Football fans tuning into Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football got an absolute thriller in Week 5 with the Atlanta Falcons’ 36-30 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both teams scored in each quarter until an overtime game-winning touchdown sent everyone home.
Everyone in and out of the office will be talking about Kirk Cousins, but who else stuck out among the biggest winners and losers from Thursday night’s Falcons-Buccaneers matchup?
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Winner: Drake London, Atlanta Falcons receiver
Drake London only had three games with 100 or more receiving yards before Thursday. But his latest effort may have been his best. London didn’t top his 172-yard career-high, but going off for 154 yards and a touchdown was more than enough to get the job done. The Falcons needed a breakout performance from one of their young pass-catchers and London delivered in a big way.
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Loser: Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back
Just when it seemed like Bucky Irving was set to start taking more opportunities away from Rachaad White, he has a crucial lost fumble in a game that resulted in an overtime loss. Irving otherwise did fairly well, rushing the ball nine times for 44 yards and catching two more passes for 12 yards. But the fumble is what everyone will remember.
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Winner: KhaDarel Hodge, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver
Prior to tonight, KhaDarel Hodge had just one touchdown catch in his career, and it came in 2022. He’s 29 years old, but tonight, thousands of football fans finally learned his name for the first time, all thanks to a clutch 45-yard touchdown reception that put the Bucs on ice.
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Loser: Atlanta Falcons pass-rush
Coming into the game, the Falcons ranked dead-last in sacks per game, with an average of one per contest. That rate won’t increase after Week 5, where they recorded just one sack again. David Onyemata was the lucky contestant tonight, but Raheem Morris needs to get this one figured out quickly.
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Winner: Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons quarterback
Go ahead and doubt him, Kirk Cousins just uses that as fuel. When the Falcons failed to convert a 4th-and-15 with 1:52 remaining due to Cousins throwing an interception, all 70,000+ spectators inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium was doubting Cousins. Yet, the Falcons managed to get enough stops to get the ball back, and Cousins kept firing.
He led a last-minute drive to set Younghoe Koo up for a kick as time expired. This granted the Falcons access to overtime. Free football. Then, Cousins got the ball first, and he never looked back, marching on a four-play 70-yard drive that ended with a 45-yard game-winning pass to KhaDarel Hodge. Cousins finished with 509 yards, the most in the NFL this season. He had the game of a lifetime.
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Loser: Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback
It seems cruel, but Baker Mayfield is labeled a loser tonight, but it’s not because of his performance. In fact, the Buccaneers quarterback is listed here because he actually played well enough to get a win. Completing 19-of-24 passes for three touchdowns without throwing an interception or losing a fumble usually does the trick, but not when Kirk Cousins passes for 509 yards.
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