New Year’s Day means a change in lifestyle for many people. Not so much for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their losing ways, however. The Bucs (4-12) laid an absolute egg in the first half in Atlanta and fell 45-24 to the Falcons (10-6) – Tampa Bay’s 10^th loss in a row to close out a miserable season that ironically began with a promising 4-2 start.

“If I was in the business of working out my future, I wouldn’t be coaching,” said Raheem Morris shortly after. “I’m going to go to work tomorrow until they tell me to stop.” Unfortunately, that’s exactly what management told him to do on Monday. Unable to win a game since October 16^th, Morris was fired after 3 years as the Bucs head coach. A 42-0 first half lead for the Falcons pretty much sealed his fate.

Aware that a Lions loss in Green Bay would give them an opportunity to clinch the 5^th playoff seed, Atlanta held nothing back from the get-go. By the time the Packers had defeated the Lions 45-41, the Falcons entered the 2^nd quarter with a commanding 21-0 lead.

Matt Ryan touchdown passes of 17 and 48 yards to rookie receiver Julio Jones on the second and third Falcons’ possessions of the game, respectively, put Atlanta up three scores following a one yard rushing touchdown by rookie Jacquizz Rodgers to open the game. The first of Josh Freeman’s three interceptions set up Ryan’s second and final touchdown pass of the game.

Atlanta put up just as many points in the 2^nd quarter. A Freeman fumble put the Falcons at the Tampa 30, and Michael Turner finished off the drive with a one yard touchdown run on 4^th and goal to make it 28-0. Turner would add an 81 yard sprint to the end zone on Atlanta’s next possession after scoring on a 26 yard Curtis Lofton pick six.

Freeman struggled mightily yet again, turning the ball over a total of 4 times. His counterpart’s day was the exact opposite scenario. With a 35 point lead just before halftime, and a team record of 42 points in one half, Falcons coach Mike Smith had the luxury of sitting Ryan for the rest of the game after just 9 passing attempts.

Ryan also set the Falcons single season franchise record for passing yardage. With just 106 yards he totaled 4,177 on the year, breaking Jeff George’s 1995 mark. ”We had opportunities the week before and just didn’t make the plays,” Ryan said. “Today, we made the plays and I think that’s what we needed moving forward.”

The Falcons were only able to add one more field goal in the 2^nd half with Chris Redman taking snaps. This was of no concern for Atlanta though, as Tampa Bay fell three touchdowns short with just two touchdowns and a field goal for the remainder of the game. The Falcons will now head to New Jersey for a 1 p.m. Wild Card showdown with the Giants. They hope to rebound after a disappointing divisional round loss to Green Bay last year despite being the number one overall seed after a 13-3 record.

“Honestly, I’ve said it all year: I think we’re a better team than we were last year,” Gonzalez said. This is only the first time in Falcons history that they have made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Now that the Bucs’ spiraling downfall has finally come to an end, they will search for a new head coach before seeking an impactful franchise player with the 5^th overall pick in the upcoming draft.

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The Tampa Buccaneers (4-7) season ended in Nashville on Sunday after the Titans (6-5), behind a mammoth performance from running back Chris Johnson, had a fourth quarter comeback victory. The score was 23-17. Although running back LeGarrette Blount had 103 yards on 20 carries and Josh Freeman’s 199 yards and one touchdown pass on 18-33 passing were not enough to hold off the Titans in the game’s final minutes.

The game was a final stand for Tampa, who has completely fallen out of the NFC playoff race after its fifth straight loss following a 4-2 start. Bucs fans had a tough time swallowing this one, as they saw a 17-10 fourth quarter lead become a distant memory.

A 52-yard field goal from Titans’ kicker Rob Bironas cut the deficit to 17-13 at the beginning of the final period, but Tampa still appeared poised to end the game on the next drive with a touchdown. After starting at their own 20-yard line, Tampa’s penalties pushed them back into a 1st and 25 situation back near midfield. The offense was unable to make up the lost yardage, and was forced to punt.

The game was then put into the hands of the defense. With just 7:15 remaining they still had an excellent opportunity to preserve the lead and allow the offense to win the game. But Johnson, who ran for a season high 190 yards on 23 carries, put the Titans into excellent scoring position with a 34-yard run to the Tampa Bay 25 after back to back first down throws by Matthew Hasselbeck to open the drive, which began back at the Tennessee 20-yard line.

The Bucs were able to stop the Titans on 3rd and goal from the five after tackling Johnson at the 2-yard line, but needed one more stop, as Tennessee elected to go for it on the 4th down with only a few minutes remaining and trailing by four. Hasselbeck rolled right and threw back towards the middle of the end zone to receiver Damian Williams for the touchdown, giving the Titans a 20-17 lead.

Freeman, who has 2 game-winning drives this season, and a total of nine in his three seasons as the Bucs’ quarterback, aimed to lead his team on another, but was intercepted by linebacker Colin McCarthy at the Tampa Bay 47-yard line. Turnovers was the name of the game for both teams throughout the day due to the cold, rainy conditions.

Each side struggled to take care of the football and there was a total of eight fumbles and three interceptions. There was even a stretch of six plays in the 3rd quarter where the teams combined for three turnovers. “Looking back, we had our timeouts and we had plenty of time. It would have been fairly routine for us to drive down, but the turnover made things difficult.

That’s something that at that point just can’t happen,” said Freeman about the late interception. The Bucs’ defense could have easily lost all hope after Johnson’s second carry of that next drive went to the Tampa 21-yard line leading up to the two minute warning, but they still fought hard and allowed only a field goal with 1:44 remaining.

Freeman would have one more opportunity to win the game trailing 23-17. It only took three plays to move the ball from his own 20 to the Titans’ 34 and things certainly looked promising. However, the Bucs found themselves at the 4-yard line, and were unable to convert after Freeman fumbled on the quarterback sneak attempt, recovered, and was stopped at 26 yards.

The turnover  led to thoughts of the 2012 season for the Bucs faithful. Titans fans, however, kept their postseason hopes alive. “We knew that this was a do-or-die situation, a critical situation,” said Hasselbeck.

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The Chicago Bears (4-3) posted a hard-fought 24-18 victory over elected home side Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) in the 5^th NFL International Series at Wembley, London.

The Bucs (who played at Wembley as recently as 2009, when they took on the New England Patriots) were welcomed to the field with rapturous applause as tight end Kellen Winslow Jr ran out onto the ‘hallowed turf’ bearing the Union Jack. The Bears, who played at Wembley 25 years ago in the inaugural American Bowl, were enjoying a large amount of support, with a significant contingent of the near 77,000 crowd seemingly Chicago fans.

The game started with a 3 and out from the Bears offence, and they looked as if the occasion, likened to a Superbowl in atmosphere by Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and Richard Dent, may have unnerved them somewhat. If they were slightly overawed, they soon overcame it, and the league leading Matt Forte, who has 908 yards rushing already this season, ran in a 32-yard TD to give the Bears the lead.

Forte went on to enjoy a monster performance in London, rushing for 145 yards on just 25 carries. An injury to running back Earnest Graham sent things from bad to worse for the Bucs, leaving only the inexperienced Kregg Lumpkin active. Veteran cornerback Ronde Barber did pull back two points for the Bucs when he tackled Forte in the endzone for a safety.

The much maligned Chicago offensive line, who had given up 19 sacks on Jay Cutler so far this season, put in a strong performance, allowing Cutler to find Roy Williams on the 25-yard TD pass in the second quarter. Although Cutler was being given better protection than he has had all season, the story of the game was the Bears work running the football.

Marion Barber collected the 50^th rushing TD of his career as he powered into the endzone from 12 yards out. The Bears were then close to adding to their lead when Lance Briggs intercepted on Freeman’s first pass after the Barber TD and, despite the linebacker taking the ball all the way to the endzone, a Chicago player was called for a push in the back, and Briggs’s celebrations were cut short.

The game was brought back to life early in the fourth quarter as Winsow collected a TD pass, and although Freeman, who coincidentally made his first ever NFL appearance at Wembley two years previously, failed to find Mike Williams for the extra two, and the Bucs were looking a threat in the deep for the first time in the game.

A fourth quarter comeback continued to look on the cards as Freeman, who was showing a composure in the fourth that he had lacked throughout the game, found Dezmon Briscoe for the 24-yard TD and the Bucs kicked the extra point to cut the Bears lead to three points.

The Bears then kicked a field goal to establish a six point lead, and with less than two minutes left in the game, the Bucs began a drive on their own 28 yard line. Although they looked dangerous, recording consecutive first downs, D.J. Moore grabbed an interception with around a minute to play to effectively end the game.

The Bears will fly home hoping that their offensive line has turned a corner, with good performances against both the Vikings and now the Bucs, and that Forte can carry on running the ball with the same effectiveness that has seen him lead the NFL in rushing yards so far this season.

Head Coach Raheem Morris and the Bucs will be disappointed that they could not complete their fourth quarter comeback, but cannot be too aggrieved, as Tampa Bay did not turn up in their first three quarters.

They leave London in better spirits than two years ago, when they were on the end of a 35-7 demolition by the Patriots, and Morris will see a lot of potential on his side as they head into their bye-week.

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