WEEK 8 · FINAL
THE READ
Ethan Price
The numbers guy
91 points between Falcons and Buccaneers
91 points, and Buccaneers had more of them, 49-42. Baker Mayfield was steady for Buccaneers — 24/36, 381 yards, 7 TD, 1 INT. Ty Simpson did the damage for Falcons — 22/37, 310 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT — in a losing effort. Baker Mayfield has now cleared 250 passing yards in 8 in a row. Through the air: Buccaneers 381, Falcons 310.
Ethan Price
The numbers guy
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falcons | -11.4 | +2.2 | -13.6 | -14 |
| Buccaneers | +10.9 | -3.8 | +14.7 | +4 |
SRS is how many points a side beats an
average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good
team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20.
SOS is how hard that schedule has been.
Full table.
Buccaneers —
NFC #2 · division
· 7-2
Playoff picture →
IN THE BOOTH
Jordan Hayes
The armchair coach
Mayfield's arm decided this one—7 touchdown passes means Tampa Bay's passing game simply overwhelmed Atlanta's secondary, and when a QB gets that loose in a shootout, the math doesn't work in your favor no matter how well your ground game performs.
Nicole Santos
Beat reporter
· replying
Tampa Bay got away without ever having to establish anything on the ground—3 carries for 27 yards—because Atlanta's defense couldn't generate pressure without help. The Bucs won a shootout where they barely had to run.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers —
none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that
did not happen.
Baker Mayfield
Buccaneers
24/36, 381 yards, 7 TD, 1 INT
Ty Simpson
Falcons
22/37, 310 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
Bijan Robinson
Falcons
9 catches, 93 yards, 2 TD
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
Through the air
Buccaneers 381, Falcons 310
Buccaneers
On the ground
Falcons 85, Buccaneers 27
Falcons
Total yards
Buccaneers 408, Falcons 395
Buccaneers
Pressure
Buccaneers 0 sacks, Falcons 1
Falcons
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
THE MATCHUP SCOUT
every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 72% · Rush 28% · 33.9 scored, 47.4 allowed
9.0 yds/att
57.0% completions
6.0 yds/carry
433.6 yds/game
2.1 giveaways/game
2.0% sack rate
last 5: 0-5
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 65 · Aggressive
Balance 78
Ball security 41
Back usage 23%
QB runs 2.7/game
Most exposed: ball security -- 2.1 giveaways a game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 87
WR 87
TE 98
RB 88
OL 86
DL 76
LB 76
DB 80
Best: Bijan Robinson HB 99
Fastest: Bijan Robinson HB 95 SPD
6 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 91% · Rush 9% · 39.0 scored, 24.3 allowed
11.2 yds/att
69.6% completions
4.1 yds/carry
399.1 yds/game
1.9 giveaways/game
4.0% sack rate
last 5: 4-1
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 77 · Aggressive
Balance 59
Ball security 47
Back usage 6%
QB runs 1.1/game
Most exposed: ball security -- 1.9 giveaways a game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 96
WR 85
TE 80
RB 84
OL 81
DL 86
LB 75
DB 88
Best: Vita Vea DT 97
Fastest: Ted Hurst III WR 95 SPD
11 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
nardwick
Buccaneers · his last 8 games
Throws it
Gives it away
Runs the quarterback
Pass / run91% / 9%
Points for / against39.1 — 28.2
Margin+10.9
Giveaways a game2.0
Sacks taken4.2% of dropbacks
Lead backBucky Irving · 2.2/g
Top targetAdonai Mitchell · 23%
QB carries1.0 a game
DopeIS1
Falcons · his last 8 games
Throws it
One back
Pass / run72% / 28%
Points for / against31.1 — 45.5
Margin-14.4
Giveaways a game1.8
Sacks taken2.2% of dropbacks
Lead backBijan Robinson · 11.1/g
Top targetCaleb Douglas · 31%
QB carries2.4 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
THE SERIES
DopeIS1 against nardwick — the men, not the teams
nardwick leads it 1-0.
nardwick won the last one.
1 meeting
avg 42.0 — 49.0
biggest: 7 pts to nardwick
S1 · week 8
DopeIS1 42 — 49 nardwick
NARDWICK
Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Falcons receivers vs Buccaneers secondary
87 v 88
EVEN
Buccaneers receivers vs Falcons secondary
85 v 80
BUCCANEERS
Falcons line vs Buccaneers front
86 v 86
EVEN
Buccaneers line vs Falcons front
81 v 76
BUCCANEERS
Falcons backs vs Buccaneers run defence
88 v 83
FALCONS
Buccaneers backs vs Falcons run defence
84 v 76
BUCCANEERS
Falcons passer vs Buccaneers secondary
87 v 88
EVEN
Buccaneers passer vs Falcons secondary
96 v 80
BUCCANEERS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
FALCONS
BUCCANEERS
FALCONS
BUCCANEERS
FALCONS
BUCCANEERS
FALCONS
BUCCANEERS
FALCONS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ty Simpson QB | 22/37 | 310 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 64 | 100 |
BUCCANEERS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baker Mayfield QB | 24/36 | 381 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 69 | 129.7 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bijan Robinson HB | 18 | 79 | 4.4 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 21 | 0 |
| Ty Simpson QB | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
BUCCANEERS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucky Irving HB | 2 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 0 |
| Baker Mayfield QB | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Eli Stowers TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bijan Robinson HB | 9 | 93 | 10.3 | 2 | 94 | 0 | 32 |
| Travis Kelce TE | 5 | 87 | 17.4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 25 |
| Caleb Douglas WR | 4 | 85 | 21.2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 64 |
| Drake London WR | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
BUCCANEERS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adonai Mitchell WR | 3 | 124 | 41.3 | 1 | 57 | 0 | 69 |
| Eli Stowers TE | 5 | 113 | 22.6 | 3 | 51 | 1 | 65 |
| Bucky Irving HB | 9 | 65 | 7.2 | 2 | 35 | 0 | 31 |
| Ted Hurst III WR | 5 | 49 | 9.8 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 16 |
| Emeka Egbuka WR | 2 | 30 | 15 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kendal Daniels WILL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Avieon Terrell CB | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Xavier Watts SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Bowman Jr CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C.J. Henderson CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jalon Walker LEDG | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Harrison DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terell Smith CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shaquill Griffin CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BUCCANEERS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cor'Dale Flott SS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Benjamin Morrison CB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Antoine Winfield Jr FS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacob Parrish CB | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vita Vea DT | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rueben Bain Jr. LEDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelee Ringo FS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shemar Stewart REDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy Andersen MIKE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keionte Scott CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zyon McCollum CB | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
RECENT FORM
Falcons
L
35–62 vs 49ers
WK 7
L
10–28 vs Bears
WK 6
L
7–31 vs Ravens
WK 5
Buccaneers
W
28–27 vs Panthers
WK 7
L
28–31 vs Steelers
WK 6
W
52–19 vs Cowboys
WK 5
TEAM STATS
| Falcons | Buccaneers | |
|---|---|---|
| 395 | TOTAL YARDS | 408 |
| 310 | PASSING YARDS | 381 |
| 85 | RUSHING YARDS | 27 |
| 0 | SACKS ALLOWED | 1 |
| 1 | SACKS MADE | 0 |
| 2 | GIVEAWAYS | 2 |
| 2 | TAKEAWAYS | 2 |
Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.
ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
0
FALCONS
—
1
BUCCANEERS