close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

Facts, stats, quotes from Thursday Night Football’s win over Buccaneers
news

Facts, stats, quotes from Thursday Night Football’s win over Buccaneers

STELLAR STATISTICS

– Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​completed 42 of his 58 passes for 509 yards and four touchdowns. All of those stats have reached or equaled career highs. The 509 passing yards are the most of any NFL player in a single game this season, and the four passing touchdowns are the most matched in 2024. With these numbers, Cousins ​​also becomes the 13th player in NFL history with more than 500 passing yards and four-plus passing touchdowns in a single game.

– Cousins’ clinic continues: According to OptaSTATS, Cousins ​​is the only NFL quarterback in the Super Bowl era to throw for at least 250 yards both before and after halftime. He passed for 253 yards in the first half and 256 yards in the second half and overtime combined.

— The Falcons had three players with at least five receptions and 70 yards in the same game for the first time since the 2020 season opener against the Seattle Seahawks. Tight end Kyle Pitts (seven receptions for 88 yards), wide receivers Darnell Mooney (nine receptions for 105 yards) and Drake London (12 receptions for 154 yards) got the job done with Cousins ​​on Thursday, while wide receivers Calvin Ridley (nine receptions for 130 yards), Russell Gage (nine receptions for 114 yards) and Julio Jones (nine receptions for 157 yards) did the job with quarterback Matt Ryan in the 2020 opener.

– Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has now scored 100 career touchdowns, becoming the 26th player in NFL history to reach that mark. He has 99 receiving touchdowns in eleven seasons, including 13 against the Falcons, and one rushing score. With the two Thursday in Atlanta, Evans has also now scored at least two receiving touchdowns in 22 career games, which ranks seventh all-time.

— The Falcons’ total offensive margin of 550 yards set a new NFL high for the 2024 season. The second-best total is 516 from the Seahawks in their Week 4 loss to the Detroit Lions. The Falcons and Seahawks are the only two teams to reach 500 yards.

According to Next Gen Stats, the Falcons’ win probability against the Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints and Buccaneers reached a low of 1%, 26% and 5% respectively. That’s a 0.013% chance – or one in 7,692 – of winning all three games, which is what Atlanta did.

OBSCURE FACTS

— In their last two games, the Falcons have tied their regular season records with the Buccaneers (31-31) and the Saints (55-55).

According to Next Gen Stats, the Falcons became the first defense in the NFL to record no first-half pressures in a game this season. Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield wasn’t pressured once in the first half on 15 dropbacks, even though he faced a blitz on 60% of those dropbacks.

— Cousins ​​had this career achievement on the same night Ryan was inducted into the Falcons Ring of Honor. Cousins ​​surpassed Ryan’s Atlanta franchise record of 503 passing yards in a game (2016 Week 4 win over Panthers) by 6 yards.

According to OptaSTATS, Cousins ​​is the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 500 yards in a win without completing a single pass while his team was ahead on the scoreboard.

— Mayfield still had a great night despite the loss. He completed 19 of his 24 passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns. Cousins ​​simply – or rather, impressively – outgained Mayfield by 329 yards. What’s crazy: Only seven other quarterbacks have thrown for at least 329 yards in a game this season.

– Here are two complicated ways to tie Cousins ​​to Tom Brady: First, Brady is the only other quarterback to throw for at least 500 yards and four touchdowns in a primetime game. He did this in the New England Patriots’ 2011 season opener against the Miami Dolphins, throwing for 517 yards and four touchdowns. Second, Brady is the only other quarterback to throw at least 58 pass attempts, gain 460 yards, and post a 68% completion percentage, all in a win. He did this during the Patriots’ Super Bowl win in 2017.