First place in the NFC South is on the line in the Thursday night game to kick off Week 5 -- the fourth straight week that TNF features an intradivisional matchup -- as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1) visit the Atlanta Falcons (2-2). The Bucs have won three straight division titles for the first time in franchise history, but the Falcons upgraded at quarterback this offseason with Kirk Cousins and are the current South favorites. The Falcons are -1.5 with a total of 43.5. 

Entering the season, the NFC South was projected to have the fewest overall wins of any division, and it remains the +1100 longshot to house the Super Bowl winner -- the game will be hosted by the South's New Orleans Saints in February. The South does look as mediocre as expected. Atlanta is the current +160 favorite to win the division but is only +3000 to win the Super Bowl, easily the longest title odds of any division favorite.  

First-year Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was in the same role with the Bucs from 2009-11 and was fired after posting a 21-38 overall mark and going 4-12 in his final season. This marks the third national TV appearance for Atlanta this season and second of three straight NFC South matchups. The last time the Falcons played on a Thursday night was against Carolina in 2022, and they haven't won on such a short week since 2020 when they beat the Panthers during Morris' stint as interim head coach. 

Tonight will also see former Falcons quarterback and potential future Hall of Famer Matt Ryan inducted into the team's Ring of Honor at halftime. Coincidence or not, one of Ryan's best regular-season games was 10 years ago in a Thursday night home game vs. the Bucs when Ryan had a career-high 155.9 rating in a blowout win. The 2016 NFL MVP is now part of CBS Sports' "The NFL Today."

It's Tampa Bay's first division game of the year but starts a run of three of them in the next four weeks, which concludes against the Falcons in Florida in Week 8. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield should recognize Morris' defensive schemes a bit from when Mayfield was with the Rams in 2022 and Morris was the team's defensive coordinator. Tampa Bay (+200 to win the South) looks to snap a five-game primetime losing streak in its first such game of the year. 

We'll take you through every aspect of the Bucs-Falcons game that you need to know before you lock in your bets, including SportsLine expert picks, props, trends, DFS, injury information and everything else that will help you know which plays are worth making for the primetime matchup.

Who wins Bucs vs. Falcons in the Week 5 Thursday night game, and what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread hit HARD? Join SportsLine right now to see everything you need to know about the game in the Thursday night matchup to kick off Week 5 of the 2024 season!!