Atlanta Falcons vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Live Score, Highlights and Analysis

Atlanta Falcons 24, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 — Final

The Atlanta Falcons have created a clinching situation for the division title next week with the win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To those who follow baseball's magic number, they have cut it down to just two in order to clinch the division.

Matt Ryan cleaned up his game this week going 26-for-32 (81.3 percent) for 353 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Julio Jones and Sean Weatherspoon also played huge roles coming back from injury with each making plays in the clutch. 

Atlanta also played great run defense today holding Doug Martin to just 50 yards on 21 carries for a 2.38 yards per carry average. Add in an excellent game creating pressure on Josh Freeman all day and the Falcons defense was there all day.

However, the game ball goes to Asante Samuel. He had three key dropped interceptions that would have changed the game had he not knocked the balls away. Each one was crucial and if he is injured for the Saints game, it will create a ton of trouble.

All stats used are either from Pro Football Focus's Premium Stats, ESPN.com or NFL.com.

Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, NFL and NFL Draft. He is also the Falcons analyst at Drafttek, runs the NFL Draft Website ScarDraft.com and hosts Kvetching Draftniks Radio.

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