Greg Auman
NFC South Reporter
ATLANTA — The closest of wins has given the Bucs the slimmest of leads atop the NFC South.
Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown to tight end Cade Otton with 31 seconds left, and the Bucs held on for a 29-25 win over the Falcons, but only when receiver Drake London was tackled at the 3-yard line as time expired, just short of a winning touchdown.
The NFC South now has a three-way tie for first place — the Bucs, Falcons and Saints all 6-7 — and the Bucs are ahead, but only by a tiebreaker, with four weeks left to play.
“A lot of resilience,” coach Todd Bowles said after the win. “We knew it was going to be a tough game. We played them tough the first game and we lost it. We came back this game. Offense came down and had a heck of a drive. We held them out of the end zone at the end. I can’t say enough about these guys fighting, the competitiveness they had coming in here. It was a huge win. It’s going to be like that every week for the next four weeks.”
The Bucs had a 19-10 lead in the fourth quarter, gave up two touchdown to the Falcons to trail 25-22 with 3:23 left. Mayfield, who had thrown for all of 94 yards in the entire game, led them on a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Rachaad White converted a fourth-and-1 run, Mayfield connected with Chris Godwin for a 32-yard play to get them in field-goal range, and Mayfield found Otton for the game-winning score.
“I love it,” Mayfield said of the chance to lead a game-winning drive like that. “That is what you want as a quarterback, as a competitor, you want to have the opportunity last and take care of business. That is how you want it.”
The Falcons, who had gotten touchdown runs from rookie Bijan Robinson and quarterback Desmond Ridder in the fourth quarter to take the lead, nearly pulled off an improbable rally of their own. At their 25, Ridder pulled off passes of 9, 16 and 19 yards to get to the Bucs’ 30 with 0:04 left. London…
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Publish date : 2023-12-11 00:51:31
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