Pitts Three-Touchdown Performance Powers Falcons Remarkable Fightback Victory Over Tampa Bay.

NFL 2025 Season: The fifteenth week

Kyle Pitts notched three touchdowns as the Atlanta Falcons engineered a late comeback to secure a nail-biting 29-28 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Placekicker Zane Gonzalez converted a game-winning field goal as time ran out, while Pitts became only the 8th tight end in league history to achieve three receiving catches and over 150 yards through the air in a same game.

After starting the year as one of the NFL's early-season leaders, the Buccaneers have now dropped from the summit of the AFC South for the first time in 2025, with just 3 games remaining in the regular season.

They currently possess a 7-7 mark after suffering five of their previous six outings. This features back-to-back home-field losses in the span of five days to two division opponents who are eliminated from play-off the race.

Contest Recap

The Buccaneers opened the scoring with a Sean Tucker touchdown before the Falcons held a 14-13 advantage at half-time. This came after Pitts, who came into Thursday's game with just one touchdown all year, hauled in his initial pair of touchdowns.

The Buccaneers subsequently raced into a 28-14 lead early in the fourth period after quarterback Baker Mayfield threw scoring passes to Devin Culp and Chris Godwin Jr.

Veteran signal-caller Kirk Cousins was making his fourth consecutive start after a year-ending injury to Atlanta's starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The veteran then led the Falcons to the thirty-second fourth-quarter rally of his distinguished career.

Running back Bijan Robinson found the end zone before Pitts completed his hat-trick. Atlanta subsequently won back possession with less than two minutes left on the clock.

And despite being backed up to a difficult third-down situation after a fumble recovery and a 10-yard infraction, Cousins completed crucial passes to Pitts and wideout David Sills V to get the Falcons in field goal range for Gonzalez to drill a 43-yard winning field goal.

Cousins finished with 373 yards through the air and three touchdown passes to Pitts, who collected 166 yards from eleven catches.

Postseason Implications

Atlanta is now 5-9, and their upset of Tampa Bay did a favour for the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers (7-6) now sit atop the NFC South and will face the Buccaneers in 2 of their last 4 games. Only the division winner is guaranteed a postseason berth.