Bucs fall short against the Falcons 16-13, lose NFC South lead

Missed opportunities and continued red zone woes see the Bucs lag behind in the race for the division.

In a battle for the lead in the NFC South, the Atlanta Falcons topped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16-13. The game came down to a 51-yard field goal by Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo as time expired. Despite winning the turnover battle, the Bucs were arguably the sloppier team and were not able to capitalize on Atlanta’s own mistakes.

The game truly came down to the wire. After getting the ball back with just over two minutes left and down 10-13, the Bucs drove down the field thanks to a big 31-yard scramble from Baker Mayfield. However, they were not able to get into the endzone and settled for the field goal to tie the game.

The Falcons got the ball back with 45 seconds left and two timeouts. A 39-yard reception by tight end Kyle Pitts put Atlanta in field goal position, all but ending the game.

The Bucs and Falcons spent the first half exchanging scores. Atlanta drew first blood with a two-yard Desmond Ridder touchdown run, but the Bucs answered right back with a 40-yard touchdown bomb from Baker Mayfield to Mike Evans:

The Falcons moved down the field with relative ease throughout the game, but like many Bucs opponents this season, they struggled to get into the end zone. Ridder in particular cost his team in the end zone, fumbling three times in the red zone. The first came following a sack by Shaq Barrett and Calijah Kancey at the end of the first half, and the second was a goal-line botched snap recovered by YaYa Diaby.

Ridder’s last fumble was a crucial touchdown-saving play made by Antoine Winfield Jr., who punched the ball out just before Ridder was able to cross the plane into the endzone:

The Bucs were not much cleaner, losing the ball on a Deven Thompkins fumble during Tampa’s first drive of the second half and a Baker Mayfield interception in their penultimate drive of the game. Tampa Bay’s offense was largely stymied by self-inflicted wounds, committing nine penalties for 66 yards.

In a troubling theme this season, the Bucs were still unable to move the ball on the ground. Outside of Mayfield’s 31-yard scramble, Tampa Bay gained just 42 yards on 19 attempts for a 2.2-yard per-carry average.

Mayfield was better passing the ball than last week, completing 64.3% of his passes and throwing for 275 yards, a touchdown and a pick. However, he struggled to push the ball down the field, averaging just 6.6 yards per attempt. Despite his three fumbles, Ridder was arguably the better passer, completing 76% of his passes for 250 yards and averaging 10 yards per attempt.

With the Falcons now at 4-3, they take the lead in the NFC South. The Bucs fall to 3-3 and appear to have a ceiling on their ability to compete this year, still unable to win against any team with a non-losing record.