The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the verge of moving to 4-1 on Thursday night in Atlanta. Then the floor fell out.

Lavonte David's interception at 1:52 of the fourth quarter brought the Bucs' win probability to 95.7 percent, according to Next Gen Stats. However, a waiting call against rookie Graham Barton – coupled with a missed facemask – put the Bucs out of field goal range. After two ineffective runs to save the Falcons from timeouts, Tampa gave the ball back to Kirk Cousins.

By leaving the door slightly open, the Falcons were able to push it open and claim a 36-30 victory.

Atlanta drove 46 yards to set up Younghoe Koo's 52-yard field goal to force overtime. The Falcons won the toss and scored 1:06 into the extra frame on a 45-yard catch-and-run by receiver KhaDarel Hodge.

“It was a back and forth game,” lamented star left tackle Tristan Wirfs in the locker room. “We had the opportunity to finish it and we didn’t. So it sucks. We have three days to get it done. It should hurt, it should suck. Just give him a few weeks, next we have the Saints.” A week later they (Falcons) come to Tampa. I'm not happy about it. They did the Lavonte pick and said, “Come on, you win.” And we lost our leg. So we have to move on.

A win would have solidified the Bucs' status atop the NFC South. Instead, they are tied with the Falcons at 3-2 and lost an early tiebreaker.

“We just have to finish games,” head coach Todd Bowles said on the team’s official website. “We had chances on both sides of the ball. We didn't reach the finish line. We did some good things, but we did a lot of bad things to lose the ball game. So we're going to get some rest, get some guys healthy, and we'll get ready for next week. We have a good football team.

The already weakened Bucs defense was in trouble at the end, playing a total of 80 snaps while Cousins ​​was able to throw for 509 yards and four touchdowns. Bowles complained that the defense got out of position on many catch-and-runs over the middle, which allowed the Falcons to win.

“We weren’t where we were supposed to be,” Bowles said. “We missed a lot of games. We can’t play the Bucs.” And the falcons.

There were positive signs for the Bucs. The defense produced four sacks and 30 QB pressures – including three players with five QBPs: Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Logan Hall, Yaya Diaby. Baker Mayfield once again played well, throwing three touchdowns, finding the right targets, going for big plays and avoiding mistakes.

Mayfield earned a lot of praise for his outstanding play to start the season, but Thursday night's loss was all that mattered. The Bucs had two chances to tie the game late, fumbled (Bucky Irving) and went for a three-pointer.

“All I care about is winning,” Mayfield said. “We have to find a way to finish the game on offense. We have to make the plays when they are there. In the second half we have to take care of the football and we have to finish that on offense.