Buccaneers-Falcons takeaways: Kirk Cousins rallies Atlanta, hurts Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were in the driver’s seat with less than a quarter left in the “Thursday Night Football” game.
Now, they’re in a bit of trouble.
The Atlanta Falcons erased a two-touchdown deficit with less than 10 minutes remaining, stunning the Bucs with Zane Gonzalez’s walk-off 43-yard field goal for a 29-28 victory at Raymond James Stadium.
Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins notched the 32nd comeback victory of his career. With less than a minute to go, the 37-year-old kept the game-winning drive alive with a clutch pass on a fourth-and-14 situation.
The Buccaneers are now 7-7 after losing to the Falcons (5-9), who had been eliminated from the playoffs. Tampa Bay trails the Carolina Panthers, who at 7-6 now control their fate in the NFC South race.
Bucs need help from Saints
Tampa Bay fell a half-game behind Carolina in the NFC South with the loss and now will be hoping the 3-10 New Orleans Saints can upset the Panthers on Sunday to get the division back into a tie. The Buccaneers have won the division four years in a row but face a surprising challenge from Carolina, which has won six of its last nine games, while Tampa Bay has lost six of its last eight. The Buccaneers and Panthers will play twice in the season’s final three weeks. No team has won the division five years in a row since its inception in 2002. — Josh Kendall, Falcons senior writer
Evans returns in style
After missing the last six games with a broken collarbone, Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans returned in familiar fashion, catching six passes for 132 yards. It was his second-highest output since the start of the 2024 season.
The 12-year veteran started slowly, but once Atlanta cornerback Mike Hughes left with an ankle injury and was replaced by undrafted free agent Cobee Bryant, Evans feasted, and Baker Mayfield kept feeding him. He finished with 12 targets. — Kendall
Pitts continues to own Tampa
Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts continued his impressive close to the season and his appearances in the Buccaneers’ nightmares. Pitts had a career-high 11 catches for a season-high 166 yards and the first three-touchdown game of his five-year career. It was just the second multiple-touchdown game of his career. The other came last year in Raymond James Stadium, when he also had two scores.
Pitts, who has emerged as Atlanta’s top receiving target, with Drake London (knee) missing his fourth straight game, now has 338 yards in the past three games. Coming into the game, Pitts had only one touchdown catch this season. — Kendall
Yellow flags flying against Falcons
Atlanta committed 19 penalties, the most in a game by any team in the NFL in the last five seasons and the most by any Falcons team since at least 1999, according to TruMedia. Cornerback A.J. Terrell was flagged five times by himself, although only three of those were accepted. The flags cost Atlanta 125 yards. Coming into the game, Atlanta had been penalized 73 times, the sixth-fewest number in the league. — Kendall
Cousins always thrives vs. Bucs
Cousins could play in the league another decade if he only had to play Tampa Bay. He was 30-for-44 for 373 yards and three touchdowns Thursday. In his last three games against the Buccaneers dating back to the beginning of 2024, he has 1,158 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception. — Kendall
