Cousins 509 Yards, Falcons Win Over Bucs

ATLANTA -- — Kirk Cousins sure earned all that money Thursday night. The $180 million quarterback threw for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime that gave the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After a wild fourth quarter that featured a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins and the Falcons (3-2) got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 remaining in regulation and no timeouts, trailing 30-27.

Cousins completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers 29, then hustled to the line to spike the ball with a single second left. In all the confusion, the Falcons were called for delay of game as they lined up for a tying field goal, but it didn't cost them.

Even with the five-yard penalty, Younghoe Koo knocked it through from 52 yards to force overtime.

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The Falcons won the coin toss in overtime and made sure Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (3-2) didn't get their hands on the ball again.

Cousins connected with Drake London on a couple of passes before throwing a short one to Hodge, who broke a tackle at the 40, sliced through a gap in the secondary and raced untouched to the end zone to end the game.

Up next: The Buccaneers travel to New Orleans for an NFC South game against the Saints (2-2) on October 13. Atlanta hit the road for the first time since Week 2 when they travel up I-85 to face the division rival Carolina Panthers (1-3) on October 13.