The Tampa Bay Buccaneers surged to a messy 23-20 win over the Atlanta Falcons at home, stunning the team with a game-leading touchdown in the final minutes of the game. A missed point-after left the door open for Atlanta to tie things up in the final seconds — to no avail.
With a minute left on the clock, Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. marched the team down the field, picking up several big gains. But on one of those big gains, a long pass to Bijan Robinson, the officials reviewed the previously play while Penix tried to spike the ball.
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With the review, the referees rules that Robinson had stepped out of bounds earlier, setting the ball at the Tampa Bay 30 yard line, and negating the spike. The Falcons lost four yards as a result of the replay review, but got it back on the next play with a four-yard pass to Kyle Pitts Sr.
That call seemed to ripple out to the final seconds of the game, after Younghoe Koo’s 44-yard, game-tying field goal attempt went well wide.
Right before that final sequence, Tampa Bay had emerged with the lead after a key touchdown drive in the last two minutes of the game. The Buccaneers got a huge boost from a costly roughing the passer penalty on Ruke Orhorhoro, who tackled Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield as he was throwing the ball away.
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As a result, the Bucs got 15 extra yards, before Mayfield connected with rookie wide receiver for a 25-yard touchdown with a minute left in the game.
Bucs kicker Chase McLaughlin missed the PAT, leaving Tampa Bay exposed with only a three-point lead. But though Penix Jr. moved the Falcons down the field with impressive efficiency, it wasn’t enough, and Atlanta fell just short.
This story will be updated.
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