Falcons vs. Buccaneers: A look at the series history going into 2024 (Part 2)

The Falcons set sights on what will be their first rematch against a division rival this season, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looking to avenge their defeat from a few weeks ago.

The last meeting between these teams was the 62nd in history, with the first ever game coming all the way back in 1977, and after all that time these teams are dead even. Each side has won exactly 31 games against the other.

The Falcons have won three of the previous four matchups, after losing five in a row. It seems that whenever one of these teams looked ready to pull away from the other in terms of head to head win percentage, the team in danger of losing that ground delivered a counter punch.

The Falcons have also won the previous two matchups which have gone into overtime. Overall, the Birds are 4-2 in games which go into the extra period.


Last Meeting

The Falcons and Buccaneers met on Thursday Night Football to kick off the NFL’s Week 5 slate, in Atlanta. Tampa had started their division title defense on the right foot by winning three of their first four games, while the Birds were 2-2 and coming off of a highly emotional last second win against New Orleans four days earlier.

We were treated to an absolute shootout which started out with each team trading touchdowns on their initial drive, and then just keeping it up from there. Overall, Tampa Bay scored on all four of their first half drives and the Falcons were still only down a touchdown at the break from their own success on offense.

After giving up 24 points in the first half, Atlanta’s defense clamped down and only gave up six the rest of the way. That was just enough to give the offense the opportunity they needed, as a perfectly executed final drive and spike gave Younghoe Koo a chance at redemption for an earlier missed kick which he took advantage of to send the game into overtime.

In the extra period, Atlanta won the coin toss and made sure Tampa never saw the ball again. KhaDarel Hodge caught a short pass, broke a tackle and scored a walkoff 45-yard touchdown. That was the play which took Kirk Cousins to 509 yards, which broke Matt Ryan’s single game franchise record on the night when Ryan was inducted into the Ring of Honor.

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.