The Tampa Bay Buccaneers can only blame themselves for missing a chance to take control of first place in the NFC South.
Instead, the three-time division champions now share the lead with Atlanta after allowing the Falcons (3-2) to tie the game with a field goal in the last seconds of regulation. Atlanta then scored a touchdown on their first possession in overtime, winning 36-30, which left the Bucs (3-2) struggling to explain what happened on Thursday night.
Tampa Bay has now lost two out of three games after starting the season 2-0, which included a road win against Detroit. The offense failed to run out the clock after Lavonte David’s interception in Falcons territory with under two minutes left.
Poor tackling hurt a normally dependable defense, preventing them from stopping Atlanta when it was crucial.
The Falcons forced overtime on the last play of regulation and won with a short pass that KhaDarel Hodge turned into a 45-yard touchdown.
“We had an opportunity to win in every aspect of the game. We didn’t close it out,” said coach Todd Bowles, noting that special teams could have also contributed more to help Tampa Bay.
“It was a team effort,” Bowles added. “We didn’t point fingers at anybody.”
Baker Mayfield threw three touchdown passes without any interceptions, and Mike Evans caught two touchdown passes. Despite injuries on defense, they held a three-point lead for most of the fourth quarter until Kirk Cousins led the Falcons down the field twice to secure the win.
Cousins ended the game with a Falcons record and personal-best 509 yards passing and four touchdowns.
