ATLANTA – With 1:52 remaining and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinging to a 30-27 lead over the Atlanta Falcons in a primetime NFC South showdown, Bucs inside linebacker Lavonte David intercepted quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​at the 35- Atlanta yard line and jogged along the sideline to the end zone to celebrate with several teammates.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield said he thought the Bucs won. So did left tackle Tristan Wirfs and cornerback Zyon McCollum.

“I did,” said Mayfield, who then sat dejectedly for a few minutes staring into his locker. “We have to learn how to finish.”

After the interception, the Bucs went three and out, allowing the Falcons to get the ball back. Nine plays later, Younghoe Koo made a 52-yard field goal to force overtime. Cousins ​​then hit KhaDarel Hodge on a stumped 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 at that moment,” McCollum said. “I thought we were going to win, thought we had to make a play to win the game. … It was pretty crazy. It stings a lot. … It’s a hard pill to swallow. You have to take it under eyes see reality and move on.”

Coach Todd Bowles lamented the final play and explained why Hodge was able to break away for the winning score.

“We were in man,” Bowles said of the Bucs’ defense. “They had corners, and a guy took off and made a play. He just missed the ball and he missed the tackle. … Guys weren’t where they needed to be, because we’re in the man, not in the zone.”

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

Wirfs was especially angry because he felt the Bucs had gotten the win and simply blew it.

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

Mayfield threw three touchdowns in the first half and was especially successful against the blitz. But in the second half, the Falcons took a less aggressive approach, sitting back in coverage and letting them work their way down the field.

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

“I saw a lot of different things that I didn’t see (before), like two safeties that just went down, they were two backers,” White said, referring to Jessie Bates, Justin Simmons, James Smith-Williams and Kaden Elliss who all swarm around him. on the left side of the formation as he left the backfield for a loss of three yards.

White blamed himself for not scoring on a 56-yard second-quarter run that went all the way to the Atlanta 15, though the drive ended when Mayfield found Sterling Shepard for a four-yard touchdown.

“I’ve got to score that,” White said. “I’m a bastard because I didn’t score.”

Similar feelings of regret came from others in the locker room. Cousins ​​routinely exploited the middle of the field and the Bucs defenders had difficulty tackling. Bowles said the Bucs defensemen “weren’t where we needed to be.”

“Kirk does a good job shielding defenders from zone coverage,” safety Christian Izien said. “I felt like we weren’t disciplined enough on our zone drops knowing he doesn’t look like that, so that’s something we need to change when we play them in a few weeks.”

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

“All I care about is wins,” Mayfield said. “That’s it. So I’ve got to find a way to close out that game offensively. I was thinking about the first half and I missed that shot on Shep. … I’m just replaying that in my head that it might not even be should have been an overtime situation. I have to play when they are there. In the second half I just have to take care of the football and finish on the attack.”

The two teams will have a rematch in Tampa on October 27. Many thought the Falcons would win the division heading into the season, and they already have a 26-24 win 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 for a tough ball game. It’s a division game. We had our chances. It didn’t work.”