RECAP: Buccaneers Win Battle for NFC South Supremacy, Beat Falcons 29-25
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveled to Atlanta to take on the Falcons in what was a massive game for both teams. With the winner of this contest set to take over first place in the NFC South, there’s no question the stakes were high.
To complicate matters, a number of important players were out of the lineup for both teams. The Buccaneers entered this game without Devin White, Jamel Dean, and star defensive tackle, Vita Vea. Atlanta meanwhile was missing several key starters as well, including CB, Jeff Okudah DT, David Onyemata, and RT, Kaleb McGary.
The injuries, and inconsistent performances from both of these teams through the first thirteen weeks of the season made this game one of the more unpredictable matchups of the week.
Let's take a look at what transpired when they squared up on the field at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The Falcons won the coin toss, and opted to defer, giving the Buccaneers' first crack at putting points on the board.
Mayfield looked to be pretty dialed in, at least on the first drive, spreading the ball around accurately to various receivers, as he led the Buccaneers down the field to the Falcons’ 40-yard line with relative ease. Then, facing a 4th-and-2, head coach, Todd Bowles, opted to send out Chase McLaughlin for a 55-yard field goal attempt, which the steady kicker sent through the uprights to give the Bucs an early lead. The successful field goal added to McLaughlin's impressive track record on the season, bringing his season total to 20/22 on field goal attempts.
Buccaneers 3, Falcons 0
The Falcons opening drive saw them facing a 3rd-and-8 situation, when quarterback, Desmond Ridder hit Drake London for a gain of 25-yards. London cooked Carlton Davis on the route, placing the Falcons at the Buccaneers’ 30-yard line. On the next 3rd down for the Falcons — just a couple of plays later — Davis whiffed on tackling Desmond Ridder near the line of scrimmage, which provided Atlanta with another fresh set of downs on their opening drive. The Bucs however managed to stymy the standout rookie running back, Bijan Robinson, on three consecutive attempts from inside the 5-yard line.
Atlanta was forced to settle for a short field goal, tying the game at 3.
Buccaneers 3, Falcons 3
The ensuing drive didn't last long, as the Buccaneers' went 3-and-out.
After a great punt from Jake Camarda pinned the Falcons around their own 10-yard line, the Falcons had their work cut out for them. Then, on Atlanta’s first play from scrimmage, Carlton Davis picked off Desmond Ridder’s pass which was intended for Bijan Robinson, giving the Buccaneers the football inside Atlanta’s 10-yard line.
It was Carlton Davis’ second pick of the season and his second consecutive game with an interception.
It would only take two plays for the Buccaneers to take full advantage of the turnover. An off-tackle run to Rachaad White brought the Buccaneers inside the 2-yard line. On the very next play, which was the first of the second quarter, Bucs’ quarterback, Baker Mayfield took a shotgun snap and punched the ball into the endzone himself.
Buccaneers 10, Falcons 3
The injuries continued to mount quickly in this game. First, the Falcons lost their starting left tackle, Jake Mathews to a knee injury. Which meant that Atlanta was all of a sudden without both of their starting offensive tackles, and three starting offensive linemen in total. Wide receiver, Mack Hollins, was also forced to leave the game with an injury.
Then, after a couple of chunk plays by Bijan Robinson and Drake London, the Falcons managed to advance the ball into Bucs’ territory. At which point, Bucs’ defensive back, Ryan Neal, was forced to leave the game with an injury of his own.
On the very next play, Desmond Ridder unloaded a beautiful pass to Kyle Pitts who dusted the Buccaneers’ defense on a wheel route before catching the ball at the 5-yard line and prancing into the endzone to tie the game at 10.
It was a busted coverage by Todd Bowles' defense and a 36-yard touchdown strike for Arthur Smith's offense.
Buccaneers 10, Falcons 10
Like a microcosm of the first thirteen weeks of the NFL season, the Buccaneers' offense really began to struggle at this point.
When Tampa Bay found themselves in 4th-and-2 situation at the Falcons’ 40-yard line, Bucs’ head coach, Todd Bowles, opted to leave the offense on the field.
Dec 10, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) pitches the ball against the Atlanta Falcons in the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
His Offensive coordinator, Dave Canales, then made a perplexing decision. Canales called a wide toss to Rachaad White — to the short side of the field — resulting in a loss of yards and turnover on downs.
Following the failed fourth down conversion, the Buccaneers were officially 8/13 on fourth down attempts for the season.
With excellent field position, the Falcons offense found themselves with a great opportunity to take the lead. But after a massive Calijah Kancey sack on 3rd down, Atlanta was forced to attempt a 50-yard field goal.
It was Kancey’s fourth sack of the season, which moved him past Buccaneers’ legends, Warren Sapp and Gerald McCoy, for most sacks by a rookie IDL in Buccaneers’ history. Unlike his predecessors, Kancey managed to do it in just 10 games. A truly impressive feat for the Buccaneers’ latest first-round draft pick, and the league's reigning Defensive Rookie of the Month.
Unfortunately for Atlanta, their normally automatic kicker, Youghoe Koo, hit the right upright on the 50-yard attempt.
So just like the Falcons on the previous possession, the Buccaneers were granted excellent field position to start their next drive. At this point, the game was tied at 10, with 4 minutes remaining in the first half.
But the Bucs' offense made quick work of giving the ball back to Atlanta, with another 3-and-out, resulting in a punt.
With 2:36 remaining in the half, Atlanta took over possession from their own 7-yard line. And after faking a handoff to Bijan Robinson, Desmond Ridder dropped back into his own end zone, looking to pass. It was at that moment, it became clear to everyone in the stadium — except Desmond Ridder — that the best safety in football was barrelling down on the Falcons' quarterback from his blindside.
In the blink of an eye, Antoine Winfield Jr., like a leopard stalking its prey, leaped towards Ridder, and in one fell swoop, knocked the ball loose while sacking the Falcons' young quarterback to the turf.
Atlanta recovered the ball in the end zone, but the damage was done, and the Bucs’ registered their first safety of the season.
The strip sack in the end zone was just another example of what has been an absurd streak of game-changing plays made by Antoine Winfield Jr. for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not just this season, but since he was drafted by the team.
In fact, it was Winfield’s 13th career sack, which is the most among all NFL DB’s since 2020.
Tampa Bay regained the lead, and the football, following the safety.
Buccaneers 12, Falcons 10
After another quick 3-and-out by the Buccaneers’ offense, the Falcons took possession from near midfield — with 58 seconds on the clock. They were able to generate enough yardage to give their kicker, Younghoe Koo, a chance at redemption. But just like his previous attempt, Koo was shockingly unsuccessful yet again, this time from 52-yards.
Heading into halftime, the Buccaneers' offense had not only accumulated multiple 3-and-outs, but a total of just 85 yards of total offense. A truly pathetic effort by a group that's had almost the entire season to get their act together.
The second half started just how the first half finished. With little-to-no success to be had on offense for either team.
At one point early in the third quarter, Antoine Winfield Jr. made yet another incredible play, when he dove forward picking off a Desmond Ridder pass attempt in the middle of the field. However, the play was called back due to a hands-to-the-face penalty by Carlton Davis.
Davis, who despite having a big interception earlier in the game, had a really tough outing in what was the team's biggest game of the season to date.
After exchanging unsuccessful drives throughout the majority of the third quarter, the Buccaneers managed to convert a big third down to Mike Evans — his first catch of the game — putting Tampa Bay in positive territory. The Bucs were just 3/10 on third-down attempts prior to the short completion to move the chains.
Then, Rachaad White caught a screen pass which, after a couple of sharp cuts in space, he took 31-yards to the house for a touchdown.
Dec 10, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Rachaad White (1) runs the ball against the Atlanta Falcons in the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Buccaneers 19, Falcons 10
On the Falcons' ensuing possession, two impressive pass break-ups on back-to-back plays by second-year cornerback, Zyon McCollum — who was thrust into the startling lineup because of Jamel Dean's injury — forced the Falcons to punt.
Unfortunately, but to the surprise of no one, the Bucs' offense couldn't capitalize. It was so bad, in fact, that at this point, the Bucs offense had managed to produce less than 10 yards total on 5 of their last 6 drives.
Another Jake Camarda punt gave Atlanta the ball back, trailing by two scores, with 14 minutes remaining.
After what appeared to be another clean pass break-up by Zyon McCollum on third down — which would have forced Atlanta to punt — a flag was thrown giving Atlanta a fresh set of downs just past midfield.
Shortly thereafter, the always-dangerous Bijan Robinson finally made his imprint on this game. Bijan took a jet sweep across the line of scrimmage, and darted up the sideline for 33-yards, blowing past Buccaneers' defenders in the process.
He came up just short of the goal line but punched it in on the very next play.
Buccaneers 19, Falcons 17
After the Buccaneers managed to dink-and-dunk the ball down the field, on third down, Baker Mayfield appeared to hit Mike Evans for a touchdown along the sideline of the end zone. The catch was ruled incomplete, though, and the challenge by head coach Todd Bowles proved to be unsuccessful upon replay.
On 4th down, Chase McLaughlin kicked a 38-yard field goal to extend the Bucs' lead.
Buccaneers 22, Falcons 17
On the following Falcons' possession, Drake London made an incredible play downfield, plucking a 45-yard pass from Desmond Ridder out of the air, over two Buccaneers' defenders, as if he were an acrobat performing in Cirque Du Soleil.
At this point, the Falcons found themselves deep in Tampa Bay territory, with less than 4 minutes remaining in the game. And just a couple of plays after Drake London's miraculous reception, Desmond Ridder managed to escape the pursuit of Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, get the edge, and scamper into the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
The Falcons opted to go for two, and Ridder hit Drake London, who was all alone in the corner of the end zone, to successfully cap off the drive.
Falcons 25, Buccaneers 22
With less than two minutes on the clock, the Bucs were faced with a 4th-and-1 from their own 45-yard line. Mayfield handed the ball to Rachaad White, who managed to scramble for a much-needed first down.
Then, just as it felt like the game was falling out of the grasp of Baker Mayfield on the final drive, a holding call against Clark Phillips III in coverage vs. Trey Palmer, gave the Bucs a fresh set of downs with 1:24 on the clock.
After Mayfield had missed on 6 of his last 7 pass attempts, seemingly unable to get on the same page as any of his receivers, he finally made a play.
Mayfield lofted a pass to Chris Godwin up the sideline for a 32-yard gain, bringing the Bucs all the way to Atlanta's 15-yard line.
Then, on 2nd-and-6, with just 44 seconds left on the clock, Mayfield dropped back and delivered a strike to Cade Otton in the corner of the end zone.
Touchdown Buccaneers.
Buccaneers 28, Falcons 25
Despite a last-second attempt by the Falcons, which saw Desmond Ridder connect with Drake London at the Buccaneers' 4-yard line, it was too little, too late.
The Buccaneers remained on top, as the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard at Mercedez-Benz field in Atlanta.
Final Thoughts
Like every NFL game played this season that included the participation of at least one NFC South team, this was not a pretty football game.
The lack of offensive production by both teams for the majority of the game was tedious.
Had it not been for some explosive individual plays made by Rachaad White for the Bucs, and Bijan Robinson and Drake London for the Falcons, the scoreboard would be much more reflective of the game we saw today, which was one that lacked consistent execution by either offense.
But when it was all said and done, this game came down to which team was able to execute when it mattered most. And although it looked like that was going to be the Falcons, it ended up being Buccaneers' quarterback, Baker Mayfield, who waited until the final minute of the game, before he finally showed up.
The results speak for themselves. Although it wasn't pretty, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed to take down the Atlanta Falcons on the road, to take over first place in the NFC South.
The Buccaneers will now travel to Green Bay next Sunday to take on the up-and-coming Packers at Lambeau Field, with hopes of extending their division lead even further.
You can follow Collin Haalboom on X.
