House Call, the movie, is coming soon.
Backup wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge took a Kirk Cousins pass 45 yards for a touchdown in overtime to lift the Falcons to a 36-30 victory over Tampa Bay on Thursday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I can’t make this us,” Hodge said. “It still to me feels like a movie right now. I checked in (for) one. Got to the crib. Me. KhaDarel. I don’t know what to say. When I scored, when I crossed the line I kind of blacked out. I (saw) the guys come in. You can’t make this up, this is like a movie to me.”
The Falcons were in another frenzied game that went down to the wire. Cousins passed for a franchise-record 509 yards as the offense finally showed some explosiveness after not scoring in the last outing. Matt Ryan, who went in the team’s Ring of Honor at halftime, had the previous high of 503 yards.
“I think we spread it around,” Cousins said. “I think that’s how we are built. Just to get a lot of people involved. We have a lot of trust in several skill-position players. It was pretty heavy drop back and spread it around.”
The Falcons had their chances to pull out another victory earlier, but with the game on the line they had a key dropped pass, a blocked field goal and an interception.
The Falcons needed a 52-yard field goal from Younghoe Koo at the buzzer to forced overtime.
The Falcons improved to 3-2 while the Bucs dropped to 3-2. The teams are tied for first place in the NFC South, with the Falcons holding the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“I’m pleased that we are 3-2,” Cousins said. “It makes the weekend a little more enjoyable. But we’ve got so much football up ahead. We’re giving ourselves a little bit of wind at our back. We are heading in the right direction. Now, we have to build on it.”
The offense was in position to take the lead earlier, but Darnell Mooney dropped a pass that would have picked up a first down. Koo’s 54-yard field goal attempt was then blocked and the score remained 30-27 Tampa Bay.
The Bucs went on the move, but Jessie Bates III forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Kaden Elliss. On a fourth-and-19 from the 16, Cousins’ pass was intercepted by Lavonte David.
The defense forced another punt and the offense had the ball with 1:14 to play and no timeouts. Cousins drove them into range for the field goal to force OT.
The Falcons won the toss and then the game with Hodge’s walk-off TD.
Cousins, who was signed to a four-year contract worth up to $180 million, easily had his best game with the Falcons. He completed 42 of 58 passes for four touchdowns and one interception. He finished with a passer rating of 114.8.
“That’s crazy,” Mooney said. “That’s video-game stuff, right there. "
Cousins moved the ball around to seven receivers.
“I was just thinking about my drop,” Mooney said. “I was sitting there thinking the whole time, lets get this ball back. So, we can go do there and make a play and I can recover from that situation. We did. Defense got a good stop.”
Drake London finished with 12 catches for 154 yards and a touchdown. Mooney had nine catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle Pitts had seven catches for 88 yards.
“I just think as an offense we took a step,” Pitts said. “Obviously, I (made) a contribution into it as the other receivers were. Just playing as one.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Behind three touchdown passes from Baker Mayfield, the Bucs held a 24-17 lead at halftime.
Mayfield tossed two touchdown passes to wide receiver Mike Evans, who got open more after nickel back Dee Alford left the game with a concussion and did not return.
But at the start, the Falcons came out hot.
Cousins tossed his first pass to Pitts, who broke open for a 32-yard gain after not catching a pass in the last outing. Five plays later, Cousins tossed an 18-yard touchdown pass to London, who powered his way into the end zone.
The Bucs answered with a nine-play, 63-yard drive. After Alford left, Evans broke free for a 2-yard touchdown pass to make the game 7-7.
Koo, the hero last week with a game-winning 58-yard field goal, missed a 41-yarder, wide left.
The Bucs’ Chase McLaughlin added a 53-yard field goal to make it 10-7.
As play moved into the second quarter, Cousins took the Falcons on a spirited nine-play, 70-yard touchdown drive where they had to overcome two holding penalties. Cousins tossed a 25-yard touchdown strike to Mooney to put the Falcons up 14-10. Mooney made a nice grab between Tampa Bay defenders Zyon McCollum and Christian Izien.
The Bucs’ Sean Tucker broke loose for 53 yards on the kickoff return to move the ball to the Falcons’ 44. Three plays later, Mayfield tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Evans. The score made it 17-14.
On the ensuing dive, Koo made a 54-yard field goal to make it 17-17.
The Bucs then got a 56-yard run from running back Rachaad White to help set up a short field. The Falcons’ defense battled, but eventually gave up a 4-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Sterling Shepard.
The Atlanta offense had the ball back with 1:56 to go and drove into field-goal range. On second-and-10 from Tampa’s 31, Logan Hall beat right tackle Kaleb McGary for a sack and a loss of eight yards. Cousins’ pass for Mooney on third-and-18 was incomplete and Bradley Pinion came on for the first punt of the game.
The Bucs had the ball to open the third quarter, but couldn’t overcome a holding penalty. The Falcons’ defense finally got a stop and forced a punt.
The Falcons drove from their 20 to the Bucs’ 18, going for it on fourth-and-3 at Tampa’s 42. The drive stalled after an offensive pass interference call on Hodge and another sack. The Falcons settled for a 48-yard field by Koo to make it 24-20 with 6:21 left in the third quarter.
The Bucs had some good fortune on their next drive as Evans recovered a fumble by teammate Chris Godwin. The Falcons needed a sack from David Onyemata to force a field goal. McLaughlin made a 32-yarder to put the Bucs up 27-20 with 1:17 left in the third quarter.
On the next drive, Cousins connected with Ray-Ray McCloud for 22 yards and Bijan Robinson busted loose for a 28-yard gain, his longest of the season. On fourth-and-4, Cousins tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Mooney. Koo’s kick tied things up at 27-27 with 13:18 to play.
McLaughlin added another 53-yard field goal to put the Bucs up 30-27 with 10:23 to play.
“I was on the sideline when I wasn’t in,” Hodge said. “I actually started watching the show myself.”
Hodge said of Cousins, “I was like ‘He’s hot tonight.’ They let him get in a groove. He got in a groove and I didn’t know he was at 500. That’s Kirk. He took over tonight. That’s big time.”
The Falcons will play the Panthers at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13 in Charlotte.
“We are trying to win the South,” London said. “So far, we’ve got two down. Now, we’ll rest up this week and get to it in Carolina.”
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