With the Falcons looking for a spark, they turned to All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones and he delivered against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 43-28 victory on Thursday night at Raymond James Stadium.
The Falcons held a 20-14 halftime lead, but had the ball to open the second half.
On third-and-5 at Atlanta’s 35, quarterback Matt Ryan threw a low strike to Jones, who went down and dug out the pass out for an 11-yard gain. The Bucs challenged the play, but the catch was upheld and that seemed to ignite the Falcons.
Ryan went back to Jones on the next three plays for gains of 21, 16 and 11 yards to move the ball down to Tampa Bay’s 8-yard line. Five plays later, Ryan tossed a one-yard touchdown pass to fullback Pat Dimarco and the fuse was lit.
“It felt great,” Jones said about sparking the offense. “The talent that we have out there. Any guy can take over at any moment.”
The Falcons scored touchdowns on their next two possessions to open a 40-14 lead with 9:56 left to play. They coasted down hill from there.
“It was just more of us gelling together and being on the same page from the offensive coordinator (Kyle Shanahan) on down,” Jones said. “Just knowing the talent that we have on this team, we know we can win one-on-one match ups.”
Jones added a nice grab for a 3-yard touchdown catch on the second touchdown drive and finished with eight catches for 111 yards and one touchdown.
“We have to keep playing like this,” said wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, who finished with five catches for 74 yards.
