The Bucs are feeling the pain of missed opportunities in the OT loss to the Falcons

ATLANTA – With 1:52 left and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a 30-27 lead over the Atlanta Falcons in a prime-time NFC South showdown when Bucs inside linebacker Lavonte David tackled quarterback Kirk Cousins Atlanta’s 35-yard line intercepted and jogged down the sideline into the end zone to celebrate with several teammates.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield said he thought the Bucs won. This also applies to left tackle Tristan Wirfs and cornerback Zyon McCollum.

“I did,” said Mayfield, who then sat dejectedly staring into his locker for several minutes. “We have to learn how to break up.”

After the interception, the Bucs made a three-pointer, allowing the Falcons to get the ball back. Nine plays later, Younghoe Koo hit a 52-yard field goal to force overtime. Cousins ​​then hit KhaDarel Hodge via hitch route, with McCollum missing a tackle at the 40-yard line, resulting in a 45-yard touchdown and a 36-30 win for Atlanta.

“There were a lot of emotions in that moment,” McCollum said. “I thought we were going to win, I thought we had to make a breakthrough to win the game and move on.

Coach Todd Bowles lamented the final play and explained why Hodge was able to break free for the game-winning goal.

“We were in man,” Bowles said of the Bucs’ defense. “They had angles and a guy took off and made a play. He narrowly missed the ball and missed the tackle. “

The loss moved the Bucs to 3-2 in the NFC South, with a road game against the New Orleans Saints next.

Wirfs was particularly upset because he felt like the Bucs had already secured the win and had simply blown it.

“It sucks. I’m angry,” Wirfs said. “I’m not happy about it. It was right there. They gave it to us. They threw the Lavonte pick and said, ‘Here we go. You win.’”

Mayfield threw three touchdowns in the first half and was especially successful against the blitz. But in the second half, the Falcons were less aggressive, dropping back into coverage and forcing them to work their way down the field.

Running back Rachaad White said the Falcons started pulling stunts with their pass rushers in the second half and blitzing the run to slow the Bucs. And then Atlanta showed some unique looks on the Bucs’ final offensive possession.

“I saw a lot of different things that I haven’t seen (before), like two safeties that were just out, it was two backers,” White said, referring to Jessie Bates, Justin Simmons, James Smith- Williams and Kaden Elliss all swarmed him on the left side of the formation as he came out of the backfield for a 3-yard loss.

White blamed himself for failing to score on a 56-yard run that reached the Atlanta 15 in the second quarter, although the drive ended with Mayfield finding Sterling Shepard for a 4-yard touchdown.

“I have to score that,” White said. “I’m an idiot for not scoring a goal.”

Similar feelings of regret emanated from others in the locker room. Cousins ​​routinely exploited the middle of the field and the Bucs defenders had trouble making tackles. Bowles said the Bucs’ defense “wasn’t where we needed to be.”

“Kirk does a good job of fending off zone defenders,” safety Christian Izien said. “I felt like we weren’t disciplined enough with our zone drops because we knew he was looking the other way, so we’re just going to have to make a change when we play them in a few weeks.”

For Mayfield, it was a missed shot against Shepard late in the first quarter that forced the Bucs to settle for a 53-yard field goal instead.

“All I care about is winning,” Mayfield said. “That’s it. So I have to find a way to finish the game on offense. I was thinking about the first half when I missed that shot on Shep. … I’m just replaying this in my head that maybe there shouldn’t even be an overtime situation, once they’re there I just have to worry about the football and finishing on offense.

There will be a rematch between the two teams on October 27th in Tampa. Many expect the Falcons to win the division early in the season, and they’re already coming off a 26-24 victory over the Saints last week.

“We knew they had players,” Bowles said. “We knew they had a good football team. We knew we were coming here to get a tough ball game. It’s a division game. We had our chances. It didn’t work.”