When the Atlanta Falcons declared Michael Penix Jr. their starting quarterback for the 2025 season, the next obvious step seemed to be for the team to cut or trade Kirk Cousins.
They kept him around. It’s not like Cousins’ big game saves the Falcons’ season or anything, but he and Kyle Pitts Sr. delivered a satisfying win that might end up ruining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ season.
Cousins had 373 yards, 166 of which went to Pitts, and three touchdowns that went to Pitts, and a last-second, 43-yard field goal from Zane Gonzalez gave Atlanta a 29-28 win.
The Buccaneers fell to 7-7, a half-game behind the Carolina Panthers in the NFC South. It has been a tough time for Cousins, who was benched last season and lost his job. He got it back due to a season-ending knee injury to Penix. He had been written off at age 37. But for one night at least, the Falcons looked smart for keeping him on the roster.
Kyle Pitts has tremendous first half
Kyle Pitts decided that Thursday night was the right time to have the best half of his NFL career.
Pitts, who had one touchdown in the Falcons’ previous 13 games, scored twice before halftime. He hadn’t had a 100-yard game all season before Thursday, but had six catches for 111 yards in the first half. Pitts was the first tight end with 100 yards and two touchdowns in a half since San Francisco’s George Kittle did it in Week 13 of 2021, according to NFL researcher Tony Holzman-Escareno. Hopefully you didn’t face Pitts in the first round of your fantasy football playoff matchup.
Pitts’ enormous half carried the Falcons to a 14-13 halftime lead.
The Buccaneers stayed in the game, and eventually took back the lead in the second half because the Falcons are a mistake-prone team. Atlanta had a ton of penalties. In the third quarter, an illegal contact on Falcons cornerback Dee Alford turned a third-and-goal incompletion from the 13-yard line into a first down, and Baker Mayfield hit tight end Devin Culp for a 6-yard touchdown and a 20-14 lead. Atlanta was the first team with at least 18 penalties in a game since the Browns in 2019, according to the Amazon Prime Video broadcast. Atlanta finished with 19 penalties, yet still walked away with a victory.
Late in the third quarter, Bijan Robinson caught a pass over the middle and fumbled when he was hit. The Bucs recovered and a few plays later Chris Godwin Jr. caught a touchdown. A 2-point conversion to Godwin gave the Buccaneers a 28-14 lead.
The Falcons kept making mistakes, but so did the Buccaneers.
The Falcons kept making mistakes, but so did the Buccaneers.
Buccaneers take the lead
The Buccaneers aren’t exactly playing well enough lately to blow out anyone, even a mistake-prone Falcons team.
Mayfield threw an interception to Alford in the fourth quarter in Falcons territory, shortly after Robinson scored to pull Atlanta to a 28-20 deficit. They went for the 2-point conversion and didn’t get it, which would matter later.
Atlanta avoided another big mistake when Darnell Mooney fumbled at Tampa Bay’s 10-yard line but somehow three Buccaneers couldn’t secure the recovery and the Falcons got it back. Pitts juggled a pass and it looked like his elbow might have hit out of bounds, but officials ruled that his backside landed in bounds first and the Falcons had a touchdown.
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