Falcons vs. Buccaneers recap: Atlanta sinks Tampa Bay with a fusillade of passing

The Atlanta Falcons don’t believe in making things easy, but they do believe putting on one hell of a grand finale. For the second straight week in a row and the third time this year, the Falcons were seemingly left for dead before a jaw-dropping last minute comeback sealed the win. Somehow, this was the craziest one yet.

Why? The Falcons allowed 24 points in the first half, and were down 24-17 at halftime. They were down 27-20 in heading into the fourth quarter, threw an interception on a fourth and long attempt, dealt with multiple missed or blocked Younghoe Koo field goal attempts, and saw penalties, drops, and execution errors crop up far too frequently. Yet they managed to drive into field goal range, where—despite an unreal delay of game penalty that backed them up five yards—Koo drilled one from 52 yards out to send the game to overtime. A fortunate coin flip, a couple of nice passes, and a 45 yard KhaDarel Hodge touchdown catch-and-run later, they had won 36-30.

This wasn’t just the first game where the Falcons allowed more than 24 points on the day; it was also the first one where they scored more than 30. The fact that two things happened on the same night made for a more stressful evening, yes, but they also set the stage for the absolutely bonkers finish to the game. It also told us something about the adaptability and tenacity of this team, something we saw glimpses of in the Arthur Smith era and late Dan Quinn era, but never with any consistency.

This winning is becoming a trend, though, and the way the Falcons were able to shut down the Bucs offense after the half and keep the passing game humming is a testament to improvement from players and coaches alike. The ability to hang in until the very end when you have playmakers like Drake London, Bijan Robinson, Darnell Mooney, Kyle Pitts, and heroic Hodge backed by a quarterback like Kirk Cousins is no small thing. The ability to take an offense that is bludgeoning you to death and trade their club for a pillow midgame isn’t a small thing, either. It added up to an improbable win against the Saints a week ago, and it created an opportunity for a win against the division-leading Buccaneers this week. First half defensive weakness and a weak ground game set aside, this Falcons team looked much better than they did just a week ago against New Orleans, too.

A team as mistake-prone as the Falcons isn’t going to win these kinds of games all the time—they tried to give this one away in a half-dozen interesting and infuriating ways—but a team that stops making those mistakes while playing like this could be among the NFC’s best. I say that knowing full well that this team’s largest issues, from the lack of pass rush to the concerning inability to find consistent success on the ground, are not easy or imminent fixes. There’s just a lot to like here, and the Falcons coming out of an early stretch that features two AFC contenders and three NFC contenders at 3-2 underscores that they have something to build on. The big if is whether the Falcons can stop shooting themselves in the foot so frequently; if they can even make modest strides there and tinker with their lineup to enhance the pass rush, optimism feels quite warranted.

But I’m looking ahead to an uncertain tomorrow, and really, we ought to celebrate today. Now atop the NFC South with an undefeated 2-0 record against the division and a chance to run that to 3-0 against the Panthers next week, Atlanta’s sitting in an excellent spot for the rest of the season. That they did so against a Bucs team they’ve absorbed some rough losses against in recent years makes it a little sweeter, and that they did that in such thrilling fashion is worth its own celebration. The Falcons are fun again, and the Falcons might even be good again. That’s a thought that ought to put a spring in your step on this Friday morning.

On to the full recap.

The Good

• Kirk Cousins was just sharper than he had been to a jaw-dropping degree, and all the talk of steady improvement for the passing game certainly seems true after Week 5 in what can only be described as a breakout game. By the time the dust settled on his day, he had broken the franchise record for passing yards in a single game with 509 (Matt Ryan had 503 back in 2016 against the Panthers, with four touchdowns against a single interception on a 4th and long. Cousins also managed to escape pressure a couple of times, and even if he had to throw it away, it was a good sign for his admittedly limited mobility. Against a lesser offense, Cousins’ effort would have been enough to help the Falcons cruise to a victory; against the Buccaneers, it was still enough to earn Atlanta the win. If Cousins is going to start cooking like this on a weekly basis, the Falcons are now one of the NFL’s most dangerous teams.
• Drake London is really cooking, even though he briefly exited the game with a concussion scare after taking a call that earned an unnecessary roughness penalty for Tampa Bay and leaving the game on the final play with another injury. His touchdown saw him bowl over multiple defenders after the catch, and he was both sure-footed and sure-handed all evening long, serving as the big, reliable target Cousins needs. The number of huge catches he made over the middle for first downs was not a small number, and he finished with a preposterous 154 yards and a touchdown on 12 grabs. This is the kind of production London has long been capable of, and he finally has the quarterback and offense he needs to achieve it.
• Kyle Pitts is alive and well. Working downfield and turning upfield with the ball, Pitts looked more confident and more capable against the Buccaneers, and Cousins looked his way frequently with quality results. He finished with 7 receptions for 88 yards, nearly doubling his season total in both marks, and should be more involved going forward as this passing attack finds its footing.
• Darnell Mooney has been a great addition to this Falcons offense, though we’ll have to mention him below, as well. In addition to moonlighting as a defensive back in the third quarter, when he knocked out a would-be interception, Mooney made a spectacular touchdown grab early on, added a touchdown in the fourth quarter where he put one defender in the dirt and outran a couple of others, and consistently got loose to provide a downfield target for Cousins. He even drew a major pass interference flag in the ofurth quarter that kept the Falcons cooking. Through the first five weeks of the season, he has proven himself to be the kind of dangerous downfield threat who can pop open seemingly at will, and more monster games are ahead given his strong rapport with Cousins. He finished his night with nine grabs for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns, serving as the second receiver this offense has lacked since Calvin Ridley left.
• While these other receivers were more productive and Cousins’ stellar turn will earn headlines, KhaDarel Hodge is a hero for this game. The core special teamer has a knack for coming up with big catches on those rare occasions his number is called, and he had a nice grab for 22 yards earlier in this one. It was the overtime grab that was legendary, though, as Hodge caught one, got loose from a lunging, overcommitted defender, and turned on the jets to run it in for the 45 yard, game-winning score with a little help from a nice Ray-Ray McCloud block. When they needed him last night, Hodge came up big, and that’s the kind of A++ effort that Hodge has become known for after also picking up a muffed punt for a touchdown in Week 4.
• Jessie Bates had not one, but two forced fumbles caused by punching out the ball. The first was a sideline knockout that gave the Falcons a chance to fall on the ball, but the Buccaneers recovered. The second was more critical, as Bates knocked it out of Bucky Irving’s hands late in the fourth quarter and Kaden Elliss fell on it, giving the Falcons a chance to take the lead that they would unfortunately squander. On a defense lacking big play potential, Bates continues to deliver those opportunities for Atlanta.
• The second half saw the Falcons actually getting pressure after a woeful first half, and it made a huge difference in the game. While David Onyemata was the only one to get a sack—and it’s good to see him ramping up—Matthew Judon got close and swatted down a pass, Kaden Elliss had a couple of nice rushes, and the Falcons were able to keep Baker Mayfield from getting overly comfortable later in the game.
• Younghoe Koo will be on the ugly list below, given that he missed a field goal and had one blocked. It can’t be overstated how phenomenal he is in the clutch, however, as the Falcons earned a delay of game penalty that was almost jaw-droppingly stupid, backing up a 47 yard try with one second on the clock to a 52 yarder….and Koo just nailed it anyways to send the game to overtime and give the Falcons their chance to win. In a pressure-packed situation at the end of the game, I’m putting my hopes and dreams on his legs every time out.
• The way you can see this team adjusting and learning is striking. After a first half where Baker Mayfield carved them up and the Falcons literally got zero pressures, Jimmy Lake and Raheem Morris managed to cook up a winning game plan in the second half that strangled the life out of the Bucs. They settled for a pair of field goals after that. On offense, Zac Robinson has spent the past four weeks tinkering with things with gradually improved results, and while the ground game once again went nowhere, he had this passing attack rolling for Cousins. The lack of in-game improvement and improvement over time was something we bemoaned with past coaching staffs, so for all the hiccups they still need to get rid of, I’ll give these coaches kudos for getting better on the fly.
• The past two weeks, the Falcons have overcome mistakes that might’ve sunk a different version of this team, or indeed many teams around the NFL. Their ability to climb out of holes and turn hanging around late into a last-second victory is now a habit, as they’ve won all three of their games in that fashion, and it’s worth remembering they were in it until nearly the end against the Chiefs. That augurs well for this team’s future with the schedule lightening up in the coming weeks, and it suggests that once they clean up the errors that are so frustrating in the moment, they may well be something special.

The Ugly

• Mike Evans should never be wide open, yet on the first drive he had plenty of room on three separate catches, including one where multiple defenders seemingly lost track of him in the end zone. When you’re one of the best receivers of your era and a consistent trouble spot for your opponent, it’s a bad sign if you’re getting loose that frequently. The Falcons repeatedly lost track of both Evans and Chris Godwin in the first half, which allowed Mayfield to pop off for three touchdowns.
• That was just a sign of a dysfunctional defense, and that defense was horrendous in the first half on Thursday night. The Falcons allowed 24 points in the first half alone, which equaled their season high allowed in an entire game, and they suffered coverage breakdowns, missed tackles, and zero push up front against the run along the way to make that possible. The ease with which the Bucs picked up first downs and scored was striking, and underscored the extent to which the Falcons have to be perfect because of their lack of big play and pass rush potential on that side of the ball. The second half improvement rinsed away a lot of that stink, but the Falcons will have to be better on this side of the ball through four quarters to avoid the kind of hole this offense won’t climb out of every single week.
• The run defense was a problem all game, though obviously less of one after the half. In total, Atlanta allowed over 150 yards on the ground, including a frustratingly long scamper for Rachaad White after he had been meh all year and a few uncontested Baker Mayfield runs. While Ruke Orhorhoro was a positive addition in this game, the run defense still needs help, and the return of Troy Andersen and Nate Landman should provide that.
• The Falcons had their first bad night against opposing returners, including a doozy of a 53 yard return for Sean Tucker that gave the Bucs great field position, setting up a too-easy touchdown drive. That will have to improve, but hey, it’s a blip until proven otherwise.
• Younghoe Koo hit a 50-plus yarder and a 48 yarder, so nobody’s panicking, but on his first attempt of the game he missed left…and then an offsides penalty moved him five yards closer for a re-do that he missed in exactly the same way. Koo was going to miss one at some point this season, but why it has to continue to be the Buccaneers he’s missing against I do not know.
• Atlanta’s got to knock out the dumb mistakes, which keep proving costly. In this one, the Falcons were hit with multiple inopportune penalties that extended Tampa Bay drives or (more fatally) killed their own drives, forcing them to settle for field goals when they might have had touchdowns. That, missed tackles, simple errors of execution from receivers (the Mooney drops, especially the second one), Cousins (missing low and nearly throwing a pick to a blanketed receiver that Mooney had to knock down), and others combine with penalties to wipe out the good work being done by this team as they drive down the field and come up with hard-fought stops. It didn’t cost them this game and it didn’t cost them the Saints game, but if they keep the habit up, unfortunately it will lead to a loss down the line.
• Some of those mistakes come from the coaching staff, which made some nightmare decisions on Thursday night. The first was going for it on 4th and a mile, the kind of extremely unlikely to convert situation in the fourth quarter that just seems unwise. Sure enough, Cousins threw an interception, and while the Falcons got the stop after that, they had to start from their own 20 rather than, say, much closer than that had they simply punted with three timeouts. Then, unbelievably, the Falcons got a delay of game penalty on Younghoe Koo’s final kick of regulation, somehow expecting a clock reset that didn’t come (Raheem Morris was clearly looking for an explanation he didn’t get from the officiating crew) and backing Koo up five yards unnecessarily. He hit that try, so technically you could say both those situations worked out alright, but they had the potential to lead to Atlanta losing the game. As we talk about this team getting tighter across the board and making fewer mistakes, we need to include a staff that still needs to get better at decision-making and awareness in critical situations, even though their in-game improvements in other areas have been genuinely encouraging.

The Recap

Game MVP

It’s Cousins, who broke a franchise record for passing yardage in a single game, kept firing when the defense was falling apart, and was dealing at a higher level than at any point this year.

One Takeaway

This team is an unfinished product with a lot of mess and stress, but they’re also very obviously good and getting better. You may start daydreaming about where this season is headed now.

Next Week

The Carolina Panthers are up after a longer-than-usual layoff for the Falcons, and Atlanta will hope to smoke them to earn another NFC South win. Check out Cat Scratch Reader for more.

Final Word

Whatagame.