Matt Ryan hit Michael Jenkins for the go-ahead score with 4:30 left and Brent Grimes came up with a game-saving interception as the Atlanta Falcons held on for their sixth straight win, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28-24 on Sunday.
Eric Weems returned a kickoff 102 yards for the NFC South-leading Falcons (10-2), who overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to maintain a one-game lead over Chicago (9-3) and division rival New Orleans for home-field advantage in the conference.
It was a disheartening loss for Tampa Bay (7-5), which was in search of a signature win after being outscored 113-50 against teams with winning records.
After Ryan hit Jenkins for a 9-yard score that put Atlanta ahead 28-24, Josh Freeman drove the Buccaneers to the Atlanta 27-yard line with 2:18 remaining.
Freeman, who has six fourth-quarter comebacks in his young career, converted a fourth-and-11 with a 19-yard pass to Sammie Stroughter. But one play later, Grimes made a diving interception along the sideline.
The play was upheld after a short review and Atlanta was able to run out the clock behind Michael Turner, who finished with 88 yards and a touchdown.
The Buccaneers seemed headed toward their much-needed quality win when they took a 24-14 lead on a halfback pass from Earnest Graham to John Gilmore with 10:30 left in the game.
Atlanta | Tampa Bay | |
Michael Turner | Player | LeGarrette Blount |
24 | Attempts | 20 |
88 | Yards | 103 |
3.7 | Avg Yards | 5.2 |
1 | Touchdowns | 1 |
11 | Long | 28 |
Atlanta | Tampa Bay | |
Roddy White | Player | Mike Williams |
7 | Receptions | 6 |
74 | Yards | 68 |
10.6 | Avg Yards | 11.3 |
0 | Touchdowns | 1 |
25 | Long | 21 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Atlanta | 290 | 85 | 205 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 |
Tampa Bay | 325 | 151 | 174 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 |