Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Atlanta Falcons Match Player Stats On Nov 01, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Nov 1, 2015

ATLANTA -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly melted down again, but rookie quarterback Jameis Winston and an opportunistic defense saved the day.

Winston accounted for two touchdowns and set up Connor Barth's chip-shot field goal in overtime, leading the Buccaneers to a 23-20 win over the Falcons on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.

The Buccaneers (3-4) were up 20-3 late in the third quarter but found themselves clinging to a seven-point lead and facing a fourth down at their own 40-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Coach Lovie Smith elected to go for it. Winston scrambled off play action, pump-faked and dived for the first-down marker but was stopped short by Atlanta safety Ricardo Allen.

The Falcons took over with no timeouts and quickly marched to the Tampa Bay 8, where quarterback Matt Ryan found wide receiver Julio Jones in the back of the end zone. Matt Bryant's extra point was good, tying the score and sending the game into overtime.

After Barth's 31-yard field goal put the Bucs ahead in OT, Tampa Bay (3-4) got to Ryan, forcing a fourth-down incompletion to seal the win.

Winston finished 16-of-29 passing for 177 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He also rushed for 24 yards, including a 4-yard scramble on third-and-goal that put the Buccaneers up 20-6 midway through the third quarter.

Ryan went 37 of 45 for 397 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He squeezed a red-zone pass into tight end Jacob Tamme from 7 yards to cut the Bucs' lead to 20-10 with 15 seconds left in the third quarter to start the rally that came up short in overtime.

The Falcons (6-2) turned it over four times, with three coming in a sloppy first half. Jones lost a fumble after a long reception, an errant snap from center Mike Person ended an Atlanta drive inside the Tampa Bay 10 and Ryan threw a bad interception over the middle late in the second quarter.

After the interception, Ryan walked off the field, traded his helmet for a gray baseball hat and sat on the bench in disgust. He then watched Winston hook up with tight end Cameron Brate on a 20-yard touchdown pass that gave the Bucs a 13-3 lead at halftime.

The Falcons went into the locker room to a chorus of boos from the home fans.

Tampa Bay rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander had the strip of Jones and the interception of Ryan.

Jones finished with 162 yards on 12 catches with a touchdown. Atlanta outgained Tampa Bay 496-290 but fell to 0-2 against NFC South opponents.

NOTES: Atlanta saw both of its starting corners go down with injuries. Desmond Trufant took a hard fall trying to defend a deep pass in the third quarter. He left the field with a lower back injury. Robert Alford suffered a groin injury in the second half. ... Atlanta S William Moore and Leonard Hankerson -- both starters -- were inactive. ... With veteran WR Vincent Wide inactive, rookie WR Donteea Dye started for Tampa Bay. ... Buccaneers veteran CB Tim Jennings was inactive for the second straight game. Jennings started the three previous games.