The Falcons stopped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ late comeback attempt and left Tampa victorious, 31-26 on Sunday.
The Falcons took lone control in the NFC South standings after their win.
“We talk about outrunning the South,” head coach Raheem Morris said in his press conference. “The guys have absolutely bought into what we want to do.”
Quarterback Kirk Cousins went 23-of-29 passing with 276 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
Tight end Kyle Pitts caught four passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns and receiver Darnell Mooney had four catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. Running back Bijan Robinson had four catches and a touchdown to go with his 13 carries for 63 yards.
“Today was kind of the first step in the direction we’re trying to go,” Cousins said postgame. “We’ll keep building from here.”
Bucs’ quarterback Baker Mayfield went 37-of-50 passing with 330 yards and three touchdowns, but also threw a couple of costly interceptions.
Turnovers were a problem early for Tampa Bay when Falcons safety Jessie Bates IIIpunched the ball out of Rachaad White’s hands on the Bucs’ second offensive play of the game. The Falcons quickly capitalized, turning it into seven points on a 36-yard touchdown pass to Pitts.
The Bucs answered with an eight-minute drive culminating in tight end Cade Otton’s first touchdown of the day. They scored again after an Atlanta punt when White took a screen pass 18 yards to the house, giving the Bucs a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Pitts showed up again in the Falcons responding drive, taking a pass over the middle from Cousins 49 yards downfield for his second score of the day. One Tampa Bay punt later and the Falcons score again when Cousins delivered a 30-yard strike to an open Darnell Mooney in the end zone.
Each team put up a field goal just before half to make it 24-17 Falcons at halftime.
The second half was a much tamer scoring affair, with Atlanta punting their first two possessions and the Bucs throwing an interception, failing to convert a fake punt, and then throwing another pick.
Robinson was left wide open before the second Bucs’ interception for his score, the last points for the Falcons on the day.
Things started to get dicey for Atlanta late. Tyler Allgeier mishandled a hand-off from Cousins near their own end zone which resulted in a safety for the Bucs.
Tampa took advantage of that opportunity by driving and scoring on a second touchdown pass to Otton to cut the Falcons’ lead to just five points, 31-26, with just under seven minutes left in regulation.
The Falcons managed to burn most of the clock on their ensuing drive, whittling the clock all the way down to 1:06 when Younghoe Koo missed a 46-yard field goal attempt. The Bucs would have a chance, starting at their own 28, to go-ahead in the last minute.
They fell short however, with Mayfield throwing their final attempt to the back of the end zone, getting caught well out of bounds with zeroes on the clock.
Next up, Atlanta hosts the Dallas Cowboys at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 3.
