Tampa Bay’s offense also slowed down in the second half with all of its regulars on the sidelines. The Bucs gained 184 yards and 10 first downs before intermission, but rallied to just 38 more in the second half. Gabbert finished the game with six completions on eight attempts for 29 yards and a touchdown before being relieved by sophomore QB Kyle Trask with eight minutes left. Making his NFL regular season debut, Trask ran two drives and was three of nine for 23 yards.
After the game, Bowles felt the Buccaneers came out of the game relatively unscathed on the injury front, with the main new concerns being Hainsey (hamstring), S Keanu Neal (hip) and Rudolph (knee). Bowles was also happy with the job the Buccaneers got in the first half after building some momentum with wins in Weeks 16 and 17.
“We did a good job in the first half,” Bowles said. “Everyone understands what’s at stake, understands what we were doing going into this football game. It’s a clean season. The impetus was to keep playing. I think if you rest them and don’t play them at all I think you lose the But we always had that competitiveness and that desire to go once the game started We started fast on both sides of football so that’s always there and it’s was important.
After brief appearances from Rachaad White and Leonard Fournette, the Bucs turned the rushing game over to Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Giovani Bernard, who drove in for 34 and 28 yards from scrimmage, respectively. Undrafted rookie Deven Thompkins was the most targeted player by three quarterbacks for the Bucs, with nine throws his way resulting in four catches for 25 yards.
The Bucs got the ball first and two plays to Brady hit Godwin on the right sideline for a 17 win. Another catch from Godwin and a three-yard run from White moved the sticks again and Thompkins brought the ball back to the Atlanta 23 with Around 17 yards. The Bucs faced a third-and-five at the age of 18 and had to burn a timeout as playing time stopped; after the break, a quick hitter to TE Cade Otton in the middle was enough for a first down at 12. Two plays later, Brady threw the top to Rudolph for the score of eight yards and an early 7-0 lead for the visitors.
The Buccaneers defense also got off to a good start, forcing a three-out and a quick punt. OLB Anthony Nelson stopped Allgeier for a loss of two, OLB Joe Tryon-Shoyinka pushed Ridder to an incompleteness and Hicks dropped Ridder for a loss of eight on third down. Tampa Bay’s second practice didn’t go as well, and the Bucs pitched their 49er after a three-and-out that included two misses in Gage’s direction. Jake Camarda’s 42-yard punt was just caught at Atlanta’s nine.
Ridder went deep on the first game of the ensuing drive, but CB Jamel Dean caught London just in time to knock the ball down. Two plays later, Ridder came out of the pocket, buying time to find London for a 26 win. An illegal block call on CB Sean Murphy-Bunting added 15 yards to a five-yard run from Patterson, which made it first at the 40 and Bucs’ Allgeier then ripped a 17-yard run around the right end. Another impressive run from Allgeier was added to another 16 against the Bucs’ seven, and the rookie returned to both a few snaps later. On third base, Ridder rushed to his right and waited for Pruitt to break free for a short pass into the end zone, completing a 91-yard drive.
The Bucs’ third practice lasted just two games, as Godwin fumbled at the end of a six-yard tunnel screen, the Falcons recovering at Tampa Bay’s 34. Ridder fired into the end zone on the next play, but fell incomplete. ILB Lavonte David dropped Cordarrelle Patterson for a three-and-a-half loss on second down and the Falcons ran for third-and-13 before calling on K Younghoe Koo to punch in a 49-yard field goal.
After a five-yard catch-and-run by Godwin, the Bucs faced a third-and-two to their 33 at the end of the first quarter. After the teams switched sides, Brady rushed a left before throwing diagonally to the right and getting just enough on his pass to hit a sprawling Godwin at 43 for a first down. Two runs from Bernard picked up eight yards and secured the ball just above midfield. Brady converted another third-and-two with a round-trip route by Gage for five more. Walton delivered a big block on the move to help Bernard get eight yards on left field, and two plays later Vaughn cut hard on left field to convert a third-and-one with a 12 gain. On the next snap, DL Grady Jarrett put the Bucs behind the sticks by cutting into the backfield and hitting Vaughn just as he got the transfer for a loss of five. The third-and-10 of the Atlanta 23, Godwin caught a fly ball near the left sideline but was kicked out of bounds one yard on the first down. The Bucs opted to go there on fourth down and, after using their second timeout of the half, and although Bernard got down to the six, most of the game was erased by a call from hold on Goedeke, making it fourth-and-10. It brought the field goal unit and Ryan Succop brought it home from 41 yards to tie the game.
The Tampa Bay defense hit a three-and-out on the next possession, with Tryon-Shoyinka nearly sacking Ridder and sending him rushing for a gain of eight, two yards short of what was needed. Bradley Pinion’s 53-yard punt bounced out of bounds at the Bucs’ 19 with six and a half minutes left in the half. Atlanta’s defense responded with a three-and-out of its own, with short completions to Thompkins and Vaughn gaining little and leading to a punt that was downed to Atlanta’s 36.
The Bucs got the ball back moments later when Ridder lost the ball trying to throw to his left. White picked him up off the turf and carried him nine yards down the field to Atlanta’s 22. Gabbert lifted Brady under cross and immediately fired into the end zone, but the ball was out of Thompkins’ reach. Gabbert headed back to the rookie receiver on the next snap and Thompkins evaded a potential tackler to drop down to the nine. The ball was back on the 10 after a run from Bernard and a penalty as the two-minute warning arrived. Two passes to Gage got the ball into the end zone. The first was a fast tunnel screen on which Gage continued to fight for yards until all three amidst a crowd of defenders. Gabbert got back to Gage on third and on with a fade to the left edge of the end zone and the former Falcons wide receiver made a leaping catch then held on despite landing hard on his back.
The Tampa Bay defense again got the ball back quickly. Reserve CB Dee Delaney made back-to-back saves to force a punt, the second as he chased Ridder to the sideline at third-and-fifth. The Bucs had 50 seconds left when they won the ball at 20 and simply ran twice to lead the game at halftime.
The Bucs brought reserves to virtually every defensive point to start the second half and the Falcons took advantage with a nine-play field goal and 69 yards on opening possession. Ridder got the ball into Tampa Bay territory with 16 yards to London and 29 to Pruitt and Allgeier ran 12 yards to the seven to make it the first and the goal. The Bucs defense held firm and the Falcons settled for a short field goal to make it 17-13.
Tampa Bay’s first practice of the half came to nothing, as Vaughn’s tough run after a swing pass missed the third and the nine by a yard. Camarda kicked the ensuing punt 66 yards, but the covering team couldn’t stop him from bouncing into the end zone for a touchdown. Ridder opened the next drive with a 17-yard drive to London and Allgeier followed with a hard run around the right end for 13 more, putting the ball on the midfield strip. On the third and two moments later, Tryon-Shoyinka stopped Allgeier for a loss of one, but the Falcons went for fourth down and got it on Ridder’s 11-yarder against TE Anthony Firkser. Atlanta got another first down, then faced a third-and-three on 11 from the Bucs. Allgeier followed a line of blockers on left ground and had five yards for a first-and-for-six. Three plays later, Ridder found WR Olamides Zaccheaus wide open in the end zone for a three-yard touchdown, giving the home side a 20-17 lead with one minute left in the third quarter.
The Bucs faced a third-and-13 on their next possession early in the fourth quarter. Thompkins made several nice cuts to evade the tacklers on a quick pass down the line, but didn’t come close to moving the sticks and the Bucs threw again. Camarda’s 56 yards fell to Atlanta’s 17.
Atlanta backed up on a hold call to start the drive, leading to a third-and-six in 21. Ridder got that and more, throwing deep in the right sideline to London, who surged on McCollum to shoot.. on the 40-yard play. Ridder then converted a third and six with a hard strike straight into the middle of London at both Bucs. Patterson ran it in the next game.
Trask came on to lead the next drive but his first two passes, both in the direction of Thompkins, were incomplete, including a ball deep into left-hand numbers on second down that was thrown well. The punt that followed was just caught at Atlanta’s 25.
Ridder tried another deep shot to start the next drive but it was well covered by Murphy-Bunting and incomplete. However, a simple pass to Allgeier produced the same explosive play, as he broke free on left tackle for a 28-47 win for the Bucs. A tackle for loss from Delaney and a big hit on Ridder by Hall led to an intentional groundout. call, making it third and 21. Ridder recovered much of it on a deep tilt to Zaccheaus for 17 and the Falcons went for fourth down. The drive was kept going by a quick outing to Zaccheaus for six more, to the Bucs’ 35 with the countdown under five minutes. The Bucs stopped practice at 33 and Koo came out to hit a 51-yard field goal.
Trask’s first NFL completion came on a quick loop to Scotty Miller for a gain of eight to start the next drive, and he hit Breshad Perriman on a crosser to convert a third-and-two. He tried another deep shot on Perriman on the next snap, but CB Cornell Armstrong managed to fend it off. After a rushing drop to Bernard for six on third-and-10, the Bucs went for fourth down, but Trask’s pass to Thompkins was incomplete and the ball went through downs at the Tampa Bay 48 with 2:28 to go. left. Atlanta could miss time from there.
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