The “Dirty Birds” of Atlanta have extended their NFC South lead to four games over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after their 24-23 win Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

The Falcons (10-1) exploited a weak Buc secondary by highlighting Julio Jones (pictured), who grabbed 6 passes for 147 yards, and a crucial 80-yard third quarter touchdown. The Bucs (6-5) didn’t have a bad offensive performance with Josh Freeman completing 19 of 30 passes for 256 yards. Rookie running back, Doug Martin, had 21 carries for 50 yards and a pair of scores.

The Bucs entered Sunday’s contest, blacked out locally, among the leaders in the NFL when it comes to turning takeaways into touchdowns. But on the two occasions they were able to take the ball away from the Falcons, they only managed a pair of field goals. The Falcon defense concentrated their efforts on stopping the Buccaneer ground game, and were successful. The Bucs added a new wrinkle to their offense when wide receiver Mike Williams took a lateral from Freeman, and tossed a 28-yard pass to Vincent Jackson that led to a field goal.

It won’t get any better for the Bucs Sunday as they hit the road to face Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in a 4:05 p. m. contest.