The Atlanta Falcons pulled out a back and forth 36-30 win over the Buccaneers on Thursday night thanks to quarterback Kirk Cousins passing for a career-high 509 yards.
“It was a special night,” Cousins said in a postgame interview. “I felt like Zac (Robinson) put the ball in my hands tonight and said ‘go win the game’ as the game progressed. I enjoyed that, spreading it around. Just really had fun tonight.”
The receiving corps had fun as well; five different pass-catchers for the Falcons had catches of 20 yards or more, with those same five having 60 yards or more through the air.
The offense found the end zone on the game’s opening drive for their first offensive touchdown in 17 drives. It came on a pass to receiver Drake London over the middle of the field, who spun and forced his way through contact into the end zone.
Tampa Bay’s offense was rolling throughout the first half as well. They answered with their own touchdown and added a field goal after a rare miss on a 41-yard field goal from Atlanta kicker Younghoe Koo, making the score 10-7 in the Buccaneers’ favor at the end of the first quarter.
Another touchdown for both teams on each of their next drives made it 17-14, with the Falcons scoring on a 24-yard pass to Darnell Mooney who managed to catch it in the middle of three defenders. The Bucs’ score was a pass to Mike Evans, his second of the game and 100th of his career.
Koo made his next field goal and Baker Mayfield threw his third touchdown to put the Falcons at a 24-17 deficit going into halftime.
The Falcons defense clamped down in the second half, allowing just two field goals for the Bucs. Mayfield had just 53 yards passing after the first half.
Koo knocked another field goal through the uprights and Cousins threw another touchdown to Mooney, setting the score at 30-27 with the Falcons closing in.
Atlanta had a chance to tie it, but Bucs’ defensive back Tavierre Thomas blocked Koo’s kick on the play. With 6:29 left in the game the Bucs took possession.
Chewing up the clock, the Buccaneers made their way down into Falcons’ territory. Bucky Irving ran to the left side for what looked like a first down — but Jessie Bates III swooped in, landing a perfectly placed punch on the ball to force a fumble recovered by Atlanta.
The Bucs defense showed up, forcing fourth-and-15 after three plays, then picking off Cousins on the attempted fourth-down conversion.
The Bucs backed up on their drive thanks to a penalty and runs that went nowhere, putting them out of field goal range. Their punt went through the end zone for a touchback.
The Falcons, with no timeouts, managed a field goal drive. With 12 seconds on the clock, they completed a pass in the middle of the field for a first down at Tampa Bay’s 29. Cousins spiked the ball with 1 second left on the clock.
Despite some confusion leading to a delay of game penalty, Koo still made the kick from 52 yards out to send the game into overtime.
The Falcons, winning the toss, made things look too easy. Three plays into overtime on third and 3, Cousins threw a strike short and to the right to Hodge, who streaked across the middle and up the field, eluding tackles and making it into the end zone as the crowd erupted in a frenzy.
It’s the fifth straight game for Atlanta decided by one score.
The Falcons next game is Oct. 13 against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte.
