Atlanta Falcons safety Justin Simmons stood in front of his locker on the left side of the room, sporting a mint green suit following Atlanta’s thrilling 36-30 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thursday night inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium .
Simmons was part of a tough defensive effort, but one that proved enough to propel the Falcons into an early season lead in the NFC South — and that, Simmons said, is all that matters.
“The most important thing is this victory,” Simmons said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s 10-3 or 30-30, as long as we win.”
Atlanta’s defense looked capable of hitting both scoring thresholds Thursday night, which proved to be a tale of two halves.
The Buccaneers had four complete drives in the first half and scored on all of them, putting three touchdowns, a field goal and 24 points on the scoreboard. They averaged nearly nine yards per play.
But the Falcons came out of the locker room with a modified game plan that led to a stingier defensive attack. They held Tampa Bay to just six points and 111 net yards of offense on 26 plays, an average of 4.3 yards per snap.
Buccaneers Quarterback Mayfield Baker completed 7 of 9 passes for 49 yards, although a seven-yard sack in the red zone left Tampa Bay with 42 net yards on passing plays in the second half. Atlanta, meanwhile, had 241 yards from quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Tampa Bay rushed 16 times for 69 yards, including 43 on six scrambles from Mayfield. Buccaneers running backs, Rachaad White And Bucky Irving, totaled 10 carries for 24 yards and a crucial fumble by Irving that cost Tampa Bay three points and a lot of clock time on the penultimate drive.
But how did the Falcons do it? With the same recipe they used the week before: return to their style. After a first half full of blitzes and finished without any additional pressure, the defensive coordinator of the Falcons Jimmy Lake got back to its roots, but didn’t break them, and Tampa Bay struggled to finish drives.
“They definitely weren’t playing as aggressively,” Mayfield said. “They weren’t putting as much pressure. They were kind of stepping back and moving us up the field.”
The Buccaneers’ first drive of the second half ended in a punt. Right tackle Justin SkuleTampa Bay’s holding penalty put Tampa Bay behind the chains and it failed to recover.
On the next drive, the Buccaneers drove deep into Falcons territory, but a defensive tackle David Onyemata sacked Mayfield on 3rd-and-3 from inside the Atlanta 10-yard line. Tampa Bay settled for a field goal.
The draft after, Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin scored a 53-yard field goal as Atlanta’s defense held serve after Tampa Bay crossed midfield.
But after two goals scored, the Buccaneers’ offense calmed down.
Tampa Bay’s seven-play, 31-yard drive late in the fourth quarter ended with an Irving fumble. The next possession, the Buccaneers inherited the ball at the Atlanta 34-yard line, with linebacker David Lavonte intercept Cousins. Players from both sides said after the match that they believed David’s takeaway effectively ended the match.
But the Falcons forced the Buccaneers to punt, as two negative plays against White were coupled with a holding penalty up the middle. Graham Barton pushed Tampa Bay out of field goal range.
Simmons said Atlanta’s defense just wanted to give the ball back to their offense. He did more than that, keeping the deficit to one basket and making life much easier for Cousins and company.
The Falcons marched downfield and kicker Younghoe Koo made a 52-yard game-tying field goal as time expired. Atlanta won the toss in overtime, received the kickoff and scored a 45-yard touchdown on a pass from Cousins to the receiver KhaDarel Hodge.
Tampa Bay never saw the ball again after its punt.
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White, speaking after the game, acknowledged Lake’s adjustments in the game, while emphasizing the importance of the defensive tackle. Grady Jarrettwho made four tackles in the final 30 minutes of regulation.
“I think we were just going in circles with things,” White said. “They did a good job. Jimmy Lake did a good job. They started getting some delays and sending some blitzes down the line. They kind of tried to slow it down and that’s what they got done. Then Grady Jarrett made some good plays.”
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles wasn’t as generous to Atlanta’s defense and placed a significant amount of blame on Tampa Bay’s offense for its lack of execution.
“They made some adjustments, but we missed a lot of plays, too,” Bowles said. “We missed a lot of games. We can’t play the Bucs and Falcons.”
Tampa Bay’s score shows 30 points, 333 net yards and 6.5 yards per play. There was only one turnover and Mayfield completed 19 of 24 passes.
But the Buccaneers ultimately didn’t do enough to win, in part because Atlanta’s offense had its most productive game of the season, but also because of a strong defensive effort down the stretch. .
Head coach of the Falcons Raheem Morris is also pleased with the progress his defense has made in stopping the run. Tampa Bay totaled 26 carries for 160 yards, but Morris believes context is important.
White went on a 56-yard run in the second quarter. Mayfield had 42 yards as a scrambler on designed passing plays. In the Buccaneers’ other 19 drives, they ran for just 62 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per carry.
But White’s big play and inability to contain the quarterback after the snap can’t just be taken away — and the Falcons know it.
“We didn’t play good enough defense, myself included,” Simmons said, citing difficulties tackling problems. “But what a game from our offense. Obviously it’s always going to come down to a team win – we did better in the second half defensively – but man, offensively, just [a] A hell of a job on their part.”
Rookie linebacker JD Bertrand, who played 72 percent of Atlanta’s defensive snaps in his first extended action due to starter Troy Andersen’s absence due to injury, said the Falcons entered Thursday night with two specific goals.
Atlanta wanted to shut down Tampa Bay’s rushing attack and eliminate star receiver Mike Evans. The Buccaneers averaged 6.2 yards per carry and Evans caught five passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns.
But in context, the Falcons’ run defense was serviceable. The same goes for Atlanta’s coverage on Evans, whose biggest play — a 23-yard touchdown run — came one-on-one against backup Antonio Hamilton Sr., who entered the game due to a concussion of starter Dee Alford.
The raw numbers aren’t great. The context is much better. And in Bertrand’s eyes, the most important number – the final score – shows that Atlanta’s defense scored well enough to win.
“Obviously we’re going to go back and there’ll be games we want,” Bertrand said. “This is how it’s always going to be.”
But the Falcons have the luxury of starting their mini-bye week with a win. The filming sessions and the resulting corrections were a matter of course. Being able to do them after winning was not.
A key message in the Atlanta locker room throughout the summer and into the regular season centers on handling the NFC South. The Falcons beat the two teams ahead of them in the division in their meetings at the New Orleans Saints and the Buccaneers.
In both games, Atlanta struggled in one phase.
Against the Saints, the Falcons failed to score an offensive touchdown. Their defense and special teams each found the end zone while being successful enough in their own facets to win.
On Thursday night, when Atlanta’s defense had no answer in the first half to the Buccaneers’ offense, Cousins kept the game close — and when the Falcons needed a late stop, their defense kept its promises. The offense was capitalized. The special teams unit tied the game and the offense won it in overtime.
Atlanta’s next step is to play complementary football for all 60 minutes — but in the meantime, the Falcons are winning, and they’re proving more and more of their intangibles in the process.
“We find different ways to win,” Simmons said, “and we win early, so it’s a good confidence-builder for us.”
