Bucs-Falcons TNF Insanity and Week 15 Power Rankings!

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3:37Fly home safely. Atlanta wins. This is the end of the game. 29-28 The Falcons beat the Buccaneers on a 43-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez Never doubt Kirk Cousins on Thursday Night Football Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers One of the most reliable phenomenons in sports Falcons come back from 28 to 14 down in the fourth quarter to stun the Bucs 29 to 28. That was West Durham on WZGC. And the NFC South might not be great, Shook, but they have a way of coming up with the most ridiculously dumb, entertaining games every season. And this was one of them. This was certainly one of them, especially after it was 28 to 14.

4:37I thought the Falcons were dead and buried. They had 19 total penalties in this game. I thought, well, you know what? It's a good thing they're wearing red hats because it's like wearing red helmets because it's like wearing red hats like they're Santa Claus because they were just gifting the game to the Buccaneers. Terribly timed miscues. It just seemed like they couldn't get out of their own way, but Kirk Cousins wasn't going to let him go down that easily. He's going to make throws under pressure. He's going to take shots from rushers. He's going to fine Kyle Pitts a billion times for the Kyle Pitts game, and they're somehow going to pull off a victory on the road.

5:07And I can confirm that Connie Wolf is somewhere on a couch, feeling no pain and enjoying her Kyle Pitts breakout game. She's been honking about him all season. And here's what he did, Chuck. 11 catches, 166 yards, and three touchdowns. The first tight end to put those numbers together, 150 and three, since Shannon Sharp in the 90s. It was just an outrageous game by Kyle Pitts. Let's listen to his hat trick touchdown.

6:02It's being called a touchdown. The Tampa crowd says no. And here's the interp. I have to review the ruling on the field stands as called touchdown.

6:17Oh, I love that because when you watch that on replay, you see there are two defenders in the area. Levante David is one of them. They knew by the end of the game, you got to send extra attention to Kyle Pitts. And it doesn't matter whether it was plays after the catch. Nice touch throws by Kirk Cousins. Pitts was getting it done all night, and Kirk finishes with 373 yards and three touchdowns. In the last three games against the Bucs, he has 1 ,158 yards and 11 touchdowns, only one interception. And we're going to have to have a conversation about Todd Bowles' defense at some point, Shook. I guess it's right now because there were many...

7:01There were many ways to blame the Bucs for this game. Baker Mayfield, we'll get to him in his fourth quarter. But to give up that much all night to a Falcons offense that was trying to give the game away with penalties, to give up a drive at the end of the game where they had a third and 28 and then a fourth and 14 and let David Sills and Kyle Pitts cook you and be John Robinson all night through the air was a little embarrassing. and they were really ahead of what Todd Bowles was trying to do all night. We got to give Kirk his flowers for an awesome performance. Yeah, I mean, this is what, you know, veteran experience can do for a quarterback who's facing a ton of blitz, a ton of blitz looks and a ton of blitzes overall.

7:44One of those rare games in which the Buccaneers blitzed 18 times and recorded a pressure 18 times. You never get the even numbers like that, but they got home once. They got one sack out of that. Did they get a lot of hits on Kirk Cousins? They did, and they broke up some passes, but they didn't affect him enough to undercut this offense, especially in the key spots in the fourth quarter. There were multiple times over the final six minutes where I'm sitting there watching this thinking it's over. He's not going to hit this throw. They're not going to convert this third and long. And then he does.

8:12It's David Sills. It's Kyle Pitts. It's Darnell Mooney. It doesn't matter. No matter what the Buccaneers tried to do, they were always, like you said, a step behind what the Falcons, you know, were able to do offensively. And of course, like I know like statistically he doesn't run up a massive game, but he still had a lot of scrimmage yards. Bijan Robinson, like he's the best player on the field on both sides. And he was a key part of extending some of these drives and the Falcons absolutely needed it. You know, short checkdowns to Bijan, makes multiple guys miss, picks up first downs, picks up big games, shortens the down and distance on key downs that come on the next player or two after his plays.

8:45Like he played an integral part of this, but of course Kyle Pitts did too. But it all starts with Kirk Cousins, which brings me back to the original point. You think, you tweeted this and you're absolutely right. Something about a Todd Bowles defense brings the best out of Kirk Cousins. And it does. We can go back to last year. Kirk's two best games with the Falcons as their starter were against Todd Bowles defenses. But I also want to circle back to a couple of weeks ago when we talked about the QB index and where I ranked Kirk Cousins that week. Because you dunked on me. He's got revenge. It's a revenge game for Shook.

9:12It is. You just ran those Kirk numbers and you said, oh, he didn't look that good against the Jets. Well, damn it, he looked that good tonight. You know what? I thought he didn't look that bad last week. overall he has looked like a pretty good backup quarterback which I think is an upgrade from the the last few games that he was playing last year and in this game he yeah was another level Todd Bowles has been running this defense forever and everyone you know I just think even though it's unpredictable in certain ways you know there's a lot of chaos that Kirk knew the pressure was coming over and over at the end of that game and it wasn't all easy I thought it was interesting when Bowles decided to accept a holding penalty that actually made it second in 28 instead of third in 18.

9:58Now it turned into third in 28, but it did give them an extra down. I wasn't sure about that. They're trying to set up for a game-winning field goal. So I get it. It was a very tough decision. There were a lot of crazy decisions, but you're right. This is where a veteran quarterback can help so much. And Zion McCollum got hurt in this game and was out. And right now, they're not as good at cornerback as they were. Jamel Dean got hurt early, although he did come back in. And the Bucs also had some bad luck. Look, Levante David forced the fumble on Darnell Mooney inside the 10-yard line when they were going in for that last Kyle Pitts touchdown.

10:33The Bucs recovered it. They forced the fumble on one of these blitzes against Kirk Cousins on the very last drive, and Kirk Cousins somehow recovered it. We got the rare tie, and the tie goes to the offense. You don't really ever see that, but they said both the offense and the defense recovered it, which I don't know if I've ever heard that. And the tie went to the offense, which was preserved that. And this is a great example too of what the Buccaneers failed to do in the little spots. Because that fumble that you talked about inside the 10, ball comes out, there's four Buccaneers in that area.

11:03And somehow they don't land on it. Ryan Neusel ends up landing on it. The offensive lineman. Like these are the little things that a Todd Bowles defense should do to seal a victory. And instead they gave the Falcons chance after chance after chance and ultimately paid the price for it. You know, what's funny is I get, you know, you kind of look and there's no triple numbers in rushing or receiving for Bajon Robinson. And so it's like, oh yeah, he wasn't as explosive. And the two biggest plays he had all night were called back. One was a one-handed catch on the sideline, which he didn't get his second foot down.

11:33And then another was a big time run that got called back by one of the 19 penalties. Yes, that was the most for any team all season long. The most for any Atlanta Falcons team in the history of the franchise. They're wearing those red helmets that Steve Bartowski used to wear when he was the number one overall draft pick of the Falcons when they were playing back in the 60s and he was in the 70s and never before has there been this many penalties. And yet on that night where it didn't feel like Bajan even did that, that, that much, even though he made so many missed tackles. He had a hundred. What's the number?

12:04One hundred and eighty seven yards in this game. I thought I thought mental math that it was one hundred and seventy five. It was what? Ninety three on the ground and eighty two. It's a touchdown. Yeah. So he always serves his fantasy owners with eight catches there. He really was the best player. And he overshadowed a great performance by Mike Evans, who comes back and gets six for 132, including a really long play down the field. And he also forced about, I think, five penalties. Most of them were on him by A.J. Terrell. He was awesome in this game. And yet you look at the Bucs, and at a certain point, you have to say this is not a good football team.

12:39You get Tristan Wirfs back, and he plays outstanding tonight. You get Mike Evans back. He plays outstanding tonight. Jalen McMillan has a big play that almost results in a touchdown, ends up on the one-yard line, and they cash it in. And yet, they just find a way to trick this game away. And it really started with the Baker interception. There's two unforgivable plays by Baker Mayfield in the fourth quarter of this game. One is the interception, which really gives the Falcons a real chance to make it a comeback in this game. And this is the second time he's done this in a fourth quarter. to lose a game.

13:12And it's one of the many fourth quarters since that early part of the season where he's been bad in the fourth quarter. And then they go for, it was, I think, second and 14. They decide to be aggressive before the two-minute warning. It was absolutely the right call. And he misses a wide open Ibuka. He throws it behind him. Ibuka isn't able to make a tough catch. I think most quarterbacks hit that throw. And he had just a few throws tonight that were just way off. And if he hits that throw, we're not talking about anything. In fact, we're talking about a nice play and a nice game by Baker. But in the crucial moments, he was at its worst.

13:47Even in the two-point conversion to Chris Godwin, that was a ball that was behind Godwin and required a fantastic adjustment on the ball by Godwin to catch and get his feet down to convert the two-point conversion. So yeah, it was an up-and-down game from Baker, which is what we've seen. And a lot of people, I think, chalk that up to, oh, well, he doesn't have his guys out there. He doesn't have Mike Evans. Chris Godwin's got some rust on him. you know abuka's he's been banged up for a while and he's and everybody knows he's going to abuka well he had everybody tonight bucky irving's back godwin's been in the lineup for a few weeks evans is back mcmillan makes his season debut and we still see the same struggles and especially in the fourth quarter and you know that interception i thought was a great example of a raheem morris defense that i felt was a step behind for most of the night especially outside the numbers they were picking on kobe bryan outside the numbers oh my god like like it was just layups i mean speed out motion a guy into a little bit of a a stack between two receivers speed out there everything outside the numbers mike evans no matter who it was just keep feeding out there bryant soft coverage had to drive down the ball never got home in time evans moss is bryant for a catch like it's just getting crushed outside the numbers the whole night and in a big spot in the fourth quarter they try to go back to that bread and butter and who's there to make the play and bait baker into the throw d alford to make that perfect place sitting underneath to pick it off.

15:04I thought it was just a great example of them finally adjusting at the perfect time and leaning on a veteran to make a play like that and give themselves a chance to win. And it's also an example of how the Buccaneers can't get out of their own way. They haven't been able to get out their own way for really since the Patriots game. I think that loss to the Patriots is probably the start of their, their downfall. They just haven't been the same team since then. The loss, the Saints last week obviously was a big example of that. And tonight is too. I mean, they're two and six in their last eight, they're one and five in their last six.

15:32And the two wins that they have in that stretcher against the Saints, a three-win team, and the Cardinals by three points where they got outgained by 100 yards, a three-win team. And at least before, they were losing to good teams like the Patriots, like you mentioned, like the Lions, if you go back to that primetime game. But now they're losing to bad teams too. Let's watch, you know, if you're watching on YouTube, that 50-yard catch by Evans. Because I do think the Buccaneers, despite tonight, are still my favorite in the NFC South. barely over the Panthers. They have an advantage, and that was just an incredible play by Mike Evans, who, like I said, looked awesome tonight, was moving so fluidly, made some really difficult throws.

16:16Baker gave him a hospital ball early where he throws way too high, and he ends up landing on his back, and he ends up being okay, but you look injured on that play. By the way, you mentioned Kobe Bryant. He gave up 102 yards in coverage tonight against Mike Evans alone. One of the highest numbers for one receiver on one cornerback all season long. Five for 102 on that one receiver. I do think Mike Evans adds a new element for their team that's really going to help. Bucky Irving obviously has helped. Tristan Wirfs being back helps. They probably now, though, if we're thinking big picture and we're watching also the first play of the game, first catch of the game by Mike Evans, which is awesome.

16:57I mean, the Bucs crowd got so into Mike Evans being back for this game. He's really the heart and soul of this team. So I think he'll give them something, though. Shook, they probably have to sweep the Panthers now or really hope for the Panthers, for instance, to lose this week. It's a lose a game that you maybe don't necessarily expect the Panthers to lose in New Orleans, like a game like that. Or they're going to have to now sweep the Panthers. yeah now it's suddenly very tight and uncomfortable for a team that had a very cushy lead early in the season and have let that evaporate i do agree with you though it is the slimmest of margins that the buccaneers still seem to have a bit of an advantage in the nfc south and it is because of what you just said with mike evans return because there was that that that play that we just played there where evans mosses kobe bryant for the big game that was a classic play that baker has turned to throughout his time with the buccaneers which is eff it mike evans is down there somewhere i'm just gonna and all else fails just drop back and throw it up to 13 and hope that he makes a play on the ball which he does that's that's what he's built his career on is making plays like that usually it happens on the goal line too but that obviously was a big chunk play that opens up their offense and why i still believe that they have an advantage because in the most dire situations you know that that is at least an option whereas in the previous six weeks or so baker has just not had those options he's had to scramble he's had to make some incredible throws which he's just lacked he's you were right last year and you're right this year he's a streaky quarterback and he's been on a downturn for a while but bringing evans back in the full at least gives you a life raft or something to cling to that okay well maybe we can find a bit of a rhythm and for a good stretch of tonight he they did he looked great mike evans yeah it's just that they didn't finish and that again speaks to the lack of quality in the division and why the door is very open for the panthers the problem though is that we don't know who the Panthers are from week to week so we can't put our full faith behind them right now no but now they have an advantage which is if they can win this Saints game the Panthers are really looking at a situation where splitting with the Bucs might be enough likely will be enough to win the division because the other Bucs game uh that we didn't mention it's at Miami actually that's a very winnable game uh Carolina on the other hand has as a little bit of a tougher schedule down the stretch.

19:13I want to point out with Baker, though, he is streaky. And for a section of tonight, I thought it was the best that he looked because he made more high level throws in this game than we've seen since maybe early October. So I give him credit for that. But even in a game where there were all those positive, he kept taking unnecessary sacks. The pressure to sack ratio was so high. He took five sacks in this game. He was only, quote, hit seven times. So a lot of the times it would be a few steps forward, good play, and then he would take a negative play. Usually their drives stopped because he had taken a negative play or he had made a mistake.

19:51I didn't feel like the Falcons were doing a ton to really stop him. So it's just, you win some, you lose some. Let's actually listen to Gene Deckerhoff because you mentioned the Godwin two-point conversion. And it's one of the reasons why I think there's some optimism for this Bucs team, just a little bit is that Godwin's back he's playing well Ibuka had a good night tonight it you have the full compliment with McMillan and yeah let's listen to Godwin got the touchdown and then got the two-point conversion to give them a 14-point lead and see if Tampa Bay can punch in and get two we have converted just one two-point conversion in seven tries this season can we make it two out of eight may feel a shotgun high snap looks to his left looks back

20:40One of my favorite things there, Shook, was Godwin screamed then after the octopus, the six plus the two. The broadcast picked him up screaming, octopus! Shout out to Chris Godwin, one of us. I love that. What did you think about the Falcons' decision? they go on quite a long touchdown drive after that. And we're going to wrap up this game talk with this here. They cut the lead to 8, 28 to 20. And they go for the 2. So they don't get it. There seems to be a miscommunication on the play. Kirk Cousins isn't happy. Then that forces them to go for 2 again when they ultimately cut the score to 28, 26.

21:28They fail again. and then that sets up what ends up being the game-winning field goal at the end. Step into my office, please, because I have some things that I would like to tell you about this strategy. I've complained about it before, and I'm going to complain about it again. The idea of going for two down eight in the fourth quarter is backed supposedly by analytics with the thought that it increases your chance of victory. I am 100 % against this, And we saw exactly why tonight. The Falcons went for two twice. Supposedly, you know, maybe they're two best go for two plays. Right. Neither looked anywhere close to being completed.

22:09They were just completely disjointed messes. The first one, especially the second one, Cousins didn't sense the pressure and didn't get the ball out in time. That's got to be a hot immediate. Like they put Bija on the flat. He's got to get the ball out. When you're down 14 and you score, the idea of going for two is the idea that, well, when we get the two, then we only have to kick an extra point to win. the game. Yeah. But you fail to recognize that if you don't get it, you back yourself into a corner in which you must go for two to go to overtime. Well, you don't fail. You know that. You're just thinking, hopefully I get it the next time.

22:39Here's why. And those who watch me play college football on Twitch saw me do this the other day. You kick the extra point to make it a seven point game. If you are fortunate enough to score again and have the opportunity, you preserve the option to kick the extra point to send it to overtime. Or if you're feeling, you know, gutsy, you go for two and you go for the win in that scenario you save that option until later okay i understand that and i think it's all situational depending on the game the situation so i don't think anything should be hard and fast i think you could make the argument that the way this game played out is actually even a reason to do it they still won the game shook and because that that should not factor into my logic no no no it should here because i want to have as many different chances to win the game.

23:26And the reason why I'm okay with it, even if they lose the game because of that and they don't go to overtime and in theory in another world, they would have gone to overtime. The game of football, like you play to win the game. And so you're asking your players and the players that are playing the best on that night, which is definitely Kirk Cousins in the offense, to go win it for you. And like winning the game, not waiting for overtime and playing extra, like win it. And 11 men on 11 men. And the Bucs won those two plays. And then you just, okay, you were too good for us tonight, but I liked our offense better than their defense.

24:10And on those two plays, they won it instead of waiting for overtime. And oh, by the way, there's very much a possibility that, yes, we failed on those two, but that there could be even time to get the ball back and win the game again. That's fair. but but if but if you follow my my approach you could still you had that option is still there yes it would have been tied and you would have no no no no they don't have to tie it the second time they could go for two then if they want to the second time and go for a one point lead or be down by one and the same scenario plays out it's just in my mind why back yourself into a corner in which you must go for two especially when the first one fails and you're like god we probably can't convert a two-pointer it's it's a really interesting conversation and i don't think there's a right answer and i do think it's really dependent on the team the game in this situation i don't like anything close to a hard and fast rule i also think the fact like the falcons are the falcons and have four wins on the season or it's like that makes you go for just go for two the second time that's all i'm saying just do it the second time yeah like but the thing that i i find just a little unsettling is that all these like tough guys who are like how can you listen to the math how can How about you just decided on the field instead of just letting your kicker go out there.

25:25Hey, let's kick the ball and tie. How about being real men and try to go win a football game? I would think this would work with the Kirk Herbstreet crowd. And that's why you go into that second scenario and you say, let's go win it right now. Let's go for two and go for the one-point lead and the win. That's it. That's all I'm saying. We've got more on this show. Chris Bibona begging us to take a break, and it is time. And man, the Falcons and Raheem Morris just screaming at the camera afterwards. Good for him. It's been a tough season. The way this game was going, I was wondering, is Zach Robinson, the offensive coordinator, getting on the flight home because of all those penalties?

26:05And if they had lost this game in ugly fashion, who knows? We don't know about the future, but a good night for them. Buck season is not over, but this is not a good football team, as their record indicates. We're going to talk about who are the best football teams in the entire NFL after the break. We're going to do a power rankings, Shook. It's been five weeks since we did this. And we're going to go 32 to 1 and decide who are the very best back in the future.

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