more seasons, it's hard to imagine he's the Falcons' plan, even for the medium-term.
MORE: Michael Penix Jr. Injury Timeline: A Look Back at the Falcons QB’s Unfortunate Luck
The Buccaneers, meanwhile, started the season red hot with a 5–1 record, but have since lost four of their last five and sit at just 7–6—albeit still in first place in the NFC South. With two games against the also-7–6 Panthers forthcoming, Tampa Bay desperately needs to get itself back in the win column if it wants to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Oddly enough, there’s a lot on the line in this one. Here are three bold predictions for Buccaneers vs. Panthers:
Mike Evans will catch a touchdown in his return to action
Longtime Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has recorded 11-straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons to begin his NFL career, tied for the most in league history with Jerry Rice. Unfortunately, said streak will (very, very likely) not continue in 2025 as the 32-year-old has missed Tampa Bay’s last six games with a broken clavicle.
The good news? Evans was activated off injured reserve this week and is set to make his return to the field on Thursday night. While he won't be able to etch his name into NFL record books by breaking the tie, Evans is likely to see a surplus of targets from quarterback Baker Mayfield as the Buccaneers' offense looks to get itself back on track.
As such, I’m predicting Evans to score a touchdown against the Falcons on Thursday night—his first in over three months, and just his second this season.
Falcons defense will sack Baker Mayfield three-plus times, force two-plus turnovers
While the Falcons have undoubtedly struggled this season, their defense has still been able to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks—despite allowing 27.8 points per game over their last eight.
On the year as a whole, Atlanta has the third most sacks in the NFL (43.0), the 12th most interceptions (10) ,and has also forced six fumbles—putting it in the top half of the league in total takeaways.
Mayfield, meanwhile, has thrown four interceptions over the last four weeks and has been sacked five times, and the Buccaneers as a unit have fumbled four times over that timespan (though luckily only lost one of them).
Look for the Falcons to be all over the Tampa offense on Thursday, registering three-plus sacks and two-plus total turnovers on the night.
Buccaneers will continue to struggle, losing their fifth game in six weeks as they fall out of playoff contention
What once felt like a season of destiny for the Buccaneers has quickly become one they’d like to soon forget. Losers of four of five and five of seven, Tampa has its back against the wall—a place no team wants to be in at this point in the campaign.
While the Falcons haven’t had much to write home about either, they can frankly play more free—and attempt to a spoiler—on Thursday night, and that's exactly what I'm predicting them to do.
Behind a throwback performance from Cousins, I’m going with the Falcons to win this one, 24–14, and in turn knock the Bucs to just 7–7 and officially out of first place in the NFC South.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Buccaneers vs. Falcons: Three Bold Predictions for Thursday Night’s NFC South Battle.