Buccaneers at Falcons, Week 5

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost in overtime to their NFC South rivals at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 36-30. Both teams are now tied atop the division with 3-2 records. In the Thursday Night Football shootout, Kirk Cousins managed to spike the ball with one second to spare for a Younghoe Koo 52-yard field goal that tied the game at the end of regulation. Atlanta got the ball first in overtime and KhaDarel Hodge scored from 45 yards out, providing the home team with a 36-30 victory.

“Just got to learn how to close out games,” said Head Coach Todd Bowles. “We had opportunities on both sides of the ball. We didn’t finish. Did some good things. We did a lot of bad things to lose the ball game. So, we’ll get some rest, we’ll some guys healthy, and we’ll get ready for next week. We’ve got a good football team. We didn’t finish the game.”

Tampa Bay’s offense started out firing on all cylinders, with three touchdowns and a field goal on the team’s first four possessions. Baker Mayfield had another stellar outing in Atlanta, throwing three touchdown passes to just three incompletions in the first half. He threaded the needle and scrambled when necessary to pick up yardage to sustain drives. Overall, Mayfield completed 19 of 24 attempts for 180 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 137.5 passer rating. He rallied the team and threw two touchdowns to Mike Evans in the first half, providing the Bucs’ with a 17-14 lead.

Before halftime, Mayfield connected with Sterling Shepard, putting the ball out in front where only his receiver could haul in the catch. Evans’ second touchdown grab off a corner route marked his 100th career touchdown. His 100 total touchdowns make him the 26th player in league history to accomplish that feat. He tied Frank Gore as well as Hall of Famers Franco Harris and Curtis Martin (100) for the 23rd-most total touchdowns in NFL history.

The Bucs’ ground game took strides in Atlanta, as Rachaad White posted 72 yards on 10 carries and Bucky Irving added 44 yards on nine carries. White hit a career-long 56-yard run. Off a counter scheme, White took off with Tristan Wirfs and Cade Otton paving the way on drive blocks. He set the Bucs up at the Atlanta 15-yard line, leading to Shepard’s touchdown.

“Not ideal for us,” said Mayfield. “Get back to the basics and just execute. I think that offensively, we’ll look back at the tape and realize that we didn’t exactly execute in the second half.”

Tampa Bay’s defense could not stop Kirk Cousins and the Falcons’ offense, a unit that finished the TNF matchup with 550 total yards. The veteran signal-caller completed 42 of 58 passes for 509 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. The Falcons’ weapons were able to take advantage of free access off the line and Cousins often found targets over the middle of the field with space to pick up RAC-yards.

“It wasn’t very good is all I can say,” noted Bowles’ of the defense’s tackling. “A lot of catch and run, five-yard catch and runs. We made these tackles against Detroit, [and] we missed them in this game.”

Following a multi-sack day against the Eagles in Week Four, Lavonte David continued his dominance in Atlanta. He accumulated eight tackles, two passes defensed and an interception in the fourth quarter. In the last frame, Yaya Diaby brought pressure on a twist, forcing the ball out of Cousins’ hands. David sat in the middle of the field in coverage, read the quarterback’s eyes, diagnosed and drove, undercutting the pass for an interception at the Atlanta 35-yard line. He returned it seven yards to the 28, shifting the momentum to Tampa Bay. In addition, Logan Hall recorded two sacks for the first time in his career and tallied five quarterback hits.

Vita Vea and Anthony Nelson both tallied sacks, while Zyon McCollum snagged two passes defensed. On Nelson’s knockdown, Jamel Dean had great coverage on Darnell Mooney down the field, and did not take the bite off the Atlanta receiver’s double move. The sticky coverage on the back end forced Cousins to hold onto the ball for a tick longer and Nelson capitalized with an eight-yard sack. Before exiting the game with a groin injury, Jordan Whitehead posted a pass defensed, five tackles and a quarterback hit. Out of a double-A-gap-blitz look, Whitehead flew off the edge on a safety blitz, taking Cousins by surprise. The Atlanta quarterback threw it away and was flagged for intentional grounding. Despite the splash plays, too many miscues sealed the team’s fate at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.