Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo jogged onto the field in the last seconds of Atlanta’s Week 1 kickoff against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, looking to send a 23-20 game into overtime with a 44-yard kick.
The ball was drifting, drifting, drifting…and ended up wide right, leaving the Bucs undefeated so far.
Those pesky Dirty birds managed to make it a nail biter of a game, with second-year quarterback Michael Penix, Jr.—a Tampa Bay Tech grafuate—using his legs to extend and finish what was a potential game-winning 18-play touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
But, Bucs playcaller Baker Mayfield and his offense took the field down three points with a little over two minutes to go and put up a touchdown via rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka, his second in his electrifying NFL debut.
The Bucs were a bit rough around the edges in all phases throughout the game, with kicker Chase McLaughlin missing both an extra point after that fourth quarter touchdown and a 40-plus-yard field goal in the first half.
Offensively Mayfield made more than a few far too risky throws, and missed on a few gimmes, with a wide open potential tuddy to tight end Cade Otton sticking out as the worst example.
But, he also had three touchdowns to the aforementioned Egbuka, and another to running back Bucky Irving in the first half.
Speaking of Bucky, Irving and the run game were pretty much nonexistent, potentially due to a pre-game offensive line shuffle that moved center Graham Barton to left tackle, left guard Ben Bredeson to center, and Michael Jordan (not His Airness) taking the left guard spot.
Penix, Jr. was rock solid for Atlanta, making plays with his great left arm and even escaping the pocket a few times despite his usual lack of mobility.
The Bucs’ defense had a few answers for the Falcons rushing attack, as the usually explosive Bijan Robinson was limited to 24 yards rushing on 12 carries.
While the Falcons did more than enough through the air to make up for it, with nearly 300 yards through the air from the Dade City native Penix, Jr., but it wasn’t quite enough.
It wasn’t pretty, the Bucs looked sloppy and out of rhythm in a lot of ways, but hey, it’s Week 1, a lot of teams are going to be out of sorts.
Getting a divisional win on the road against what will likely end up being their main competitor for the division crown is massive, no matter what it looks like.
Fire those cannons, it’s been a pretty darn good weekend for Tampa Bay football.
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This article appears in Sept. 4-10, 2025.