It’s time for PewterReport.com’s 2-Point Conversion post-game column, which features two statements, two questions and two predictions based on the latest Bucs game. Surprise! It was Tampa Bay’s defense – along with stellar play from wide receiver Chris Godwin – that led the Bucs to a 35-22 upset over the previously hot Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday. The Bucs defense had a season-high six sacks and two takeaways while quarterback Jameis Winston overcame two early INTs to find Godwin – and nose tackle Vita Vea – for touchdown passes as Tampa Bay improved to 4-7.

2 BIG STATEMENTS

STATEMENT 1: Bucs Defense Is Hot In Hotlanta

For the past two weeks, the Falcons defense has been the talk of the league, helping Atlanta to back-to-back convincing road wins over New Orleans and Carolina. The Falcons had recorded a combined 11 sacks and four interceptions in a 26-9 win against the Saints and a 29-3 win against the Panthers last week, but it was the Bucs defense that surprised in Atlanta, keying Tampa Bay’s 35-22 victory.

Tampa Bay’s defense recorded a season-high six sacks and intercepted Matt Ryan once, while the Bucs offensive line held an opponent sack-less for the first time this season. Atlanta’s pass rush was non-existent on Sunday, and Tampa Bay’s offense flourished, scoring 35 points in the win.

Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by: Getty Images

Nose tackle Vita Vea, the Bucs’ first-round pick last year, had a huge game with not only his first touchdown – a 1-yard reception in the second quarter to give the Bucs a 19-10 lead, lining up as a fullback – but he also recorded two tackles, two pass breakups and a sack, which was his first full sack of the season, while helping hold the Falcons’ running game to just 57 yards.

Vea had three sacks during his rookie season a year ago, and has played a huge role in not only Tampa Bay having the league’s top-ranked rushing defense, but also for helping edge rusher Shaquil Barrett get 12.5 sacks this season. Barrett recorded his sack on Sunday when he dropped Matt Ryan in the second quarter right after rookie inside linebacker Devin White sacked Ryan with an A gap blitz. Barrett, who entered Sunday as the league’s second-leading sacker, also forced a fumble, which was his fifth of the year. Unfortunately for the Bucs, Ryan landed on the ball, so the Falcons kept possession.

On Sunday, Vea becomes the first player since Houston’s J.J. Watt to record a sack and an offensive touchdown in a game. Vea continued to get tremendous push up the middle, which prevents quarterbacks like Ryan from stepping up in the pocket and allows Barrett, Carl Nassib, who recorded his fourth sack of the season on Sunday, and Jason Pierre-Paul to come around the edge for sacks. Pierre-Paul recorded sack number 2.5 on the year, and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter, which was recovered for a touchdown by defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who became the first Buccaneer since Ronde Barber to record two defensive touchdowns in the same season (2004).

Bucs ILB Devin White – Photo by: Getty Images

White had a pair of sacks as Matt Ryan, who completed 23-of-46 passes for 271 yards with no touchdowns and one pick, was under siege all day and pulled in the fourth quarter for backup Matt Shaub. Ryan’s interception came courtesy of second-year cornerback Carlton Davis, who recorded his first career pick in dramatic fashion. Davis was tied for the team lead in pass breakups with five along with rookie cornerback Jamel Dean, who also had five PBUs.

Dean, this year’s third-round pick, is going to be a very, very good cornerback for Tampa Bay for quite some time. Despite limited snaps on defense this year, Dean came into the game tied for the team lead with eight pass breakups. He now leads the Bucs secondary with 13 to go along with one interception.

“We dropped five interceptions, right in their hands,” Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said. “That’s the only negative about our defense. Lavonte [David] never drops a pick-six – I mean five of them, or it’s a totally different game.”

STATEMENT 2: Godwin Played Like A God vs. Falcons

Third-year receiver Chris Godwin was the star performer for Tampa Bay’s offense on Sunday versus Atlanta. Godwin had a monster game that helped the Bucs build a 19-10 lead at halftime with two first half touchdowns.

After three straight 100-yard games this year against the Rams, Saints and Panthers, and four 100-yard games in the first six games of the season, Godwin was due for another sensational outing, especially since Pro Bowler Mike Evans went off for back-to-back games with over 180 yards in the last month. That day came on Sunday in Atlanta as Godwin had six catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: Getty Images

Godwin came into the Falcons game as the NFL’s third-leading wide receiver with a team-high 887 yards and seven touchdowns and moved up to second on the list behind New Orleans’ Michael Thomas and ahead of Evans. That big first half gave Godwin his first 1,000-yard season of his career, and his nine touchdowns lead the league.

Evans finished with 50 yards on four catches and joined Godwin in the 1,000-yard club later in the second quarter, and became just the second NFL wide receiver to top 1,000 yards in his first six seasons along with Hall of Famer Randy Moss. Another 1,000-yard season from Evans next year and he’ll be alone in the record books.

Godwin, who leads the Bucs with 70 catches for 1,071 yard and nine TDs, and Evans become just the second receiver duo in Bucs history to top 1,000-yard mark. The first time that happened was when Evans and Vincent Jackson both hit 1,000 yards in 2014, which was Evans’ rookie season. Both Godwin and Evans are deserving of Pro Bowl berths this year.

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1: What Do We Make Of Winston?

Who knows? We saw the maddening part of Jameis Winston’s game in Atlanta on Sunday – the good and the bad. He passed for 313 yards – a team-record sixth-straight 300-yard day – with three touchdowns and two interceptions in Tampa Bay’s win.

With Winston it seems like it is feast or famine.

That’s why his 22 TDs are among the league’s best and also why he has a league-leading 20 interceptions this season.

Winston’s first pass of the game was an interception. Of course it was.

Winston didn’t even see Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant undercut Mike Evans’ route for his 19th interception of the year. No spin – that one was on Winston. With that pick, Winston has thrown a first quarter interception against every NFC South opponent this year.

Just minutes after throwing an awful interception, Winton threw an absolutely amazing 71-yard touchdown to Chris Godwin that was right on the money and a career-long for both the Bucs quarterback and receiver. It was perhaps Winston’s best throw of the year and gave Tampa Bay a 10-3 lead.

Then on the Bucs’ next drive, Winston tried to do too much, unwisely attempting a jump pass that was thrown behind running back Dare Ogunbowale and was intercepted. Winston continued his Jekyll and Hyde routine as he rebounded yet again and threw two touchdowns in the second quarter, a 1-yard strike to Godwin and a 1-yard scoring toss to defensive tackle Vita Vea, who lined up as a fullback and went out for a pass in the end zone.

Winston had three touchdowns and two interceptions – and showcased the good and the bad on Sunday. And because Tampa Bay’s defense showed up with six sacks, two takeaways and a defensive score in the team’s 35-22 win, the Bucs were able to win and get their second NFC South victory of the year due to playing complementary football.

Winston got to speak to tennis and sports legend Billie Jean King before the game and she told him to live in the moment, which seemed to help. Winston shrugged off the two early picks, stayed focused and helped lead the Bucs to a win. King is famous for the phrase, “Pressure is a privilege,” and yet Winston wasn’t under much pressure as Tampa Bay’s offensive line, which allows and average of almost of four sacks per game. The Bucs offensive line

QUESTION 2: Are White And Vea Helping Licht’s Draft Record?

Absolutely. Inside linebacker Devin White, this year’s first-round pick, had a season-high two sacks in Atlanta, and now has 2.5 sacks on the year. Nose tackle Vita Vea, last year’s first-round pick, had a sack and his first touchdown on offense in the Bucs’ win in Atlanta.

White continues his ascension as an NFL player. The Bucs’ first-round pick was drafted to be a speedy tackling machine, which he was last week, notching a career-high 13 tackles against New Orleans. But that’s not why a team spends a Top 5 pick on an inside linebacker. That player has to be able to make splash plays.

Bucs NT Vita Vea – Photo by: Getty Images

And that’s exactly what White did on Sunday in Atlanta with two huge sacks that contributed to Falcons drives that ended in punts, in addition to eight tackles. White now has 2.5 sacks on the season, which ranks third on the team and is tied with outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul.

The draft record of general manager Jason Licht has been spotty, and took a tumble when he released former first-round pick Vernon Hargreaves III two weeks ago. The play of White and Vea, two young studs in the middle of Tampa Bay’s defense, in Atlanta helps, but they need to consistently make plays that help the Bucs win in order for Licht to be vindicated as a talent evaluator.

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

PREDICTION 1: Dean Will Wind Up As Bucs’ Top Interceptor

Tampa Bay’s young secondary has underwhelmed this year and been the culprit in the team’s 4-7 record. With second-year cornerback Carlton Davis’ first career pick on Sunday the Bucs only have six interceptions on the year. No player has more than more than one.

Look for that to change by the end of the year. With five games left rookie cornerback Jamel Dean is coming into his own with a career-high five pass breakups on Sunday in Atlanta. That gives Dean a team-high 13 pass breakups with just three games worth of defensive snaps under his belt. Dean dropped at least one interception against the Falcons on Sunday, but the guess here is that he gets his hands on another pick or two before the year is over to lead the Bucs defense in INTs.

“Dean had a pick-six,” Arians said on Sunday. “Just went right through [his] hands.”

PREDICTION 2: Gay Bounces Back

Bucs rookie kicker Matt Gay struggled with extra points in Atlanta for some reason. Gay had kicked indoors on turf before in New Orleans, and he was perfect in that game, hitting all three of his PATs and his lone field goal attempt. But that wasn’t the case against the Falcons in the Mercedes-Benz Dome where he missed two extra points and had another one blocked, as tight end Cameron Brate didn’t get enough of a Falcons defender to block him properly.

Bucs K Matt Gay – Photo by: Getty Images

Gay did make his first extra point attempt and his lone field goal, a 32-yarder, which is close to the distance of extra points in the modern day NFL. Gay is now 21-of-24 on field goals – 87.5 percent – which is the second-highest field goal percentage in Tampa Bay history. Yet his PAT percentage is only 86.7 percent (26-of-30).

Expect Gay, this year’s fifth-round pick, to learn from Sunday’s mistakes and bounce back from his misses in Atlanta. He’s going to be a really good kicker in Tampa Bay for quite some time.