‘Resilient’ Falcons overcome mistakes, big fourth-quarter deficit to beat Bucs

After the Falcons secured their eighth straight losing season Sunday, coach Raheem Morris said the goal for the rest of the season was to show what they could be and should have been.

Four days later, they looked like the same old Falcons — until they didn’t.

The Falcons trailed the Buccaneers by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter when they suddenly produced their first sustained stretch of competent football. That was enough for an improbable 29-28 victory over the reeling Bucs at Raymond James Stadium.

“I couldn’t be more proud of how those guys stayed resilient throughout the course of the game and they found a way to win tonight,” Morris said. “That’s what we’ve been talking about all year.”

It’s one of the few times the Falcons (5-9) have shown it. It was only their second victory in seven games decided by a one-score margin.

The Falcons beat the Bucs despite committing a franchise-record 19 penalties for 125 yards. They gave away the ball to set up the score that put Tampa Bay ahead 28-14 with less than 14 minutes to play.

The Falcons didn’t play well for three quarters, but they also didn’t give in. They made plays when it mattered most while getting big games from quarterback Kirk Cousins, tight end Kyle Pitts and running Bijan Robinson. Zane Gonzalez’s 43-yard field goal as time expired won it.

“We definitely needed this one right here, and you felt it in the locker room (after),” Robinson said. “We came in here like it was a relief. Yes, we’re out of the playoffs, but this was just big for the team.

“This is big for the fan base (and) everything, man. It was huge.”

The Falcons finally won a close game after it appeared they were on their way to a second consecutive lopsided loss. The Bucs converted Robinson’s lost fumble into Chris Godwin’s touchdown catch and a two-point conversion. There was little reason to believe the Falcons could overcome the 28-14 deficit.

They’d managed to avoid penalties on only two of their previous seven possessions, and one of those ended with Robinson’s fumble. The Bucs had scored touchdowns on two of three second-half drives. Crowd noise at Raymond James Stadium gave the Falcons problems all night and now the home fans were louder than ever.

But the Falcons found a way. Cousins expertly guided an eight-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that included no penalties. He passed for 18 yards to Pitts and 20 yards to David Sills before Robinson scored on a 7-yard touchdown run.

The Falcons trailed 28-20 with 9:37 to go. Morris decided to try a two-point conversion. It failed when Cousins was hit as he tried to throw.

“We wanted to get the two-point conversion because when you score (again), you’re kicking it to walk off on the extra point,” Morris said.

That scenario was out the door. The Falcons would have to stop the Buccaneers, score a touchdown and convert a two-point try for the tie. If they scored a touchdown and failed again on a two-point try, they then would need to get another stop and kick the field goal to win.

The Falcons executed the latter scenario. The comeback started when Dee Alford picked off Baker Mayfield’s pass at the Falcons’ 33-yard line.

“He got up real high,” Falcons safety Xavier Watts said of Alford. “I was right behind him. It was a crazy play, a great instinctual play.”

Cousins directed another touchdown drive. The possession almost ended again when wide receiver Darnell Mooney fumbled inside the 20-yard line, but center Ryan Neuzil somehow stole the ball away from multiple Bucs defenders. Four plays later, Cousins tossed a 7-yard touchdown to Pitts, who just did get his backside down before going out of bounds.

The two-point try failed. The Bucs started their next drive from their 27-yard line with 3:34 to go. The Falcons had three timeouts left. Tampa Bay gained one first down before punting the ball back to the Falcons, who started from their 10-yard line with 1:49 to go and no timeouts.

Cousins fumbled on the second play of the drive when he was hit in the pocket, but he luckily recovered the ball when a defender pushed him on top of it. A holding penalty put the Falcons in a hole. They got out of it when Cousins passed for 14 yards to Pitts and found Sills for 21 yards on fourth-and-14. A penalty on Tampa Bay and a 6-yard pass from Cousins to Mooney set up Gonzalez’s game-winning kick.

Cousins passed for 373 yards with three touchdown passes to Pitts, who had 11 catches for 166 yards. Robinson had 175 total yards and a score. Those performances helped the Falcons win despite breaking the franchise record of 17 penalties committed against the 49ers in 1978 (the Falcons somehow won that game 21-10 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).

The loss left the Bucs (7-7) behind the Panthers (7-6) in the NFC race. The Falcons won’t be going to the playoffs, but they showed Thursday night that they won’t be going down without a fight.