Atlanta 30, Tampa Bay 17
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 8, 2023
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Temperature:
Dome
Head Official:
Land Clark
Attendance:
69276
By Field Level Media
Rookie Desmond Ridder threw his first two career touchdown passes and Tyler Allgeier rushed for 135 yards as the Atlanta Falcons closed a disappointing season with a 30-17 victory against the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Atlanta (7-10) scored all of the second half's 20 points to avoid a solo spot in last place in the NFC South.
The Buccaneers (8-9), who clinched the NFC South and a home playoff game a week earlier, were largely tuning up for the postseason. Tampa Bay had 222 yards of total offense.
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady threw for one touchdown on 13-for-17 passing for 84 yards in first-half action. Blaine Gabbert replaced Brady late in the first half. Gabbert ended up 6-for-8 for 29 yards and Kyle Trask was 3-for-9 for 23 yards.
Ridder, a rookie in his fourth NFL game, completed 19 of 30 passes for 224 yards without an interception. Allgeier had 24 carries.
Younghoe Koo had three field goals, including a 51-yarder in the fourth quarter, to help Atlanta end the season with back-to-back home victories.
The Falcons finished with a 6-3 home record and a season split with Tampa Bay.
Ridder's 3-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus put the Falcons on top with 51 seconds to play in the third quarter. Atlanta stretched its lead to 27-17 on Cordarrelle Patterson's 2-yard run with 8:07 to play.
There was a different tone for most of the first half.
The Buccaneers drove 70 yards on 10 plays on the game's opening possession for a touchdown, with Brady throwing to tight end Kyle Rudolph for an 8-yard scoring play.
The Falcons were up 10-7 by the end of the first quarter. Ridder threw 2 yards to MyCole Pruitt for a touchdown and Koo booted a 49-yard field goal less than three minutes later.
The Buccaneers were back ahead by halftime, holding a 17-10 edge. Ryan Succop kicked a 41-yard field goal before Gabbert found Russell Gage for a 3-yard score with 1:46 left in the half.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Receiving
Tampa Bay |
|
Atlanta |
Chris Godwin
|
Player |
Drake London
|
6 |
Receptions |
6 |
55 |
Yards |
120 |
9.2 |
Avg Yards |
20.0 |
0 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
17 |
Long |
40 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Tampa Bay
|
222 |
86 |
136 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1.0 |
0 |
Atlanta
|
382 |
174 |
208 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0.0 |
1 |