ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons fell just short Sunday - literally by three yards, in fact - in a heartbreaking thriller with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The visiting Bucs topped the Falcons 29-25 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in a game that see-sawed in the final minutes.
Desmond Ridder drove Atlanta down the field for a touchdown to Drake London with about three-and-a-half minutes to go, putting the Falcons up 25-22 after a successful two-point conversion.
But Tampa quarterback Baker Mayfield matched Ridder with a touchdown drive of his own, leaving Atlanta just 31 seconds on the clock.
Starting at his own 20 after the kick, Ridder completed three passes to set up a final shot at the end zone with four seconds to go from the Tampa 31. He found a leaping Drake London - who had 10 catches for 172 yards in the contest - but not in the end zone. Tampa took the receiver down at the 3-yard line and time expired.
Ridder had one of his bigger games of the season with 347 yards on 26-of-40 passing, with one touchdown and one interception as well as a rushing touchdown.
Bijan Robinson had five receptions for 54 yards and carried the ball 10 times for 34 yards and a touchdown, while Kyle Pitts also had three catches for 57 yards and a touchdown.
The loss set the Falcons back to 6-7, now second in the NFC South to the Buccaneers who improved to 6-7 and took hold of the tiebreaker between the two teams.
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