The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lead the Atlanta Falcons at halftime

The Bucs are back on top just four minutes and 21 seconds after the Falcons tied the game.

Tampa Bay gained 82 yards in seven plays, fueled largely by a 56-yard run by Rachaad White on the second play of the drive.

Sterling Shepard scored the go-ahead touchdown from three yards out on 3rd-and-goal.

Making amends for Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo, who finished the game with a 54-yard field goal for the 17th time.

Koo missed a 41-yarder early in the game, but he tied it with the longer shot.

Mike Evans, already Tampa Bay's all-time leading receiver, caught his 99th touchdown pass (and 100th touchdown overall) of his career. Towards the end of the second quarter, the Bucs are now ahead against the Falcons.

The Falcons overcame a holding penalty and capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown catch by Darnell Mooney.

Mooney made an acrobatic attempt to tie the score on 3rd-and-14, making the penalty setback only temporary.

Tampa Bay managed 34 yards in six plays but settled for a field goal after failing to make a 3rd-and-3.

The Bucs now have their first lead of the evening. It could have been bigger, however, as Baker Mayfield missed a long shot to Sterling Shepard that could have been a touchdown.

After a missed 41-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo, the score is still 7-7.

The game before, Koo actually missed a 46-yarder, but a Buccaneers offside penalty saved him briefly and Atlanta was out of the game. On another attempt, Koo missed the left side for the second time in a row.

The Falcons once again moved the ball well, but the Bucs defense sacked Kirk Cousins ​​on 3rd-and-5 to force the (missed) field goal(s).

And the Bucs responded quickly.

Baker Mayfield led a nine-play, 63-yard drive that resulted in a Tampa Bay touchdown. Mayfield found Mike Evans for a two-yard TD pass to end the possession.

Less than five minutes after the Falcons' goal, the game was tied.

What an opening offensive by the Falcons!

Seven plays, 70 yards and in just three minutes and six seconds, Atlanta has a touchdown. Drake London had an 18-yard catch-and-score to cap the Falcons' incredibly efficient possession.

…And their first play is a run by Bijan Robinson for about three yards.

While Tampa Bay held three of its first four opponents to 20 or fewer points, the defense gave up big yards in Weeks 1-3 and struggled to get to the quarterback. However, in Week 4, the defense turned things around by giving up a season-low 227 yards and sacking Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts six times.

The Bucs defense allowed just 14 points on Sunday (Philadelphia scored on a defensive two-point conversion after Tampa Bay blocked an extra point in the third quarter).

After finishing 7-10 for three straight seasons and missing the playoffs, the Falcons fired head coach Arthur Smith in January and replaced him with former Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. Morris spent the last three seasons as the Rams' defensive coordinator and won Super Bowl LVI in the 2021 season.

Prior to joining the Rams in 2021, Morris was with Atlanta for six seasons (2015-2020) and served as interim head coach of the Falcons during the 2020 season after Dan Quinn was fired (Atlanta went 4: 7 in the lead). 2020).

After that season, Morris applied to Atlanta for the position of permanent head coach. However, the Falcons hired Smith and Morris traveled to Los Angeles.

This is Morris' second full-time head coaching job in the NFL. More than a decade ago, he was Tampa Bay's head coach for three seasons (2009-2011). He took over at age 32, went 17-31 (.354 wins) in three years in Tampa Bay and never made the playoffs. The Bucs posted a 3-13 record in his first season as coach, a 10-6 record in his second season and a 4-12 record in his third season.

“It’s such a results-oriented league. So a win is a big deal, but you never really stop analyzing the performance and thinking about how you can get better… I didn't feel like we did our part.” Offense, um (kicker Younghoe Koo) to give us a better chance, but he saved us… We need to pick up the pace offensively, but we had some improvement. We were the better of a win on third down and we have to build on that.”

When asked about the game against Tampa Bay, Cousins ​​called it a “great opportunity.”

“We dug ourselves a hole with a 1:2. Now we give ourselves a chance to head into a long weekend over .500. We know what’s coming out there.”

Evans' 596 career points surpassed kicker Martin Gramatica (592 points) was Tampa Bay's all-time leading scorer last weekend.

“I should have kept the ball. Damned! I didn't keep the ball. I gave it away… I knew I was close (to the record)… I was blessed. It's amazing that I'm here now. I feel like I was just a rookie trying to figure things out and now I'm the all-time leading scorer in the history of a great franchise. It means the world.”

Atlanta's offense didn't score a single touchdown in its 26-24 win over New Orleans.

• KhaDarel Hodge recovered a deflected punt in the end zone for a score in the first quarter
• Troy Andersen had a pick-six in the second quarter
• Younghoe Koo went 4/4 on field goals, including the game-winning 58-yard play.

Tampa Bay running back Bucky Irving, a rookie out of Oregon, posted a career-high 10 carries for 49 rushing yards and scored his first career touchdown in Week 4 against the Eagles. He's a nice complement to Rachaad White, who had 49 rushing yards and 35 yards in the win.

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield completed 30 passes (a career high) for 347 yards with three total touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) and no turnovers against the Eagles.

On “Monday Night Football,” Mayfield's eight passing touchdowns this season are the second-most in the NFL, behind only Minnesota's Sam Darnold.

Tampa Bay's Baker Mayfield signed a three-year, $100 million contract this offseason to remain with the Buccaneers. Kirk Cousins, the longtime Minnesota Vikings quarterback, agreed to a four-year, $180 million move to Atlanta.

Cousins ​​and Mayfield signed the two largest contracts of any quarterback in free agency this offseason. Cousins' AAV of $45 million ranks 12th among QBs, while Mayfield's AAV of $33.3 million ranks 19th among QBs.