TAMPA, Fla. -- One of the themes Matt Ryan identified for the second half of the Atlanta Falcons' season was to be more opportunistic.
Well, the Falcons got plenty of opportunities on Sunday.
A 27-17 win over Tampa Bay was helped by some "foolish" penalties by the Buccaneers, as Roddy White referred to them. And the Falcons' ability to take advantage of those opportunities only helped their cause in breaking a five-game losing streak.
The Buccaneers picked up three crucial penalties on third down that resuscitated scoring drives for the Falcons and led to scores -- 18 points total, with two touchdowns, a PAT, a two-point conversion and a field goal.
"You've got to take advantage," Falcons coach Mike Smith said after his team improved to 3-6. "When you get a first down, it doesn't really matter how you get it."
The most critical of Tampa Bay's defensive penalties came with the Falcons facing third-and-6 from the Bucs' 16 with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Falcons got new life when Buccaneers cornerback Johnthan Banks was whistled for illegal hands to the face. It gave the Falcons a new set of downs and led to White's 5-yard touchdown catch and a 24-17 lead, following a nifty two-point conversion by Harry Douglas.
"That's part of the game," Ryan said of scoring off the defensive penalties. "When you get a call that goes in your favor, you've got to capitalize on that, specifically in the red zone. I think we were 2-of-4 down in the red zone. That was big for us to be able to punch it in and get a touchdown after we got the defensive hands to the face."
On the Falcons' very first scoring drive, Buccaneers cornerback Leonard Johnson was whistled for defensive pass inference as Ryan tried to hit Douglas on third-and-5 from the Tampa Bay 11. It gave the Falcons first-and-goal at the 1, and Steven Jackson punched it in from there.
In the second quarter, Buccaneers cornerback Crezdon Butler was whistled for illegal contact with the Falcons facing third-and-15 from their own 34-yard line. The end result of that drive was Matt Bryant's 37-yard field goal.
"Whenever a team gives you second opportunities, you always want to convert and score points," Douglas said. "I think we scored every time we got a defensive penalty on them."
The Falcons missed on some other opportunities. Right before Bryant hit the 37-yarder, Devin Hester dropped a sure touchdown on a perfectly placed deep ball by Ryan.
"I'm happy to get a win but [shoot], we're kicking too many field goals," White said. "We can't go in the game and kick four field goals. I'm happy we got the win to stop the slide. Everybody's excited and all that. But we've got to execute better and get down in the red zone and score [touchdowns], not field goals."
Now the Falcons have a different type of opportunity heading into next Sunday's road matchup with Carolina. The Falcons are the only team with a perfect record in NFC South play (3-0) and could find themselves right back in the thick of the division race with a win.
"We feel good," receiver Julio Jones said. "We just have to keep winning. Everything else will take care of itself."
