The Atlanta Falcons overcame a 17-point deficit to come back to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday afternoon at Raymond James Stadium. The offense totaled a season-high of 489 yards and with just seconds left in the fourth quarter and down by one point, K Matt Bryant connected on a 37-yard FG to give the Falcons their third-straight win to end the 2018 season.
The last time the Falcons trailed by 17 points and came back to win was on Dec. 11, 1993 against the San Francisco 49ers.
QB Matt Ryan completed 31-of-44 passes for 378 yards, including two touchdowns and one interception for a 102.3 QB rating and recorded a five-yard receiving touchdown, his first career catch. The 11-year veteran surpassed Carson Palmer for 12th-most touchdown passes in NFL history (295). This season, Ryan recorded 35 passing touchdowns, the second highest single-season total of his career.
In the second quarter, Ryan found WR Julio Jones in the end-zone for a 19-yard touchdown reception, his eighth of the season. Jones has caught five touchdowns in the last four games and he has more touchdown catches than any player in the NFL since Week 9.
Jones finishes the season with 1,677 yards, the highest total in the NFL this year and the second-highest single-season total of his career.
Jones finished the day with nine receptions for 138 yards and one touchdown. This marks his 10th 100-receiving yard game this season, breaking his previous franchise record of nine games (2015).
In the third quarter, WR Mohamed Sanu threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Ryan. Ryan became the first QB since 2016 to record a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in a single season. The 11-year veteran became the 22nd quarterback in NFL history to accomplish the feat in a single season. Ryan is also the first Falcons quarterback to ever catch a receiving touchdown.
The five-yard passing touchdown marked the fourth of his career. Sanu has completed 7-of-8 passes for 233 yards with four touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
The seventh-year pro finished the day with seven receptions for 90 yards.
Late in the third quarter, RB Tevin Coleman broke for a 23-yard rushing touchdown to give the Falcons their first lead of the afternoon. Coleman finished the day with eight carries for 45 yards and one touchdown, including one reception for nine yards.
In the fourth quarter, WR Calvin Ridley caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Ryan for his 10th touchdown catch this season, passing TE Junior Miller for the most receiving touchdowns by a rookie in Falcons history and becoming one of nine rookies since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to record 10-or-more touchdown passes during their rookie season.
Ridley finished the day with five catches for 32 yards and one touchdown.
TE Austin Hooper recorded five catches for 67 yards, for his second-most receiving yards this season. Hooper posted a career single-season high 660 receiving yards this season, becoming the fourth Falcons receiver with more than 600 yards in 2018. This is the first the Falcons have accomplished this feat since 1992.
LB Foye Oluokun totaled seven tackles (four solo) on Sunday. The rookie totaled 89 tackles this season, the fourth-most tackles by a Falcons rookie in a single season dating back to 2000, trailing Paul Worrilow, Deion Jones and Keanu Neal.
S Damontae Kazee intercepted a pass by QB Jameis Winston in the third quarter for a two-yard pickup. Kazee totaled seven interceptions this season, tied for the most in the NFL in 2018 and the most interceptions by a Falcon in a season since 1998 (Ray Buchanan – 7). Kazee recorded five tackles (four solo) and one interception Sunday afternoon.
In the second quarter, DE Takk McKinley sacked Winston on third-down for a loss of four yards to hold Tampa Bay to just a 36-yard field goal. According to Next Gen Stats, McKinley got to Winston in 4.5 seconds. It was the Falcons 19th sack on third-down this season. McKinley recorded 22 tackles (15 solo) and 7.0 sacks for a loss of 50.0 yards in 2018.
K Matt Bryant was a perfect two-of-two on FG attempts this afternoon, connecting on a 37-yarder and a game-winning 49-yarder. Despite missing three games this season due to injury, Bryant finished this season 20-of-21 on FG attempts (95.2 percent) and 33-of-35 on XPA (94.3 percent).
In the first half, P Matt Bosher recorded two punts inside the 20-yard line. This season, Bosher marked 22 punts inside the 20 with an average of 45.5 yards per punt.