For the first time all season, everything seemed to be lined up in the Falcons favor going into a game. The defense was coming off two exceptional performances with their maligned defensive line at the forefront of their success. Matt Ryan had his most impressive performance of the season against Carolina. A home matchup against a faltering Tampa Bay team seemed to be occurring at the perfect time. There wasn’t a better way to continue this recent resurgence than beating a divisional rival in disarray. Those notions couldn’t have been more inaccurate.
Dan Quinn’s team was completely outplayed on both sides of the ball.