The Falcons defeated the Buccaneers in overtime on “Thursday Night Football” 36-30 on a walk-off touchdown from Kirk Cousins to KhaDarel Hodge, who came in for one play to replace an injured Drake London. The Buccaneers had a 30-27 lead with one second remaining in the game, but Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo forced overtime with a 52-yard field goal as time expired in regulation.
The Falcons and Bucs now sit at 3-2 in what is shaping up to be a tight NFC South race that currently has Atlanta sitting at the top.
Both offenses had a solid showing, led by quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield. Cousins, in his first season with the Falcons and coming off an Achilles injury, is looking as comfortable as he has this season. He finished 42 of 58 for a career-high 509 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Before tying it up in dramatic fashion as time expired in the fourth quarter, the Falcons had a chance to tie things up with just under seven minutes remaining in the game, but Koo’s 54-yard field goal attempt was blocked. The failed attempt kept the Buccaneers’ lead at 30-27. The Falcons defense came up big just when they needed to, with Jessie Bates III forcing a fumble, recovered by Kaden Ellis with just under three minutes to play.
Just as the Falcons’ defense delivered when they needed to, so did the Buccaneers’ defense, creating a fourth-and-15 situation for the opposing offense. Atlanta’s gamble to go for it did not pay off, as Lavonte David read the play perfectly and picked off Cousins.
The Bucs just needed to take up the last 1:44 on the clock, but couldn’t do it, giving the Falcons one more chance to extend the game or get the win. They only took 30 seconds off the clock before punting, eventually setting up that Koo field goal that gave us free football.
Atlanta scored the first touchdown of the second half, a 12-yard pass from Cousins to wide receiver Darnell Mooney, tying things up at 27 each to start the fourth quarter.
The first half had just one punt, belonging to the Falcons, and ended with the Bucs up 24-17. From the 10-minute mark in the second quarter, Tampa Bay wouldn’t trail until the final moment of the game.
The Bucs will head to New Orleans for another divisional matchup, this time against the Saints, while the Falcons look to keep the momentum of this win against the Carolina Panthers next week.
Here are the takeaways from an exciting Thursday night matchup, along with a recap of this thriller in the live blog below.
Why the Falcons won
Kirk Cousins showed why the Falcons gave him $180 million guaranteed. In one of the best performances by a Falcons quarterback since Matt Ryan, Cousins set a franchise single-game record with 509 passing yards and four touchdowns. Cousins is just the 13th different player to throw for 500+ yards and four or more touchdowns in a game.
Cousins threw a touchdown pass on all four downs and was 11 of 15 for 135 yards with two touchdowns and an interception on third and fourth down (112.5 rating). He was 14 of 19 for 170 yards and a 113.9 rating in the fourth quarter and overtime, while going 3 of 3 for 69 yards with a touchdown in overtime (158.3 rating).
This was one of Cousins’ finest games in his career. Not bad for a 36-year-old quarterback coming off a ruptured Achilles.
Why the Buccaneers lost
Tampa Bay’s secondary just couldn’t stop Atlanta’s passing attack, allowing 447 net passing yards and 7.6 yards per attempt. The Falcons threw 59 times off the Buccaneers defense, which clearly missed the presence of Antoine Winfield Jr. this week.
Not only did Cousins pick them apart, but Drake London had 154 yards and a touchdown while Darnell Mooney had 105 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle Pitts added 88 yards and KhaDarel Hodge finished with 67 and the game-winning score.
The Buccaneers didn’t have an answer for Cousins, and couldn’t get off the field late in the fourth quarter in order to preserve the win. The three-and-out after their lone takeaway came back to bite Tampa Bay as well.
Turning point
There were plenty of these in a back-and-forth affair, but Lavonte David’s interception on fourth-and-15 actually hurt the Buccaneers. David picked off Kirk Cousins’ pass at the 35-yard line instead of batting it down — which would have given the Buccaneers the ball at the 20-yard line with 1:44 left.
The Buccaneers got the ball at the Falcons’ 27 and ended up losing 13 yards on a holding penalty by Graham Barton, followed by a short pass to Rachaad White that lost 2 yards, then a 1-yard run by Bucky Irving on third down. Tampa Bay lost 14 yards after the interception, forcing a punt instead of kicking a field goal and taking a 30-24 lead with just over a minute to play.
That 1:20 was all Kirk Cousins needed to get in position for Younghoe Koo to kick a tying field goal to force overtime. A touchdown would have been much harder for Cousins and the Falcons, which would have been the case if David just tips a fourth-down pass to the ground.
Just a series of unfortunate events.
Play of the game
What else would it be? Just one play after Drake London went down with an injury, Kirk Cousins goes right to KhaDarel Hodge on a quick slant, as Hodge eludes Zyon McCollum and sprinted 45 yards into the end zone for the winning touchdown just four plays into overtime.
Hodge was only in the game because London had to miss a play, making an instant impact in overtime once he ended the game for a walk-off touchdown. This was the moment of the NFL season, considering the stakes of this game and how much it plays into the NFC South race.
The quote
“I pray for this. I pray for this every week. Just get the opp and take advantage of the opp. … 5 [London] went down, I know I have to step in for my brother. For my team. I knew what I had to do. …This is a game of opportunity.” — an emotional KhaDarel Hodge to Prime Video’s Kaylee Hartung after catching the winning touchdown.
Hodge had his first two catches of the year on Thursday. He had two catches for 67 yards and a score.
Up next
The Falcons (3-2) get 10 days off before traveling to Carolina to face the Panthers on Sunday, Oct. 13. The Buccaneers (3-2) will face the Saints on the road on Oct. 13.
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