By Stephen Ur
The Atlanta Falcons hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA on Sunday afternoon. Atlanta was coming off a Week 13 win over the New York Jets.
Both teams kicked field goals in the first quarter, and the first touchdown came from Tampa on the first play of the second quarter as Baker Mayfield rushed for a one-yard score. Atlanta would respond with a 36-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Pitts, his second of the season, and the game was tied at 10 with 12:09 left in the half.
The next score came with 2:36 remaining as Antoine Winfield Jr sacked Ridder in his own end zone, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Keith Smith for the Falcons, who was also in turn tackled for a safety. The Buccaneers led 12-10 as both teams headed into the locker room.
The lone score of the third was a 31-yard touchdown from Mayfield to Rachaad White. Tampa led 19-10 headed into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons made it a 19-17 game with Bijan Robinson rushing for a three-yard touchdown with 11:10 left. After the Bucs settled for a field goal, Atlanta took their first lead of the game with 3:31 remaining Ridder rushed for a six-yard touchdown.
With just 31 seconds left, the Buccaneers scored the game-winning touchdown as Mayfield found tight end Cade Otton from 11 yards out. Atlanta would get the ball to the Bucs’ three-yard line, but time ran out on them, and Tampa came away with the 29-25 win.
The Falcons will head on the road next week to take on the one-win Carolina Panthers. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
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