NFL fans split over Jessie Bates causing a fumble for Buccaneers: "Falcons still suck," "Top 3 safety"

Atlanta Falcons v Philadelphia Eagles - Source: Getty
NFL fans split over Jessie Bates causing a fumble for Buccaneers: "Falcons still suck" "Top 3 safety"

The Atlanta Falcons pulled off a miraculous overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday Night Football. The home team was seemingly on the cusp of defeat and needed a miraculous play to salvage its hopes of winning. It got one thanks to standout safety Jessie Bates, who turned the tide of the contest.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Buccaneers were looking to add to their three-point lead and were already in field-goal range when running back Bucky Irving embarked on an impressive run. However, Bates sensed the opportunity to punch the ball out of his hands and executed his intention to perfection.

Falcons fans were thoroughly impressed with Bates' game-changing play and heaped praise on him on social media:

However, the Falcons offense couldn't capitalize on the safety's stellar play, leaving fans irked:

"And the falcons still suck!" one irate fan wrote.
"And the Falcons don't do anything with it," another lamented.
"Just for Atlanta to run the ball twice, huh?" one perplexed fan wrote.

However, little did they know that they were in for a roller-coaster ride at the end of the game.

Falcons vs. Buccaneers ending: TNF's wild finish

Following Jessie Bates' exceptional play, the Falcons got the ball back with a chance to win the game. However, they ran the ball on first down, quarterback Kirk Cousins got sacked on second down, and the subsequent third-and-19 play ended with a 4-yard gain.

Despite having three timeouts left, the Falcons decided to go for it on fourth down and should have been left to rue that decision, as Cousins threw an interception to Lavonte David, giving the Buccaneers' offense a short field to work with.

However, after two negative plays and a holding penalty, Tampa Bay found itself out of field goal range and had no choice but to punt the ball back to the Falcons.

With 1:15 left on the clock, Cousins drove the ball 51 yards down the field to set up a game-tying field goal, which kicker Younghoe Koo converted to send the game to overtime.

The Falcons won the coin toss and elected to receive the kickoff against a gassed Buccaneers defense that gave up 25 yards on the first three plays in overtime. On a first-and-10 play, Cousins found KhaDarel Hodge, who was surrounded by a sea of Tampa Bay defenders but managed to wiggle his way out of the crowd and accelerate all the way into the endzone for the walk-off touchdown.

It was an unlikely win for the Falcons, which wouldn't have been possible without Bates' momentum-shifting play.

Falcons Nation! Check out the latest Atlanta Falcons Schedule and dive into the latest Falcons Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.

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Edited by Piyush Bisht
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