The Falcons have a huge night from Kirk Cousins, find a way back and beat the Buccaneers

The Atlanta Falcons are so close to 0-5.

They don't care, nor should they. For the third time this season, the Falcons suffered a loss and somehow pulled off a miraculous win. This time it was a Thursday night showdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Falcons put together a tremendous performance in the final two minutes of regulation to score a game-winning field goal at the end of the fourth quarter. The overtime didn't last long.

KhaDarel Hodge picked off a pass, broke a tackle and scored a 45-yard touchdown on the first drive of overtime, and the Falcons earned a 36-30 overtime victory. Kirk Cousins ​​​​threw for 509 yards in a fantastic performance. After the win, the Falcons are tied with the Buccaneers at the top of the NFC South at 3-2.

The Falcons looked done a few times Thursday night. But they somehow managed to pull off an unlikely victory, for the third time in five weeks.

An explosive first half

The Falcons and Buccaneers had no problems moving the ball in the first half. They started the night with a long drive that ended with a touchdown by Drake London. The Buccaneers came right back with a touchdown from Mike Evans.

Both quarterbacks kept throwing uppercuts. In the first half alone, Cousins ​​completed 21 of 28 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns. Cousins ​​hadn't played anywhere near that level in the first month of his Falcons career. On the other hand, Baker Mayfield was 12 of 15 for 131 yards and three touchdowns. Maybe it had everything to do with two tired defenses in a short week — the Falcons were the first team all season without quarterback pressure in the first half of the game, according to Next Gen Stats — but it was still an entertaining half.

Mayfield's third touchdown was a fantastic throw. He rolled to his right and tucked it into a well-covered Sterling Shepard in the end zone for a touchdown. There was almost no separation, but Mayfield found a way to force it for a score.

The Buccaneers were finally able to stop the Falcons on the final drive of the half and led 24-17 at halftime. If you don't count Tampa Bay's kneel-out at the end of the first half, they scored on all four first-half possessions while the Falcons scored on three of five points, with a missed field goal and a punt preventing the Attacks before halftime were perfect.

The game is tight until deep into the 4th quarter

In the second half the defense finally got a little stronger. Yards were harder to come by. In the third quarter and first half of the fourth quarter, both teams' only touchdown came when Cousins ​​hit Darnell Mooney for Mooney's second touchdown of the game.

However, Mooney made a big mistake in the fourth quarter. On 3rd-and-6, Cousins ​​had a nice throw to Mooney, who was open, but dropped him at about the 15-yard line. Younghoe Koo was brought in for a 54-yard field goal, but it was blocked.

There were a few times after that when it seemed like the Buccaneers were going to win the game, but the Falcons didn't let up. Buccaneers rookie running back Bucky Irving was on his way to a first down just before the two-minute warning when safety Jessie Bates III reached inside and knocked the ball out. Atlanta recovered but couldn't move the ball and then Cousins ​​threw an interception on fourth down. However, the Falcons still had their timeouts and used them to force a punt.

Then, like he did against the Eagles in Week 2, Cousins ​​put together a great two-minute drill. He hit London over the middle and the Falcons put the ball up with one second left. There was a nasty delay of game penalty before Koo's attempt to tie the game, but it didn't matter. He hit the ball from 52 yards out and the game went into overtime. Last week, Koo hit a 58-yard field goal in the final seconds to give the Falcons the win, and his clutch kick Thursday night kept the game alive.

The Falcons won the coin toss to start overtime and won quickly. London sustained an injury after a catch in overtime, which put Hodge in the spotlight and gave him the game-winning goal.

Atlanta has picked up three razor-thin wins, but the Falcons aren't complaining.