Cousins ​​and the Falcons ran 81 offensive plays, wearing down a beleaguered Bucs defense and setting the stage for a sensational rally. Their final play was a Cousins-to-KhaDarel Hodge 45-yard walk-off touchdown in overtime.

Cousins’ touchdown to Hodge capped off an outstanding night statistically in which his 509 yards stand as a Falcons franchise record, an NFL high this season and the most by a player 36 or older in the history of the league, according to NFL Research.

“I think the key is that we have more at-bats,” Cousins ​​said. “We had 81 plays. So we’ve had some games this season with 50 plays. So you’ve got 30 more plays. That’s another third of a game. It just gives you more opportunities to spread the word and guys involved.” be productive.”

The game-winning OT drive, in which Cousins ​​was 3 for 3 for 69 yards, came just moments after he drove the Falcons 46 yards in 1:14 for a Younghoe Koo 52-yard game-tying field goal.

Those consecutive, defining drives of Cousins’ prime-time magic came just two weeks removed from orchestrating a 70-yard, game-winning march against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night of Week 3.

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris predicts more to come.

“We’re just getting started with him,” Morris said. “We’re excited.”

At one point in his career, Cousins ​​was 0-4 in prime time. He was memorably 0-9 in the Monday night games. Now, Cousins ​​has won three of his last five primetime games, playing both as an Atlanta Falcon.

However, his performance on Thursday is of the highest level.

He started well, leading an opening 70-yard drive that ended with an 18-yard scoring strike to Drake London. He then threw a pair of TDs to Darnell Mooney, the latter coming with 13:18 left in regulation to tie the game.

After the Bucs took the lead again, 30-27, the Falcons had a few chances to tie or advance, but seemed to waste any chance of victory. First, Mooney dropped a ball into the breadbasket on third-and-6, which very well could have been a lead had he landed it. One play later, Koo’s field goal was blocked.

A forced fumble by Jessie Bates gave Atlanta another chance, but Cousins ​​was picked off by Lavonte David shortly afterwards.

By all accounts, this would turn the lights off on any Falcons comeback aspirations. However, Atlanta’s defense stood strong again and gave Cousins ​​another chance to be Comeback Kirk.

Cousins ​​took over and engineered consecutive clutch drives that have propelled the Falcons to three straight wins and into first place in the NFC South.

How impressive and historic was Cousins’ performance? According to NFL Research, he joined Tom Brady with the New England Patriots in 2011 as the only players to ever produce more than 500 passing yards and four or more TD passes in a prime-time game.

After an 0-2 start, Cousins’ rally against the Eagles provided evidence as to why the Falcons signed him to a blockbuster free-agent deal. After a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4 in which the offense went scoreless, Cousins, who looks to be fully back from his 2023 Achilles injury, reaffirmed Thursday night how great this offense can be.

“His game is all about confidence,” Morris said. “His game is about going out there and getting better every week. That’s what he’s been doing since he got back. He’s coming off a bad injury and I’ve seen him get better every week.”

Cousins’ story was so long that he wasn’t ready for prime time.

He’s certainly ready and leading the Falcons to some memorable moments under the lights.

“I’m proud of the way our team fought,” Cousins ​​said. “I’m proud of the resilience we showed to just keep going and keep playing things. I’m just proud of the grit. That’s what this league needs, and we were so happy tonight to come away with a win “Whether we lose, I would have been happy with the steps we made on offense tonight, but it’s very nice to win and have that moment on the field with your teammates and home fans.”