Kyle Pitts didn’t want to talk about his future Thursday night, but everyone else will after the last three weeks.

The Falcons’ fifth-year tight end had career highs in catches (11), yards (166) and touchdowns (three) on prime-time television as Atlanta beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29-28 on “Thursday Night Football.” Pitts has 338 yards in the Falcons’ last three games, and suddenly, where he plays next year and how much he makes doing it are hot topics around the league.

Pitts, though, wasn’t interested in the conversation after beating the Buccaneers.

“I just stay in the present,” he said. “I worry about today. We have an off day tomorrow and then I’ll worry about that. I don’t think too far beyond where my feet are.”

Pitts, the No. 4 pick of the 2021 draft, is playing on his fifth-year option in Atlanta this year, making $10.8 million.

“Kyle is our guy,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said. “He’s done an awesome job. He made the plays tonight, showed up in a major way.”

Kyle Pitts’s free agent market is going to be fascinating this offseason. Falcons have to give serious thought to franchising him for $15.8 million if he continues to play this way.

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) December 12, 2025

Pitts became just the fourth tight end in NFL history with 10 or more catches, more than 150 receiving yards and three or more touchdowns in a game, joining Shannon Sharpe (1996), Kellen Winslow (1983) and Todd Christensen (1983). He also had the most fantasy football points (40.1 in half PPR scoring) of any tight end since at least 1999, according to TruMedia.

“Man, I love the great state of Florida,” said Pitts, a University of Florida alum whose only other multi-score game in the NFL came in the Buccaneers’ stadium last year.

Thursday was just Pitts’ fourth 100-yard game and his first since Week 16 of his rookie year.

“I was just able to win my one-on-ones and let the ball find me,” he said.

Pitts’ final touchdown of the game, which came with 3:34 left and cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 28-26, was reviewed for several minutes until officials determined his right hip hit the ground inbounds before his elbow landed out of bounds.

“I definitely thought I got a second foot down, I didn’t know it was my cheek,” Pitts said.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins credited Pitts and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson for the tight end’s big day.

“Kyle continues to be a great talent when it comes to his ability to separate and run,” Cousins said. “Zac did a great job of designing ways for Kyle to get opportunities. Between Zac and Kyle they did a lot of great things to get him open.”

The Kyle Pitts breakout happening in the final month of a contract year while the team is 4-9 would be deeply upsetting to me as a Falcons fan.

— Robert Mays (@robertmays) December 12, 2025

Behind closed doors

Several players mentioned a speech Morris gave the team Monday that sparked a good week of preparation heading into Thursday’s game.

“I can’t really use the exact wording, but it was just, ‘Never give up, no matter what the circumstances are,’” placekicker Zane Gonzalez said. “Being out of the playoffs, whatever, now we can just play spoiler if you want to call it that. That’s more or less what Raheem was saying.”

Morris also declined Thursday to discuss details of the speech.

“It’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about the guys in that locker room being together, the guys that put on the pads and go play for each other. This is a people-first organization. It’s a we-not-me mentality. Those guys went out there and did it together.”

The win, Atlanta’s third in prime time this year, at least temporarily takes some of the heat off Morris, whose job security has been questioned with the Falcons on their way to their second losing season in his two years in charge.

“This is a steppingstone to where we want to go,” Morris said Thursday night. “We have talked about building blocks for next year. We have been talking about it through the whole process. We have a lot of things we love, and it’s our job to go out there and prove to our fans we can do it.”

Flags flying

The Falcons became the first team in league history to win a game in which they had 14 or more penalties more than their opponent and trailed by 14 points, according to OptaStats. Atlanta finished the game with 19 penalties, the most of any NFL team since 2016 and the Falcons’ most since at least 1999, according to TruMedia.

“Officiating is a gray area. We’ve got to keep playing,” Morris said. “We will go clean up the penalties and do what we need to do, but I was so proud of the fight we showed.”

Atlanta had the sixth-fewest penalties in the league entering Week 15 (73).

Moving up the charts

James Pearce Jr. moved to a tie for 14th in the league in sacks Thursday night, registering two more to reach eight for the season, the most by an Atlanta rookie since the league started keeping sacks as an official stat, and the most of any rookie this season. Pearce has had at least one sack in six straight games. Fellow first-round draft pick Jalon Walker had half a sack against the Bucs and now has 5 1/2 for the season, which is second among rookies.

The Bucs killer

Cousins had no answer Thursday for how or why he’s been so good against Tampa Bay as the Falcons’ quarterback. In three games against the Bucs since signing with Atlanta last season, Cousins has 1,158 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, one interception and a 72.5 percent completion rate.

“I have played against (Tampa Bay head coach Todd) Bowles going back to 2014 in Arizona, and he would kick my tail,” Cousins said. “I don’t know what it is. I don’t really think there is anything to it.”

It’s not just in Atlanta that Cousins has bedeviled the Bucs, though. Since joining the league in 2014, he has 2,044 yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions in games against Tampa Bay. Only Matt Ryan (4,913) and Drew Brees (3,533) have thrown for more yards against Tampa Bay in that stretch.

“Kirk was absolutely phenomenal, put the ball in the right spot, gave people opportunities,” Morris said Thursday. “I am extremely proud of him.”

Stacking scrimmage yards

Bijan Robinson extended his league lead in scrimmage yards with 19 carries for 93 yards and eight catches for 82 yards Thursday night. It was the ninth time this season he has topped 100 yards from scrimmage, and he now has 1,858 scrimmage yards for the season, which accounts for a league-high 37.8 percent of all his team’s yards. He needs 30 more yards to set his career high.

“He’s a dog,” Morris said. “He’s the best player in the NFL. Sorry you guys won’t get a chance to watch him in the postseason.”