TAMPA, Fla. -- Baker Mayfield’s heave stayed in the air for a long time with just six seconds to play.
The pass was incomplete before the Falcons could start celebrating a harder-than-it needed to be 31-26 victory over the Bucs on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
“I was looking at the big giant in the middle of field in (Bucs tight end Cade) Otton as he was standing in the middle of the end zone,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “It kind of got out of the back of the end zone.”
Quarterback Kirk Cousins ran for a key first down and tossed four touchdown passes to carry the Falcons. But the outcome was in danger after kicker Younghoe Koo missed a 46-yard field with 1:06 to play.
The Falcons improved to 5-3 on the season, 4-0 in the NFC South. The Bucs dropped to 4-4.
“It was a huge win,” said Falcons safety Jessie Bates III, who had a forced fumble, fumble recovery, interception and five tackles. “Being able to come in here, they are the defending (three-time) NFC South champions. Being able to come in here and sweep them, take full control of this division was huge for us.”
Cousins completed 23 of 29 passes for 276 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 145.9.
“Got to get a win, any way we can on the road against a division opponent that I think is a really good football team,” Cousins said. “It took all three phrases. People making plays. Turnovers by our defense. Special teams (stopping a fake punt). Then we made some plays on offense.”
Cousins outdueled Mayfield, who completed 37 of 50 passes for 330 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 94.6.
It was essentially a track meet with little sustained defense in the first half. The Falcons’ defense was able to slow down the Bucs with two interceptions in the second half. It must be noted that the Bucs were without injured receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
On the final play. Bates, Kevin King, who is 6-foot 3, and Richie Grant were lined up in the end zone to defend the final heave. Bates talked to Grant and King to make sure the group was on the same page.
“You see this Hail May play happen, thousands of times,” Bates said. “Just not taking it for granted. This was the last play of the game. It was going to decide if we were going to win or lose.”
Behind the hot passing of Cousins and the forced fumble by Bates, the Falcons cobbled together a 24-17 lead at halftime.
At the half, Cousins was 14 of 20 for 224 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He had a passer rating of 146.
On the second play from scrimmage, Bates knocked the ball away from Bucs running back Rachaad White and recovered the fumble. The play was confirmed by replay review.
For Bates it was his third forced fumble of the season and his third career fumble recovery.
On fourth down-and-3 from the Bucs’ 36, Cousins connected with tight end Kyle Pitts for his second touchdown of the season.
The Bucs answered with a 15-play drive that covered 70 yards with Mayfield tossing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Otton to make it 7-7.
After the Falcons punted and pinned the Bucs at the 3-yard line, the defense may have relaxed. The Bucs went on a 97-yard march and faced third-down only once. On that play, a third down-and-8, Otton broke loose for a 29-yard gain. Six plays later, Mayfield toss an 18-yard touchdown pass to White to cap the 12-play drive that took 7:09 off the clock.
The Falcons answered quickly when Cousins tossed a 49-yard touchdown to Pitts, a score that was reviewed because Bucs safety Antoine Winfield knocked the ball off Pitts. It was determined by replay that Pitts had crossed the goal line.
The play could have been costly with the Bucs getting the ball at the 20. Winfield did the same thing to former Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder last season as he tried to ease into the endzone.
The Falcons forced a punt, and Cousins found Darnell Mooney for a 30-yard touchdown to make it 21-14.
Tampa Bay’s Chase McLaughlin made a 52-yard field goal to make it 21-17 with 1:04 left in the second quarter.
The Falcons went on the move and added a 38-yard field goal by Koo with :01.
The Falcons stalled to open the third quarter and Bates intercepted a Mayfield pass intended for Ryan Miller on their first possession of the second half.
The Falcons opened up some breathing room after special teams maven KhaDarel Hodgee stopped a fake punt and give the Falcons the ball at Tampa Bay’s 36.
Robinson scored on a 36-yard run, but it was nullified by a holding penalty on wide receiver Ray Ray McCloud. Instead of a score, it was first down-and-20 from the Bucs’ 46.
Robinson rushed for 5 yards, then caught a pass for 10 yards to make it third down-and-5 from the 31. Cousins found Mooney for a 7-yard gain to pick up the first down.
Three plays later, Cousins tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Robinson.
Cornerback A.J. Terrell ended the Bucs next drive, which had carried into the fourth quarter with an interception with 12:54 to play.
But the Falcons fumbled the ball out of the endzone to keep the Bucs in the game. Allgeier bobbled a handoff from Cousins. The safety made it 31-19 and the Falcons had to punt to the Bucs.
“The turnover backed-up was not what we wanted,” Cousins said.
Mayfield capped a 12-play, 73-yard drive, with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Otton to make it 31-26 with 6:52 to play.
The Falcons were on the move and were down to Tampa Bay’s 39 before center Ryan Neuzil was called for a face mask penalty to make it first down-and 22 from the 46.
After an 8-yard pass to London, Cousins scrambled for 13 yards. Allgeier was stuffed on third down and Cousins, on a quarterback sneaked, picked up the vital first down to take it to the 2:00 warning.
After the missed field goal, the Bucs had enough time to drive down the Falcons’ 33 for the final play.
Falcons right guard Chris Lindstrom suffered a right knee injury, but could have returned to the game. Rookie defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro suffered a left ankle and was in a boot after the game.
Linebacker Kaden Elliss led the Falcons with 11 tackles
“Big time,” Elliss said of the win. “This is the team that has won the division three times in a row. We took care of them twice this year.”
The Falcons held the Bucs down in the second half.
“Come here, steal a win on the road, it’s huge,” said linebacker Nate Landman, who had seven tackles and a forced fumble. “Be undefeated in our division. It’s a testament to our team and what we are doing. It’s a great stepping stone on to the next week.”
This was a big game for both NFC South foes.
Of the Falcons’ final nine games, only three – at Denver, at Minnesota, at Washington – will involve opponents who entered Sunday above .500. Of Tampa Bay’s final nine, only one will be against a plus-.500 team.
Over the final nine games, the Falcons can’t count on many teams helping them. With the win over the Bucs, the Falcons theoretically would not need much help with a two-game head-to-head advantage over the Bucs.
The Falcons won the previous meeting 36-30 in overtime on Oct. 3 when Cousins passed for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns.
In the month of October, the Bucs defense has been overrun, with the Ravens gaining 508 yards and the Falcons posting 550 on Oct. 3. The Bucs gave up 41 and 36 points in those outings.
The Falcons are set to host the Cowboys (3-4) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“We are on to the next game,” Morris said. “The 1-0 mentality. We have a tough team coming in next week. We have to get ready to fight again at our place.”
The Falcons are 1-3 at home this season.
“It would be nice to get some wins at home,” Morris said.
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