One kick that hooked left gave the Atlanta Falcons a chance to tie Sunday's season opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and one kick that leaked right allowed the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers to escape with a 23-20 win over their division rivals. The Buccaneers won their fourth straight division title in 2024 but lost both head-to-head matchups to the Falcons and barely held Atlanta at bay at the end of the season.
QB Baker Mayfield's 25-yard touchdown pass to rookie WR Emeka Egbuka – Mayfield's third scoring toss of the day and Egbuka's second trip into the end zone – was the difference as the Buccaneers answered a dramatic late score by Falcons QB Michael Penix. Egbuka caught four passes for a team-high 67 yards and those two scores in his NFL debut.
The win gave the Bucs a 1-0 record to start the season and marked the fifth straight year they have prevailed in a season opener. Atlanta falls to 1-0. The all-time series between the two teams is now tied at 32-32.
"It's one game," said Head Coach Todd Bowles. "We're not going to blow a lot of smoke, but it's a big win for us because they fought to the end."
The Buccaneers outdistanced the Falcons in last year's NFC South race by two games, but both head-to-head losses were largely due to the defense being unable to get the late-game stop it needed. The Buccaneers almost suffered a similar fate on Sunday after a lengthy but ultimately unsuccessful goal-line stand.
After gaining a first down at the Buccaneers' 11-yard line with five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Atlanta snapped the ball nine times, included two fourth-down conversions and another fourth-down incompletion erased by offsetting penalties. Penix converted both fourth downs with scrambling dives, first getting a first down at the one on a play that was originally ruled short but overturned. When the Bucs' defense held again, Penix scrambled up the middle on fourth down and just extended the ball to the front of the goal line with his dive. That completed an 18-play, 91-yard drive that was aided by two roughing-the-passer penalties.
"It felt like an eternity that they were down there trying to score," said Mayfield. "But we were looking at the clock situation and we knew we were going to be above the two-minute warning with one timeout left, so we look at that like two timeouts. At least get a good play off on first down, get to the two-minute then gather yourself and go. We were looking to go down and score. It wasn't about getting a field goal to tie it and go to overtime. We were looking to score."
After Mayfield's answering score to Egbuka left 59 seconds on the clock, K Chase McLaughlin surprised hit his extra point attempt off the left upright to keep the lead at three points. Atlanta drove into Buccaneers territory and nearly found the end zone again before S Antoine Winfield Jr. saved the day with a last-second hit on WR Casey Washington. The Falcons then sent K Younghoe Koo out to try a 44-yard game-tying field goal but he pushed it wide right.
"Especially to start the season, it was a little bit bizarre both ways, between the extra points missed and the long red zone periods that occurred. It was just one of the bizarre wins. We played a crazy one like that here last year and came out on the losing end. We came out on the winning end of this one."
The Bucs' offense was missing Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan due to injuries and Mayfield and his receivers seemed a bit out of sync. After finishing third in the NFL last season with a 71.4% completion percentage, Mayfield completed just 17 of his 32 attempts on Sunday for 167 yards. On one key missed opportunity in the third quarter, what looked like a potential long touchdown pass to TE Cade Otton, Mayfield threw it in one direction and Otton broke the other way. However, he threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Egbuka in the second quarter for a 10-7 Bucs lead, then hit RB Bucky Irving on a nine-yard scoring pass in the third quarter to make it 17-10.
"I felt like I wasn't really settled in in the first half, to be honest," said Mayfield. "I was the sloppy part of our game offensively. We'll look at the tape and have a lot of corrections to make.
Mayfield also ran the ball five times for 39 yards and converted several important third downs while not throwing any interceptions. Irving gained 37 yards on 14 carries.
With All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs still recovering from June knee surgery, the Buccaneers unveiled a shuffled offensive line that they had kept largely under wraps. Second-year player Graham Barton, a 2024 first-round pick who started at center as a rookie, moved out to left tackle and Ben Bredeson slid from his spot at left guard over to center. Michael Johnson, a late-summer addition who was elevated from the practice squad for the game, filled in at left guard. The results were encouraging, with the Bucs rushing for 101 yards and 4.4 yards per carry and Mayfield taking just one sack.
"I thought the O-Line played unbelievable," said Mayfield. "Some of the pressures were completely on me; I've got to flip the protection. That's on me. Really proud of that group."