Falcons shock Bucs with walk-off field goal as Kyle Pitts totals 3 touchdowns in career game

It was a hard-fought NFC South matchup betwixt the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons connected Thursday night, and the second wanted to play spoiler.

The Falcons, who were eliminated from the playoffs past week, made it harder for the Bucs to triumph the part aft a walk-off tract extremity by Zane Gonzalez successful a 29-28 victory.

Tampa Bay is present 7-7 connected the year, having mislaid their past 2 games, portion the Falcons are 5-9.

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Bijan Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons runs with the shot during the archetypal 4th of the NFL shot crippled against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers astatine Raymond James Stadium connected Dec. 11, 2025 successful Tampa, Florida. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

One of the large storylines coming into the crippled was the instrumentality of seasoned receiver Mike Evans, who had been sidelined since Week 4 with a collarbone injury.

While galore wondered if the Bucs would person him connected a drawback count, it didn’t look that mode arsenic backmost Baker Mayfield loved getting him the shot successful this one. Evans finished with 132 yards connected conscionable six catches to pb the mode for the Bucs successful the walk game.

However, Evans’ awesome show was thing compared to Falcons choky extremity Kyle Pitts, who had a vocation crippled connected "Thursday Night Football." In the lack of prima receiver Drake London, Pitts became Kirk Cousins’ favourite people connected the night.

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The 6-foot-6 choky extremity had 3 touchdown catches and 166 yards connected 11 catches, arsenic helium and Cousins recovered a speedy transportation aboriginal and it came successful clutch precocious successful the game.

After Mayfield was picked disconnected by Dee Alford successful a 28-20 game, Cousins and the Falcons’ discourtesy had the accidental to march down the tract and necktie the game, granted they scored a touchdown and had a palmy two-point conversion.

Cousins, having recovered Pitts doubly before, lofted a walk to his trusty choky end, who secured it and managed to enactment successful bounds for his 3rd people of the night. Video reappraisal was needed to find if helium stayed successful bounds, and portion it appeared his elbow was out, his backside deed the turf successful bounds astatine the aforesaid moment. With officials calling a touchdown initially, it was insufficient grounds to overturn the score.

Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons warms up anterior to a crippled against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers astatine Raymond James Stadium connected Dec. 11, 2025 successful Tampa, Florida. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

But the Bucs were inactive up two, needing a large halt connected the two-point play. They got conscionable that, arsenic Cousins was hurried and the walk went incomplete.

Mayfield, who had 2 touchdown passes successful this crippled to Chris Godwin and Devin Culp, knew they could crystal the crippled with a fewer archetypal downs connected the ensuing drive. But backed up connected third-and-14, Mayfield was sacked astatine the two-minute warning.

Cousins didn’t person immoderate timeouts to enactment with aft getting the shot back, and it was an inauspicious commencement to the thrust erstwhile helium was strip-sacked and the crippled could’ve been implicit close past and there.

But the ruling was some the Bucs and Falcons had the ball, meaning the necktie goes to the squad who was connected offense. That inactive acceptable Cousins backmost to second-and-18, which turned into second-and-28 connected a holding punishment that was accepted aft an incompletion.

Cousins, though, utilized Pitts and David Sills V to get the yardage needed to support the thrust alive. The Falcons were successful tract extremity scope for Gonzalez, who yet buried the 43-yarder for the win.

The Bucs were up 28-14 heading into the 4th quarter, but a antiaircraft breakdown astatine the worst clip outgo them successful the end.

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In the container score, Cousins was phenomenal successful primetime, passing for 373 yards with his 3 connections to Pitts.

And we can’t hide astir Bijan Robinson, the league-leader successful scrimmage yards who totaled 175 (93 rushing, 82 receiving) connected 27 full touches for Atlanta.

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