Younghoe Koo made a 36-yard, game-winning field goal as time expired, leading the Atlanta Falcons to a 30-28 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon.
The Falcons (3-3) got a great performance from rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, the fourth pick in this year’s draft. He had seven grabs for 163 yards. In his past two games, he has 16 catches for 282 yards.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan completed 25 of 40 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once.
Miami (1-6) has lost six straight games.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, recently the subject of trade rumors, threw a career-high four touchdown passes. He completed 32 of 40 passes for 291 yards.
However, Tagovailoa was intercepted twice while in Falcons territory, including once in the red zone.
The first quarter featured Tagovailoa’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Ford on a slant. It was the first TD grab of Ford’s four-year NFL career, and it capped a 14-play, 75-yard drive.
In the second quarter, Koo made a 33-yard field goal. But Miami’s Pro Bowl kicker, Jason Sanders, had his 49-yard try blocked by Falcons rookie Adetokunbo Ogundeji. It was the first blocked kick in Sanders’ career.
The Falcons took a 10-7 lead with 4:53 left in the first half after Ryan rolled right and tossed a five-yard TD pass to South Florida native Calvin Ridley.
After Atlanta’s Jaylinn Hawkins intercepted Tagovailoa in the end zone, the Falcons drove for a 36-yard Koo field goal, giving the Falcons a 13-7 halftime lead. That 62-yard drive featured a brilliant one-handed catch by Pitts.
Atlanta started the third quarter with Ryan’s 49-yard bomb to Russell Gage, who caught the ball while falling into the end zone. Ryan changed the play at the line of scrimmage on second and 8, and Gage ran past safety Jevon Holland.
With 5:18 left in the third, Tagovailoa threw a 6-yard TD pass to Mike Gesicki, who jumped to make the grab in the end zone, cutting Miami’s deficit to 20-14.
After a Tagovailoa 7-yard TD pass to Myles Gaskin, Miami took a 28-27 lead with 2:27 left in the fourth on Tagovailoa’s 4-yard toss to Mack Hollins, who was open in the back of the end zone.
Ryan then drove Atlanta 57 yards on nine plays to set up the winning kick.
–Field Level Media