The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will prepare for a 2025 NFC South grind that will look an awful lot like 2024, as they will likely be involved in a vicious two-man dogfight with the rival Atlanta Falcons. Luckily for Todd Bowles' team, the Falcons may have taken two steps backward after their one pass rush step forward.
The Falcons should deserve some credit for aggressively attacking their lack of a pass rush by selecting Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. in the NFL Draft and signing Leonard Floyd in free agency, but those additions may have come at a major cost when looking at the rest of the roster.
In questioning how much the young players will help improve the pass rush, Josh Kendall of The Athletic noted that Atlanta lost some big secondary players like Justin Simmons during the offseason without spending tons of NFL Draft capital on replacing them.
Atlanta seems to be banking on Zac Robinson's Sean McVay-esque offense helping them win every game 30-27. Walker and Floyd will make for a hellacious tandem, but with AJ Terrell being the only one holding this secondary back from being one of the worst in the league, this defense will be operating on a high wire all season long.
Falcons' lack of secondary depth is great news for Buccaneers
Terrell is a solid starter, and safety Jessie Bates can help pick up some of the slack, but the rest of the Falcons depth in that area is concerning. The No. 2 cornerback will be decided via a competition Dee Alford and Mike Hughes, both of whom shouldn't waltz into the season with completely unchallenged starting spots.
Atlanta's improved pass rush may beef up the defense as a whole, but the decline in secondary quality could cancel out the new additions closer to the line of scrimmage. Even a former defensive backs coach in Raheem Morris might not be enough to fix that group overnight.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, addressed their terrible secondary from last season with a pair of Top 100 picks in Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish. With and advantage at quarterback and on the offensive line, Tampa should once again consider themselves the favorites in the NFC South.
Atlanta may have some great skill position players and a young quarterback worth watching, but if they can't slow down Baker Mayfield and Tampa's loaded group of receivers, any improvements from Michael Penix Jr. won't be enough to turn them into a possible contending team.