Falcons get a massive night from Kirk Cousins, find a way to come back and beat Buccaneers

Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons had a huge game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Atlanta Falcons are thisclose to being 0-5.

They don’t care, nor should they. For the third time this season the Falcons stared down a loss and somehow pulled out a miraculous win. This time it was a massive Thursday night showdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Falcons had a huge drive in the final two minutes of regulation to set up a game-tying field goal as the fourth quarter expired. Overtime didn’t last long.

KhaDarel Hodge took a pass in overtime, broke a tackle and scored a 45-yard touchdown on the first drive of overtime and the Falcons had a 36-30 overtime win. Kirk Cousins threw for 509 yards in a fantastic performance. The Falcons are 3-2 after the win, tied with the Buccaneers atop the division.

The Falcons looked finished a few times on Thursday night. But they somehow pulled out an improbable win, the third time they’ve done so in five weeks this season.

An explosive 1st half

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

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

Mayfield’s third touchdown was a fantastic throw. He rolled to his right and stuck it into a well-covered Sterling Shepard in the end zone for a touchdown. There was almost no separation but…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-04 03:35:59

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