Falcons defeat Buccaneers in OT in NFL Week 4 matchup

Wow!

Kirk Cousins connects on a 45-yard pass to KhaDarel Hodge for a touchdown, and the Falcons have won this game 36-30.

Atlanta looked dead in the water with under two minutes to go, but Cousins led two big drives late — the tying field goal and the overtime score — for a massive, massive win.

Brutal loss for the Buccaneers, who had this one sewed up before losing 14 yards on what ended up being their last drive of the game, moving them out of field-goal range.

Younghoe Koo hits a 52-yard field goal as time expires and we’re headed to OT!

Kirk Cousins led a nine-play, 46-yard drive to tie the game.

The Falcons looked dead in the water, but the Bucs couldn’t put the game away after a Cousins interception.

Atlanta will get the ball first in the extra period.

The Falcons can’t capitalize on the Buccaneers fumble!

On 4th-and-15, Kirk Cousins was picked off by Lavonte David.

Atlanta has all its timeouts, but it will face an uphill climb to win this game after being gifted the ball.

Wow!

The Buccaneers were pounding the ball on the ground and killing the clock, but a fumble by Bucky Irving has given the Falcons life. Jessie Bates knocked the ball free.

Atlanta took over on its own 25, but its first two plays went for a loss.

Oof.

Kirk Cousins threw a perfect pass to Darnell Mooney on 3rd-and-6…only for Mooney to drop it while wide open.

On the next play, Tampa Bay’s Tavierre Thomas broke through to block Younghoe Koo’s 54-yard field goal attempt.

Tampa Bay could only manage 35 yards over six plays before stalling out. The Bucs settled for a Chase McLaughlin 53-yard field goal, and now hold a slim three-point lead.

We’re all tied up!

The Falcons went for it on 4th-and-4 from the 12, and were rewarded with a Darnell Mooney 12-yard catch-and-run for a score.

Been a great game so far!

After a hot start by both offenses, the defenses settled down in the third quarter.

The Falcons are driving with a chance to tie as the fourth quarter begins.

Tougher sledding for the offenses in the second half.

The Bucs’ latest drive stalled in the red zone after nine plays and 56 yards, and they settled for a 32-yard field goal.

Tampa Bay’s lead is back to seven at 27-20.

Atlanta cuts into the Tampa Bay lead with a 48-yard field goal, the first points of the second half.

The Falcons were set back by an offensive pass interference penalty as well as a sack on their last set of downs.

The defenses are finally starting to put up some resistance in this game.

Tampa Bay punts on its first possession out of halftime.

A holding penalty set back the drive. It also didn’t help when Rachaad White slipped after catching a screen pass with blockers in front of him.

The Falcons appeared to commit a late hit on Baker Mayfield on third down (that would have been a first down for the Buccaneers) but officials picked up the flag.

Atlanta takes over on its own 21.

Atlanta was moving the ball down the field and looked primed to score before halftime, but a sack by Bucs defensive end Logan Hall ruined the possession.

Instead of kicking a 56-yard field goal, the Falcons opted to punt — the first punt of the game for either team.

Tampa Bay kneeled to end the half, and the Bucs will take a 24-17 lead into the break. Tampa will receive to start the third.

The Bucs are back on top only four minutes and 21 seconds after the Falcons tied the game.

Tampa Bay went 82 yards in seven plays, fueled largely by a 56-yard run by Rachaad White on the second play of the drive.

Sterling Shepard scored the go-ahead touchdown from three yards out on 3rd-and-goal.

Redemption for Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo, who ties the game at 17 with a 54-yard field goal.

Koo missed a 41-yarder earlier in the game, but he nailed the longer kick to even things back up.

Mike Evans, already Tampa Bay’s all-time leading receiver, caught his 99th touchdown pass (and 100th total touchdown) of his career. The Bucs are now up on the Falcons late in the second quarter.

The Falcons overcame a holding penalty to cap a nine-play, 70-yard drive with a Darnell Mooney 25-yard touchdown catch.

Mooney made an acrobatic grab on 3rd-and-14 for the score, making the setback from the penalty only temporary.

Tampa Bay drove 34 yards in six plays, but settled for a field goal after failing to pick up a 3rd-and-3.

The Bucs now have their first lead of the night. It could have been bigger, though, as Baker Mayfield missed a deep shot to Sterling Shepard that could have been a touchdown.

It’s still 7-7 after a missed 41-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo.

Koo actually missed a 46-yarder the play before, but an offsides penalty by the Buccaneers briefly bailed him and Atlanta out. Given another attempt, Koo missed left for the second straight time.

The Falcons were once again moving the ball well, but the Bucs defense sacked Kirk Cousins on 3rd-and-5 to force the (missed) field goal(s).

And the Bucs have answered quickly.

Baker Mayfield led a nine-play, 63-yard drive that resulted in a Tampa Bay touchdown. Mayfield found Mike Evans for a two-yard TD pass to end the possession.

Less than five minutes after the Falcons scored, we have a tie game.

What an opening drive by the Falcons!

Seven plays, 70 yards, and in only three minutes and six seconds Atlanta has a touchdown. Drake London had an 18-yard catch-and-score to cap what was an incredibly efficient possession by the Falcons.

…And their first play is a Bijan Robinson run for about three yards.

While Tampa Bay has held three of its first four opponents to 20 points or fewer, the defense was giving up big yards and struggling to get to the quarterback in Weeks 1-3. However, the defense turned things around in Week 4, giving up a season-low 227 yards and sacking Eagles QB Jalen Hurts six times.

The Bucs defense only allowed 14 points on Sunday (Philadelphia scored on a defensive two-point conversion after Tampa Bay had an extra point blocked in the 3rd quarter).

After three straight seasons finishing 7-10 and missing the playoffs, the Falcons fired head coach Arthur Smith in January and replaced him with former Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. Morris spent the past three seasons as the Rams defensive coordinator, winning Super Bowl LVI in the 2021 season.

Prior to joining the Rams in 2021, Morris spent six seasons on Atlanta’s staff (2015-2020) and served as the Falcons’ interim head coach in the 2020 season after Dan Quinn was fired (Atlanta went 4-7 in 11 games under Morris in 2020).

After that season, Morris interviewed with Atlanta to become the permanent head coach. However, the Falcons hired Smith and Morris left for Los Angeles.

This is Morris’ second full-time head coaching job in the NFL. More than a decade ago, he was Tampa Bay’s head coach for three seasons (2009-2011). He took charge at the age of 32, going 17-31 in three years in Tampa Bay (.354 win%) and never making the playoffs. The Bucs went 3-13 in his first season in charge, 10-6 in his second season, and 4-12 in his third season.

“It’s such an outcome-driven league. So, to have a win is a big deal, but you never really stop going back and analyzing the performance and looking at how to be better… I didn’t feel like we did our part on offense to give [kicker Younghoe Koo] a better opportunity but he bailed us out… We’ve got to pick it up on offense a little more, red zone, but we had some improvement. We were better on third down. Great to get a win and we’ve got to build on it.”

Asked about facing Tampa Bay, Cousins called it a “great opportunity.”

“We dug ourselves a hole going 1-2. We now give ourselves a chance to go into a long weekend above .500. We know what’s out there for us.”

Evans’ 596 career points surpassed kicker Martin Gramatica (592 points) to become Tampa Bay’s all-time leading scorer this past weekend.

“I should have kept the ball. Dang! I did not keep the ball. I gave it away… I knew I was approaching [the record]… I’ve been blessed. It’s amazing that I’m here now. I feel like I was just a rookie trying to figure things out, and now I’m the all-time leading scorer in a great franchise’s history. It means the world.”

The Atlanta offense did not score a single touchdown in its 26-24 win against New Orleans.

• KhaDarel Hodge recovered a muffed punt in the end zone for a score in the first quarter
• Troy Andersen had a pick-six in the second quarter
• Younghoe Koo went 4/4 on field goals including the 58-yard game-winner.

Tampa Bay running back Bucky Irving, a rookie out of Oregon, had a career-high 10 carries for 49 rushing yards and scored his first career touchdown against the Eagles in Week 4. He’s a nice complement to Rachaad White, who had 49 yards rushing and 35 yards receiving in the victory.

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield completed 30 passes (tied for a career high) for 347 passing yards with three total touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) and no turnovers against the Eagles.

Entering “Monday Night Football,” Mayfield’s eight passing touchdowns this season are second-most in the NFL, behind Minnesota’s Sam Darnold.

Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield signed a three-year, $100 million contract this offseason to remain with the Buccaneers. Kirk Cousins, the longtime QB of the Minnesota Vikings, agreed to a four-year, $180 million to go to Atlanta.

Cousins and Mayfield signed the two largest contracts of any quarterbacks in free agency this offseason. Cousins’ AAV of $45 million ranks tied for 12th among QBs, while Mayfield’s $33.3M AAV ranks 19th among QBs.