Pitts Hat-Trick Powers Atlanta Remarkable Fightback Win Over Buccaneers.

National Football League 2025 Season: The fifteenth week

Kyle Pitts scored three touchdowns as the Atlanta Falcons mounted a late rally to secure a nail-biting 29-28 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Kicker Zane Gonzalez booted a clutch field goal as time ran out, while Pitts became only the 8th tight end in NFL history to achieve three receiving catches and more than 150 receiving yards in a single game.

After starting the year as one of the NFL's early-season pacesetters, the Buccaneers have now fallen from the summit of the AFC South for the initial time in 2025, with just 3 contests left in the regular campaign.

They currently possess a 7-7 mark after suffering 5 of their last six games. This includes back-to-back home-field defeats in the span of 5 days to two divisional rivals who are eliminated from play-off contention.

Contest Recap

The Buccaneers started the scoring with a Sean Tucker touchdown before the Falcons took a 14-13 lead at half-time. This came after Pitts, who came into Thursday's matchup with just one score all year, hauled in his initial pair of touchdowns.

The home team subsequently raced into a 28-14 advantage early in the final period after QB Baker Mayfield threw scoring passes to Devin Culp and Chris Godwin Jr.

Experienced signal-caller Kirk Cousins was starting his fourth straight start after a season-ending injury to Atlanta's starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The 37-year-old proceeded to guide the Falcons to the thirty-second final period rally of his illustrious NFL tenure.

Running back Bijan Robinson got into the end zone before Pitts secured his three-touchdown game. Atlanta then regained the ball with less than two minutes remaining.

And even after being pinned to a difficult third-down situation after recovering his own fumble and a 10-yard penalty, Cousins completed key throws to Pitts and receiver David Sills V to position the Falcons in range for Gonzalez to drill a 43-yard game winner.

Cousins finished with 373 yards through the air and three scoring passes to Pitts, who amassed 166 receiving yards from eleven catches.

Playoff Ramifications

Atlanta improved to 5-9, and their upset of Tampa Bay did a favour for the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers (7-6) now lead the NFC South and are set to face the Buccaneers in two of their final four matchups. Only the division winner is guaranteed a play-off spot.