Jessie Bates Atlanta FalconsUSA Today photo

Raheem Morris is a little biased. The Falcons’ head coach thinks his quarterback and safety are some of the best in the league. Those players, Kirk Cousins and Jessie Bates, made two of the biggest plays in the league to preserve Atlanta’s significant 31-26 win at Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Cousins passed for 276 yards and four touchdowns but Morris was most impressed by his quarterback’s legs, especially after a 13-yard scramble led to a critical first down and forced the Buccaneers (4-4) to burn their final timeouts late in the game.

“I’m throwing a pool party,” Morris said with regard to Cousins, who proved he’s fully healthy after an Achilles’ injury ended his 2023 season. “I’m really excited. When you butt heads in the offseason it’s protecting our team, it’s protecting our assets, it’s protecting everything that we want to have for these moments. Once you get into the game and we clear guys to go out there and be as healthy as they can possibly be, we are absolutely ecstatic for those guys to be able to move the chains that way. He looked like Patrick Mahomes out there, man. It was outstanding.”

Cousins guided the Falcons (5-3) to three touchdowns and a field goal in five first-half possessions. He also kept Atlanta focused after Tampa Bay (4-4) took a 14-7 lead on Baker Mayfield’s touchdown pass to Rachaad White.

Then after halftime, with Atlanta protecting a 24-17 lead, Bates went airborne to intercept Mayfield on a flea-flicker pass at the Falcons’ 8-yard line. Bates also appeared to force and recover a fumble on the Bucs’ first drive of the game, but replay reversed the call.

“I say it all the time: He’s the Defensive Player of the Year, in my opinion,” Morris said. “I’m a little bit biased on that one because I watch him play every single day and every single week … how he studies and how he approaches the game. But for him to get another punchout, for him to get another interception, for him to continue to show up in the biggest moments when you’re not playing as well or how you want to play exactly on defense. Man, he’s unbelievable. He’s a freak.”

Another freak – on National Tight Ends Day – was Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts, who caught 36- and 49-yard touchdowns. The Falcons also saw another significant effort from KhaDarel Hodge, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime to beat the Bucs three weeks ago. This time, Hodge sniffed out a fake punt with three minutes left in the third quarter. The turnover on downs set up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Bijan Robinson and extended Atlanta’s lead to 31-17.

And speaking of significant, the Falcons’ win not only gave them a season sweep of the second-place Buccaneers, it also improved Atlanta’s NFC South record to 4-0. The Falcons are back at home next week against Dallas.


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By Zak Gilbert

Since his freshman year at the University of Colorado, Zak Gilbert has worked 30 years in sports, including 18 NFL seasons. He's spent time with four NFL teams, serving as head of communications for both the Raiders and Browns. A veteran of nine Super Bowls, he most recently worked six seasons in the NFL's New York league office.

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