4 Takeaways From the Falcons' Win Over the Buccaneers

What should have been a statement victory for Tampa Bay's returning stars instead became another chapter in their late-season unraveling, as Mike Evans' triumphant return from injury was overshadowed by defensive breakdowns and missed opportunities.

The Bucs' failure to salt away a 28-26 lead with under two minutes remaining epitomizes their current struggles, leaving them clinging to playoff hopes despite controlling their own destiny in a wide-open NFC South race.

Here are my takeaways:

Tampa Bay was up 14 points with 10 minutes to go, in line for the right-the-ship win they sorely needed. A Falcons team that had lost seven of eight and long ago lost anything to play for but pride drove down the field three times to beat them.

A year ago, Kirk Cousins destroyed the Bucs twice, throwing for eight touchdowns, including a 500-yard game. He did more of the same again Thursday, finishing with 373 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. In his last three games against the Bucs: 11 touchdowns, 1 interception. In 14 games against anyone else: 9 TDs, 14 INTs.

The Bucs defense in the final 10 minutes gave up a touchdown to running back Bijan Robinson and a third touchdown pass from Cousins to tight end Kyle Pitts (who had a career day, more on that later), and even then, the Bucs had a 28-26 lead. The offense could have salted away the final minutes, but they didn’t, punting it back to Atlanta with 1:49 left.

A penalty and sack backed the Falcons into a third-and-28 situation, and they got out of it, with a 14-yard throw to Pitts, and on fourth-and-14, a 21-yard throw to receiver David Sills to keep the drive alive. Atlanta got one more first down, allowing them to run the clock down and win on a 43-yard field goal by Zane