National Football League

Bucs hold off Falcons 29-25, enjoy slim lead atop NFC South

Published Dec. 10, 2023 7:51 p.m. ET

ATLANTA — The closest of wins has given the Bucs the slimmest of leads atop the NFC South.

Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown to tight end Cade Otton with 31 seconds left, and the Bucs held on for a 29-25 win over the Falcons, but only when receiver Drake London was tackled at the 3-yard line as time expired, just short of a winning touchdown.

The NFC South now has a three-way tie for first place — the Bucs, Falcons and Saints all 6-7 — and the Bucs are ahead, but only by a tiebreaker, with four weeks left to play.

"A lot of resilience," coach Todd Bowles said after the win. "We knew it was going to be a tough game. We played them tough the first game and we lost it. We came back this game. Offense came down and had a heck of a drive. We held them out of the end zone at the end. I can't say enough about these guys fighting, the competitiveness they had coming in here. It was a huge win. It's going to be like that every week for the next four weeks."

The Bucs had a 19-10 lead in the fourth quarter, gave up two touchdown to the Falcons to trail 25-22 with 3:23 left. Mayfield, who had thrown for all of 94 yards in the entire game, led them on a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Rachaad White converted a fourth-and-1 run, Mayfield connected with Chris Godwin for a 32-yard play to get them in field-goal range, and Mayfield found Otton for the game-winning score.

"I love it," Mayfield said of the chance to lead a game-winning drive like that. "That is what you want as a quarterback, as a competitor, you want to have the opportunity last and take care of business. That is how you want it."

The Falcons, who had gotten touchdown runs from rookie Bijan Robinson and quarterback Desmond Ridder in the fourth quarter to take the lead, nearly pulled off an improbable rally of their own. At their 25, Ridder pulled off passes of 9, 16 and 19 yards to get to the Bucs' 30 with 0:04 left. London made a leaping catch inside the 5-yard line but was hit immediately and went down at the 3.

"They made one more play than we did late," said Falcons coach Arthur Smith, whose team had won in similar fashion in Week 7, on a last-second field goal by kicker Younghoe Koo.

Koo came into the game 24-for-25 on field goals this season, having just passed Justin Tucker as the most accurate field-goal kicker in NFL history. But he had a 50-yarder bounce off the upright and missed on a 52-yard attempt just before halftime, and those two misses helped the Bucs to their slim margin of victory.

Their lead atop the NFC South is much the same. The Bucs' next two aren't easy — at the Packers, then home against the Jaguars on Christmas Eve — against two teams fighting for their own postseason fates. The Falcons and Saints have easier paths but need the Bucs to stumble. New Orleans plays in Tampa on New Year's Eve, another pivotal game in deciding which team, potentially with a losing record like last year, will get to host a playoff game.

The Bucs won Sunday because they didn't turn the ball over on offense, and they made two big plays on defense against Ridder, who threw for a career-best 347 yards but continues to be limited by his own miscues. A quick throw to Robinson was intercepted by the Bucs' Carlton Davis at the 8-yard line, setting up a touchdown and 10-3 lead. Davis had seen the same screen on the first play of the game and jumped at the opportunity when he recognized it coming again.

"They threw it in the first play of the game, did that same screen," he said. "I should have jumped it then, and I was so mad I didn't jump it. So like [two series later], I'm like 'I hope they do it again. I hope they do it again.' And they did it."

Safety Antoine Winfield got a strip sack against Ridder, leading to a safety and a 12-10 halftime lead. And Rachaad White caught a 31-yard touchdown pass and rushed for 102 yards, giving the Bucs the offensive balance they've been looking for all season.

Much like Sunday's win, Tampa Bay has zero margin for error in its precarious lead atop the NFC South. Bowles said the Bucs treated Sunday like a playoff game, and will need to do so every week to stay ahead of the Falcons and Saints. Mayfield said the final drive in Atlanta set the standard for how they have to play in each of their remaining games.

"To me, that is the sense of urgency we have to have," he said. "Treat every drive when we have the ball, we have to score and have that mentality. We have a lot of success in two-minute drives, and so we need to have that mentality. We will look at it and see if guys are doing anything differently, but it's just a mentality to not be denied, to be persistent in it and just go after your goal."

Greg Auman is FOX Sports' NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.