Kyle Pitts has now scored 14 scores since being selected as the fourth overall pick in the 2021 selection process.
National Football League 2025 Campaign: The fifteenth week
Kyle Pitts scored three scores as the Atlanta Falcons mounted a dramatic rally to snatch a last-gasp 29-28 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Placekicker Zane Gonzalez booted a clutch kick as time ran out, while Pitts became only the eighth tight end in league history to achieve three touchdown catches and more than 150 yards through the air in a single contest.
After beginning the year as one of the NFL's early-season pacesetters, the Buccaneers have now fallen from the top of the AFC South for the first time in 2025, with just three games remaining in the regular campaign.
They currently possess a 7-7 record after suffering 5 of their previous six outings. This includes consecutive home-field defeats in the space of five days to two divisional opponents who are eliminated from postseason the race.
Game Recap
The Buccaneers opened the scoring with a Sean Tucker score before the Falcons held a 14-13 lead at half-time. This came after Pitts, who came into Thursday's game with just a single score all year, hauled in his initial pair of scores.
The home team then surged into a 28-14 advantage early in the final quarter after quarterback Baker Mayfield connected on touchdown passes to Devin Culp and Chris Godwin Jr.
Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins was starting his fourth straight start after a year-ending injury to Atlanta's primary quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The 37-year-old then led the Falcons to the thirty-second final period rally of his illustrious NFL tenure.
Running back Bijan Robinson got into the end zone before Pitts secured his three-touchdown game. Atlanta then regained the ball with under two minutes left on the clock.
And despite being backed up to a difficult third-down situation after recovering his own fumble and a ten-yard infraction, Cousins completed key passes to Pitts and wideout David Sills V to position the Falcons in field goal range for Gonzalez to kick a 43-yard game winner.
Cousins ended the day with 373 passing yards and three touchdown passes to Pitts, who amassed 166 receiving yards from 11 receptions.
Postseason Implications
Atlanta improved to 5-9, and their upset of Tampa Bay greatly helped the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers (7-6) now sit atop the NFC South and are set to face the Buccaneers in two of their final 4 games. Only the division winner is guaranteed a play-off berth.
