Falcons 36-30 Buccaneers (Oct. 3, 2024) Game Recap

ATLANTA – Kirk Cousins ​​surely made all the money on Thursday night.

The $180 million quarterback threw for 509 yards and four touchdowns, the most of his career, the last of which was a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime to give the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“What a night,” Cousins ​​said. “I'm exhausted.”

After a wild fourth quarter that included a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins ​​and the Falcons (3-2) got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 left in regulation and no timeouts, trailing by one from 30:27.

Cousins ​​completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers' 29th, then stormed to the line to score the ball with one second left. In all the confusion, a delay of game was imposed on the Falcons as they prepared for a tying field goal, but it cost them nothing.

Even with the five-yard penalty, Younghoe Koo ran the ball through from 52 yards to force overtime, a week after he made a 58-yard throw with two seconds left to beat the New Orleans Saints.

“I’m proud of the courage,” Cousins ​​said. “In this league, that’s what it takes. We were tough tonight.”

The Falcons won the coin toss in overtime, ensuring Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (3-2) didn't get their hands on the ball again.

Cousins ​​connected with Drake London on a few passes before throwing a short pass to Hodge, who shrugged off a tackle at the 40, cut a gap in the secondary and stormed untouched to the end zone to end the game.

The four TD passes represented Cousins' career best, while his air yardage far exceeded his previous high of 460 with the Minnesota Vikings in 2022.

“The guys played hard,” coach Raheem Morris said. “They played until the end.”

After signing his big free agent contract with the Falcons, which included $100 million in guaranteed money, Cousins ​​got off to a slow start in Atlanta.

But he heard nothing but cheers the night the Falcons inducted longtime starting quarterback Matt Ryan into their Ring of Honor. Cousins, 36, even swayed to the rap hit “Swag Surfin” during the postgame celebration, firmly establishing himself in the ATL.

With Matty Ice cheering him on, Cousins ​​broke Ryan's team record for passing yards in a game (503) with one of the most productive performances in NFL history. Only 14 quarterbacks have thrown for more yards in a game, led by Norm Van Brocklin's mark of 554 yards, which has stood since 1951.

“Excellent,” Morris said in a succinct but accurate assessment of Cousins’ performance.

Mayfield threw three touchdown passes, including two to Mike Evans, and Chase McLaughlin kicked three field goals. The last of them was a 53-yarder that gave the Buccaneers a 30-27 lead with 10:23 left.

Mayfield felt like he had missed that.

“All I care about is winning,” he said. “I have to find a way to finish the game on offense.”

The Falcons evened the score on a bold fourth-down call by Morris early in the fourth quarter.

After Tyler Allgeier suffered a 2-yard loss on third-and-2, the Falcons didn't even consider a field goal from the Bucs 12.

Atlanta lined up at the back and Cousins ​​threw a pass to Darnell Mooney, who grabbed the marker but didn't settle for just a first down. He fended off a tackler and slid into the end zone.