TAMPA, Fla. -- The hobbled Atlanta Falcons' defense is giving up nearly 33 points per game -- second most in the league -- and it has surrendered 122 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Those numbers alone paint favorable odds for Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, who is making his first start of the season on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Fox) since serving a three-game suspension.

But there's a lot more to it. Winston has not only played his best ball against the Falcons, he has also been one of the best in the league at it. His career 110.0 passing rating against Atlanta is better than that of Drew Brees (97.0) and Cam Newton (79.4).

It gets even crazier -- his 6.0 career touchdown-to-interception ratio (12 touchdowns, two interceptions) against the Falcons is tied with Aaron Rodgers for most in the league since 2015. The next closest would be Brees' 3.25.

Winston's numbers against other opponents aren't even close (his career touchdown-to-interception ratio is 1.52).

"The three teams in your division that you play twice, you know a lot about them, they know a lot about you," Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said, shrugging his shoulders when asked about his quarterback's performance against the NFC South foe. "I don't know. You've got me on that one."

Winston alluded to nostalgia being a factor.

"Every time I play Atlanta, I just imagine growing up in Bessemer, Alabama, being an hour away from Atlanta, seeing Michael Vick running around [doing] his thing," Winston said. "It's always been a dream to compete against Atlanta and win against Atlanta."

In the past two years, Winston's passer rating against the Falcons has jumped to 122.3, punctuated by a three-touchdown performance in Week 15 in 2017 that was arguably one of Winston's career bests.

He is 2-0 on the road at Atlanta, too, with his last win coming in Week 1 in 2016. He threw four touchdowns and completed nearly 72 percent of his passes in that game, something he hopes to replicate as he tries to get the Bucs (2-2) back on track after dropping their past two games.

"Definitely going back to Atlanta is like a home game for me," Winston said. "That's how I view it because all my family -- they come up. They show up and hopefully I'll show out for them."