The Bucs moved to the verge of their first playoff berth in 13 seasons with a tremendous second half comeback. Trailing 17-0 at the half, they scored on five straight possessions as Tom Brady passed for 390 yards and the defense began to get to Matt Ryan. The Falcons must be sick of the sight of Brady and comebacks. Mike Evans had his first 100-yard game since Week 4 to keep alive his hopes of a seventh straight 1,000-yard season.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Fournette 14-49, Vaughn 2-4, Brady 2-(-2). FALCONS: I.Smith 6-24, Ryan 1-16, Gurley 1-(-1), Hill 5- (-2). PASSING BUCS: Brady 45-31-390-0-2. FALCONS: Ryan 49-34-356-0-3. RECEIVING BUCS: Evans 6-110, Brown 5-93, Brate 4-54, Godwin 4- 36, McCoy 3-32, Gronkowski 3-29, Miller 3-20, Fournette 3-16. FALCONS: Ridley 10-163, Gage 5-68, Hurst 4-21, K.Smith 3-32, Stocker 2-21, Gurley 2-15, I.Smith 2-9, Hill 2-9, Powell 2-5, Treadwell 1-14, Blake 1-(-1). INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: none. FALCONS: none. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Barner 3-67. FALCONS: none. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Barner 4-32. FALCONS: Powell 1-4. SACKS BUCS: White 3-24. FALCONS: Neasman 1-9, Jones 1-8, Jarrett 1-8.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31 Atlanta Falcons 27 Sunday 20 December 2020 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
SCORING ATL 10:34-1Q Gage 5 pass from Ryan (Koo kick) ATL 7:48-2Q Ridley 12 pass from Ryan (Koo kick) ATL 0:15-2Q Koo FG32 TB 11:28-3Q Fournette 1 run (Succop kick) ATL 7:34-3Q Hurst 7 pass from Ryan (Koo kick) TB 3:44-3Q Godwin 4 pass from Brady (Succop kick) TB 0:05-3Q Fournette 1 run (Succop kick) TB 11:10-4Q Succop FG27 ATL 8:22-4Q Koo FG52 TB 6:19-4Q Brown 46 pass from Brady (Succop kick)
GAME REPORTS Rick Stroud reports on another stunning second half offensive explosion Devin White gives listless Bucs defense life with huge second half Antonio Brown's first touchdown as a Buc arrives at opportune moment Joey Knight’s game notes and anecdoteson Carmen Vitali’s official game report Click here for the play-by-play and the NFL gamebook
COMMENTARY CREW Kevin Burkhardt and Daryl Johnston
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to view the big plays Chris Godwin continued the third quarter scoring with a neat slant pass touchdown Devin White had three sacks on the day - this was the first Antonio Brown’s first Buccaneer touchdown was a perfect deep pass from Tom Brady
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 72 Wells DE 93 Suh LG 74 Marpet DT 56 Nunez-Roches C 66 Jensen DE 92 Gholston RG 65 Cappa LOLB 90 Pierre-Paul RT 78 Wirfs LILB 45 White TE 87 Gronkowski RILB 54 David WR 14 Godwin ROLB 58 Barrett WR 13 Evans LCB 24 Davis WR 81 Brown RCB 23 Murphy-Bunting QB 12 Brady SS 31 Winfield RB 28 Fournette FS 33 Whitehead PLAYED 3 Succop, 8 Pinion, 10 Miller, 18 Johnson, 25 McCoy, 26 Adams, 29 Smith, 30 Vaughn, 32 Edwards, 35 Dean, 43 Cockrell, 44 Barner, 49 Gill, 51 Minter, 53 Russell, 64 Stinnie, 73 Haeg, 79 O’Connor, 84 Brate, 88 Hudson, 95 Ledbetter, 96 McLendon, 97 Triner, 98 Nelson DID NOT PLAY 11 Gabbert, 62 Larsen INACTIVES 1 Joseph, 4 Griffin, 17 Watson, 82 Auclair, 94 Davis CovID List - 27 Jones, 76 Smith.