The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a chance to steal back the NFC South from the Atlanta Falcons this week — if they can get the win. In their first match back in October, the Falcons held on to win 16-13. That win gave Atlanta the division lead and has kept them undefeated against their divisional opponents. In terms of their playoff hopes, there may be no game with bigger stakes for the Buccaneers all season.

Ahead of the crucial matchup, rookie guard Cody Mauch described the team's approach.

“We're treating it like a playoff game, because, really, for us, it is,” Mauch said. “You've got to keep winning, especially these division games. That's just kind of the mentality for us,” via ESPN's Jenna Laine.

Despite forcing three fumbles in the first game, the Bucs still couldn't get a win. Part of this was due to their own mistakes — including a fumble and interception. Quarterback Baker Mayfield reflected what wrong the first time, and why they're better suited to win now.

“The first game was a little hard to watch, film-wise, going back through it and seeing the improvements that we've had,” Mayfield said. “They presented different issues for us that we had to learn from … We're definitely a lot better on offense — looking at it detail-wise and just [our] understanding of everybody knowing exactly what we're trying to get accomplished,” via ESPN.

The Bucs have beat the Saints and Panthers, but getting a win over the Falcons will significantly boost their odds to win the division. Another key for the Bucs to get this win — besides executing better on offense — will be to limit the Falcons rushing attack after they ran for 156 total yards last time.