The Buccaneers entered Sunday’s game at the Falcons as the second-most penalized team in the league while the Falcons ranked near the middle of the pack.
The Bucs came to the Georgia Dome and dragged the Falcons down into the muck.
The teams combined for nine penalties in the first half: The Bucs had five penalties for 24 yards and the Falcons were penalized four times for 26 yards. The Bucs declined a holding penalty against Jacob Tamme.
The penalty yardage totals weren’t very large but both teams had costly penalties.
For the Falcons, an offsides call against pass rusher Vic Beasley negated a third-down stop in the first quarter.