The Buccaneers’ ground game finally looked like the force Tampa Bay expected, and Kenneth Gainwell was right in the middle of it.
In Week 8’s win over the Falcons, Gainwell piled up 140 rushing yards on 25 carries as the Buccaneers rolled to 324 rushing yards as a team. He said the performance matched the kind of outing he had been waiting for.
“It felt good just getting out there and doing it together,” Gainwell said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “You know, that’s basically what I anticipated at the beginning of the season happening.
Time comes with patience, but I was excited about what we did on Sunday. We got on the ground, we got it moving.
The guys up front were doing their jobs, and we did what we did.”
Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said the team sees Gainwell and Bucky Irving as a true tandem, with a “1A, 1B” setup. Irving had 27 carries for 170 yards and a touchdown in the same game, and Bowles said the Buccaneers are starting to use Gainwell the way they envisioned.
“I think we finally got to where we’re utilizing Kenny more and more, and that’s kind of the 1A, 1B we were talking about when we first signed him,” Bowles said. “Not to the degree of the carries, 27 and 25, but at the same time we know he’s a great running back and he can do a lot of things for us, and he put it on display Sunday.”
Gainwell also said the weather played into the way the game unfolded. He liked the feel of the matchup in the rain and mud, and he credited the offensive line for setting the tone.
“It most definitely was fun,” Gainwell said. “I had an awful lot of fun playing in the mud, playing in the rain.
Just having fun with the big guys up front. We’re just trying to what we do best, run behind guys who love blocking.”
In Atlanta, Bijan Robinson is looking at Week 9 against the Bengals as more than just another game on the schedule. The Falcons sit at 3-5, and Robinson said Sunday has the chance to shift the mood inside the building.
“I think every game is a statement game, but for us, this game right here is something that can be a culture changer in the building,” Robinson said, via Ben Baby of ESPN. “And for us, we know what this game means and what it’s going to mean at the end of the season.”
He made it clear the Falcons need to treat it like a must-win.
“This would be up for us to come together and even closer at the team and just see who we are,” Robinson said. “ And yeah, this is a great team that we’re playing up against. But for us, we got to come in here with the mindset of we have to get the job done and we’ll see what the rest happens later on.”
Robinson enters Week 9 ranked No. 4 in the league with 100.6 rushing yards per game, but he said he still hasn’t hit his best level.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t feel like I’m playing like that right now,” Robinson said. “I got to be better.
I got to be better for this team. I got to be better for the offense.”
In Carolina, the Panthers made a major defensive change by firing DC Ejiro Evero and passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley. Safety Nick Scott said GM Dan Morgan was the first person to tell him, and he said he understood the move.
“Dan Morgan gave me a call - that was the first person I heard it from, which I really appreciated,” Scott said, via Mike Kaye of ESPN. “And the message was - it was the decision they had to make, I respected it and I know they had a job to do. Wish [Cooley] and [Evero] the best of luck, thank them for the role they had in my career to this point, and now we’re looking forward to this next game.”
EDGE Princely Umanmielen said the firing caught him off guard.
“I was genuinely shocked,” Umanmielen said. “Like I was genuinely surprised, especially it happening in the middle of the season. Something that I wouldn’t have expected at all.”
He also said Todd Wash, who was promoted from defensive line coach to interim coordinator, should naturally lean on the defensive front.
“I guess you could say it’s cool because you know he’s going to have a little bias there with the D-line,” Umanmielen said. “Him being a D-lineman himself, I’m assuming that he would want to see the D-line be successful game in and game out, so it’s nice to have a coach with that bias.”
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The timing matters because Atlanta heads into Week 9 against Cincinnati with a matchup that should be there for the taking on the ground. The Bengals have been vulnerable enough in run defense to give Robinson a path back toward the kind of impact the Falcons need from him, especially as they try to steady an offense that has leaned on him all season. For Atlanta, the question is less whether the opportunity will be there and more whether Robinson can turn it into the kind of statement outing that resets the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
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For Atlanta, it is a reminder that Robinsons appeal stretches well beyond the usual NFL audience. A player who can draw attention in a soccer-mad city like Madrid gives the Falcons a rare chance to connect with new fans in a setting built for that kind of exposure. The league wanted a showcase in Spain, and Robinson gave it one before the first snap even mattered. [Read more 🡒]