FLOWERY BRANCH — Kirk Cousins’ slant-pattern pass to Drake London and the scramble to get the ball spiked with one second on the clock in regulation may go down as the play of the year for the Falcons.
That allowed them, despite all of the miscues, to force overtime and have a chance to win, which they did on KhaDarel Hodge’s 4-yard catch and 41-yard run.
“Just knowing how many people need to be on the ball and everybody being set,” Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts said. “We work on that in practice. It’s something we have been going over, and we executed well.”
The Falcons now have a 3-2 record and needed all of Cousins’ franchise-record 509 yards passing to pull out the victory.
“That was special right there,” running back Bijan Robinson said.
The Falcons will have a chance to go to 3-0 against NFC South teams when they play the Panthers at 4:25 p.m. Oct. 13 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“There is so much football ahead,” Cousins said. “We need to enjoy these two or three days and get right back to work. Keep your foot on the gas because when you let up, it can hurt you. I’m looking forward to that challenge.”
Here are the five things we learned from the win:
1. Cousins not 100%? After this performance, the questions about if Cousins is recovered from his Achillles surgery will go away. He set franchise records for completions (42) and yards (509) as he completed 42 of 58 passes (72.4%) and he tied his career-high with four touchdown passes.
“Fitzy (Ryan Fitzpatrick) asked me on the field, he said, ‘you hit 500 in Pop Warner?’ I said, no,” Cousins said. “I didn’t hit 400 until the NFL. Then this is the first time doing that. Honestly, I mean, needed an extra quarter to get there with overtime.”
Cousins credited offensive coordinator Zac Robinson for the aggressive passing night.
“Zac kept putting the ball in my hand,” Cousins said. “Gave me a lot of at-bats; 58 attempts, 81 plays. It’s amazing what you can do when you’re out there on the field and get more chances.”
It was Cousins’ ninth game with 400 or more passing yards and his 51st game with more than 300 yards.
The Falcons scored on the opening drive for the second time this season. It was Cousins’ 44th career opening drive touchdown.
Also, Cousins (278) passed Vinny Testaverde (275) for 18th all-time in NFL history in passing touchdowns. He now trails Johnny Unitas (1956-73) with 290 touchdowns.
With the win, Cousins currently leads the league with three game-winning drives.
The NFL record for passing yards in a game is held by Norm Van Brocklin, who passed for 554 yards for the Rams in 1951. He would later coach the Falcons from 1968 to 1974 and was general manager from 1970-74.
2. Explosive plays: The Falcons’ offensive breakthrough was fueled by big plays.
The Falcons had eight plays that went for at least 20 yards and had two that went for 18.
Here’s the list: Cousins to Hodge for 45 yard (touchdowns); Cousins to Pitts for 32 yards; Cousins to London for 31 yards; Bijan Robinson rush around left end for 28 yards; Cousins to Darnell Mooney for 24 yards (touchdown); Cousins to Hodge for 22 yards; Cousins to Ray-Ray McCloud for 22 yards and Cousins to Mooney for 20 yards.
Cousins also had passes of 18 yards to London and Pitts.
The Bucs secondary was giving up a lot of cushion and then didn’t come up and tackle. The Bucs clearly missed All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who was out with an injury.
3. Defense missed Troy Andersen: With inside linebacker Troy Andersen out, the Falcons opened in a 3-3-5 nickel alignment. The Bucs rushed 26 times for 160 yards.
Andersen missed the game with a knee injury after being named defensive player of the week.
Rookie linebacker JD Bertrand played 38 of the 53 defensive snaps (72%) and finished with five tackles.
Safety Jessie Bates III led the defense with eight tackles and two forced fumbles.
“Yeah, it’s something that you just work every day,” Bates said. “You get yourself in position to make a tackle, but I always say a tackle is not good enough. You’ve got yourself in a position to make a play, why not just punch the ball out?”
The defense did not have to withstand any 10-play drives after being on the field for 15 of those over the first four games.
The unit forced only two punts, but they were timely. The first came on the opening drive of the third quarter and finally in the fourth quarter after Cousins’ interception to get the ball back to the offense with 1:14 to play in regulation.
It was hard for the pass rush to get to quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was getting the ball off quickly.
Defensive tackle David Onyemata had one sack and one quarterback hit, and outside linebacker Matthew Judon had a pass breakup.
4. Rushing attack abandoned: Running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier combined to rush for 73 yards on 18 carries.
Robinson had 12 rushes for 61 yards and Allgeier has six rushes for 12 yards.
“It felt great just seeing it and being a part of it,” Robinson said. “It was one of those performances where you’ve got to smile and be happy with the progress that we’re making. We’re trying to have as much opportunity as we can.”
5. Fleet of receivers: The Falcons had five receivers with at least 60 yards receiving, led by London’s 12 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown.
Mooney had nine catches for 105 yards and touchdowns. Pitts had seven catches for 88 yards. McCloud has six for 66 yards. Hodge had two for 67.
London now has 2,125 yards and is tied with Bert Emanuel as the fourth-earliest player to reach the mark in 38 games. Only Julio Jones (27 games), Calvin Ridley (32 games) and Stacey Bailey (35 games) reached the mark faster.
It was the fifth 100-yard game of Mooney’s career. It was Hodge’s third career touchdown. McCloud’s 66 yards were a career-high.
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