The Falcons got the ball back with 1:56 left in the half and followed an incompletion with an 11-yard curl to London, then got off strikes of seven yards to London and five to Robinson. That took the ball to the Bucs’ 47 with exactly a minute left. Two more short passes made it first down at the Bucs’ 31 with 34 seconds remaining. Whitehead nearly intercepted Cousins’ next pass and Hall swarmed over the QB for an eight-yard loss to make it third-and-18. Cousins’ next pass was incomplete so the Falcons punted it away. With 12 seconds left in the half, the Bucs kneeled to take it to the intermission.
The Bucs got good field position to start the second half after Irving took the kickoff out of the end zone and got back to the 37. Unfortunately, a holding penalty on T Justin Skule put the offense in a hole they weren’t able to get out of, leading to the Bucs’ first punt of the game. The resulting 44-yard kick was fair caught at the Atlanta 20.
Dean broke up Cousins’ first-down pass but London got open down the right seam for a gain of 31. Two plays later, CB Zyon McCollum nearly intercepted a sideline pass intended for Mooney to make it third-and-10. After a quick seven-yard pass, the Falcons went for it on third down and converted on Cousins’ 14-yard dart to Mooney on the left sideline. That made it first down at the Bucs’ 28, and a quick out to Pitts two snaps later set up a new set of downs at the 18. An offensive pass interference call on the Falcons backed them up 10 yards, and Nelson got Cousins down for an eight-yard sack two plays later, making it third-and-22. After an incompletion, Koo came on to hit a 48-yard field goal to cut the Bucs’ lead to 24-20 with just over six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
After a touchback, Godwin took a short pass for 20 yards. He fumbled at the end of the play but Evans fell on it to retain possession for the Buccaneers. Another pass to Godwin out to the right got 10 more but Irving’s next run was bottled up for no gain. Mayfield took off on a scramble on the next snap and the ball within a yard of the sticks. An end-around to Godwin got just enough for a first down and a late hit by JD Bertrand moved it down to the Falcons’ 14. Three plays later, on third-and-three from the seven, Mayfield was sacked by DL David Onyemata and McLaughlin came out to restore the Bucs’ seven-point lead with a 32-yard field goal.
A short completion and a pass defensed by Smith made it third-and-eight to start Atlanta’s next drive but Cousins found McCloud on a deep dig for 22 yards to the Bucs’ 46. Robinson broke a tackle on the next snap to get 28 more as the third quarter came to an end. On first down from the Bucs’ 18, Robinson went over right tackle and got six, followed by a two-yard plunge in the same direction. The Bucs’ defense stopped Allgeier for a loss of two on third down but the Falcons went for it on fourth down, hustled the line and scored an a 12-yard pass to Mooney with 13 minutes left in regulation.
After a touchback, Mayfield started the next drive with a square-in to Evans for 13 yards. Mayfield then dropped back and saw a wide-open lane to run for 18 more to the Atlanta 39. The Bucs then faced a third-and-nine at the 38 and called a timeout before calling the next play. Mayfield was forced to scramble and he got three yards, bringing on McLaughlin to try a 53-yarder. He split the uprights to make it 30-27 with 10:23 left.
A screen to Robinson was good for five yards to start the next drive but his next run got only one. David broke up a third-down pass to Mooney but was called for pass interference, setting up a new set of downs. Two snaps later, Cousins found London over the middle for 15 to the Bucs’ 40. A holding call backed Atlanta up 10 yards, and a screen to McCloud only got four. Two plays later, on third-and-six, Mooney dropped a wide-open pass and the Falcons sent out Koo to try a 54-yard field goal. Thomas blocked it, giving the ball back to Tampa Bay with 6:29 left.
A five-yard scramble by Mayfield on third down gave the Bucs a first down to start the next drive, and White later converted a third-and-two with a three-yard rumble. Irving took off on a seven-yard run on the next play but had the ball stripped by S Jessie Bates, with Kaden Elliss recovering for the Falcons at the Atlanta 25.
A tackles for loss by Yaya Diaby and a sack by Hall put the Falcons in a third-and-19 hole. A short pass to Allgeier only got four but the Falcons chose to go for it on fourth down right after the two-minute warning. Cousins tried to hit Mooney on the right sideline but was intercepted by David, who got the ball back to the Atlanta 28.
A holding call on the ensuing drive was a factor in the Bucs backing up to the Atlanta 43. The ensuing punt went into the end zone for a touchback.
Atlanta had 1:12 left and no timeouts when they took over at their own 20. Two plays into the drive, Cousins hit Mooney for 17 yards. A six-yard out converted a third-and-one, making it first down at the Bucs’ 43. McCollum broke up a pass over the middle with 12 seconds left. A completion over the middle to London and a spike to stop the clock put the ball at the 29 and, after a delay of game penalty, Koo drilled a 52-yarder to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Atlanta won the toss to start overtime and quickly fell into a third-and-three. Cousins converted that with a quick pass up the numbers to London for 18 yards. On the next play, Cousins threw a quick pass to Hodge, who evaded a tackler and dashed 45 yards for the game-winning score.