FOURTH QUARTER

In honor of Thursday’s throwback-themed uniforms: Oops, the Falcons did it again. They scored on the opening drive of a quarter. Mooney caught a 12-yard pass from Cousins, made a spin move on a defender and finished off the little distance left to the end zone to tie the game.

Atlanta used only four plays in the fourth quarter to do this. The rest of the eight-play, 70-yard drive came at the end of the third.

The tie didn’t last long, though. McLaughlin pushed the Buccaneers back ahead with a 53-yard field goal. Tampa Bay had a six-play, 35-yard drive that stalled after the Falcons pressured Mayfield on third down to force a fourth-and-6.

Koo then had the chance to equal the score out with another 54-yard field-goal attempt, but Buccaneers cornerback Tavierre Thomas blocked it by breaking through the right side of the Falcons’ line.

The Falcons almost didn’t need Koo at all. On third-and-6, Cousins threw a long pass to a wide-open Mooney that was right on target. Mooney dropped it, however, drawing up fourth-and-6 for Koo. The non-scoring drive was eight plays and 34 yards long, and kept the Buccaneers’ slight edge intact with time quickly ticking away.

Tampa Bay’s edge could have turned into more had it not been for the joint work of Ellis and safety Jessie Bates III. As Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving made a 7-yard run on a first-and-10 from the Atlanta 32-yard line, Bates forced a fumble and Elliss recovered it. The turnover ended a potentially game-clinching drive and gave the Falcons the ball back with a little less than three minutes left.

The series after the turnover didn’t go as planned, though. In fact, it led to another turnover.

Running back Tyler Allgeier was tackled for a loss of 2 yards on first down. Cousins was then sacked for a loss of 7 yards. The two paired up for a 4-yard reception on third down, which set up a long fourth-and-15 at the Falcons’ 20-yard line. With less than two minutes remaining, Atlanta went for it on fourth down, but Cousins threw an interception. The pass was intended for Mooney but picked off by Buccaneers inside linebacker Lavonte David.

The Falcons’ defense stiffened once again and prevented the Buccaneers offense from picking up a first down to finish off the job. Tampa Bay punted after a three-play drive that resulted in minus-14 yards.

After using all of their timeouts to conserve clock, the Falcons were left with one minute and 12 seconds to overcome a three-point disadvantage. Cousins moved the Falcons past midfield with the help of a 17-yard pass to Mooney and a 13-yard pass to McCloud. A 14-yard strike to London covered the rest of the distance needed and Cousins spiked the ball at the Buccaneers’ 29-yard line with one second remaining, giving Koo the last chance to tie everything up with a field goal for overtime. A delay-of-game penalty on the Falcons’ special teams pushed Koo back 5 yards, providing one more bit of drama.

Nevertheless, Koo made the 52-yarder to set up overtime.

Falcons: Kirk Cousins 12-yard pass Darnell Mooney; PAT good … 27-27, ALL

Buccaneers: Chase McLaughlin 53-yard field goal … 30-27, TAM

Falcons: Younghoe Koo 52-yard field goal … 30-30, ALL