Falcon Report

Drake London’s Breakout Performance Won Day for Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London has become a nightmare for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

CJ Errickson

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London runs past Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Tykee Smith for a touchdown.
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London runs past Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Tykee Smith for a touchdown. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
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On Thursday night, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London had the type breakout performance he and the team were hoping for when he was selected No. 8 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. On the evening, the former USC Trojan had a career-high 12 receptions on 13 targets for 154 yards and a touchdown. 

From start to finish, the 6'4, 215-pound receiver set the tone against an aggressive Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense. On the game's first drive, quarterback Kirk Cousins found his third-year receiver on an excellent option route in the slot, and then London took care of the rest, barreling through three would-be tacklers on his way into the endzone.

After a few more catches, he was knocked out of the game early in the second quarter on a helmet-to-helmet hit by Bucs linebacker K.J. Britt. Britt was called for a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.

London entered the infamous blue medical tent and was evaluated for a possible concussion. He left the tent and went to the locker room, but not for long. He sprinted back onto the field to finish the remainder of the half and, more importantly, the game. 

The Falcons star saw most of his snaps from the slot position in the evening. He ran 20 routes and saw nine targets, eight receptions, 117 yards, one touchdown, and five other first downs while averaging 5.85 yards per route run. 

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However, his most important play of the night propelled Atlanta to victory in one of the most clutch NFL plays of the season.

With the offense having no timeouts and needing a field goal to tie the game down 30-27, Captain Kirk and company dialed up a slant to the middle of the field and then a spike to stop the clock and give kicker Younghoe Koo a 47-yard field goal from the 29-yard line rather than a 60-plus-yard field goal from Tampa Bay’s 43-yard line.

The guts it took for London to keep running with the ball, get tackled, and then have the awareness to give the ball back to the official while the rest of the offense ran up was the play that saved the day.

Ultimately, it led to overtime, where he reeled in one pass for 18 yards for a third-down conversion, which led to receiver Khadarel Hodge’s game-winning touchdown. 

After the game, London’s celebration quoting Cousins’ famous “You like that!?” says more than words could ever say.

Despite having played only five games against the Buccaneers, Tampa has to be tired of seeing him already. London suffered with inconsistent (at best) quarterback play his first two years as a Falcon. He's had just-four 100+-yard games in his career so far. Three of them have come against the Buccaneers including a career high 172-yard performance last December. Coincidence or not, all three of those games came at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The 23-year-old wideout had the best game of his career, with the best quarterback he has ever since joining the team in 2022. After a slow start to the season, it is safe to say that Drake London and Kirk Cousins have put the rest of the NFC on notice after moving to the top of the NFC South in Week 5.

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CJ Errickson
CJ ERRICKSON