ATLANTA _ Atlanta scored on four of five first-half possessions, and Matt Ryan passed for 354 yards and three touchdowns as the Falcons beat the Bucs 34-29 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.
Quarterback Jameis Winston, making his first start since his three-game suspension, almost brought the Bucs back from a 21-6 deficit.
He led the Bucs to nine unanswered points in the second half, throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin with 11:34 remaining in the game. But the potential tying 2-point conversion pass failed and the Bucs trailed, 24-22.
Ryan answered with a beautiful drive and threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to running back Tevin Coleman to give the Falcons a 31-22 lead.
Winston came right back, firing a touchdown pass to Peyton Barber to cut the lead to 31-29 with just under four minutes to play.
But Ryan was able to steer the Falcons to two first downs and set up Matt Bryant's 57-yard field goal to make the Bucs need a touchdown to win.
They nearly got it, but a crazy quarterback draw with a pitch back to Adam Humphries, which was picked up by Mike Evans and tossed to DeSean Jackson, went out of bounds as time expired.
The Falcons scored on four of their first five possessions to start the game as the Bucs defense looked similar to the way it played two weeks ago at Chicago.
Winston got the Bucs off to a fast start, throwing a touchdown pass to Cameron Brate to cap a scoring drive on the first possession. But maybe it was a sign of things to come when kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed the point-after attempt wide left.
That would prove to be a big factor in the game.
The Bucs forced a punt to start the second half and looked to make it a four-point game after Humphries went 51 yards with a pass from Winston. But after a false start penalty, Winston forced a pass over the middle to Godwin. The football hit a defender on the helmet, popped high in the air and was intercepted by cornerback Brian Poole for a touchback.
The Bucs defense played better in the second half. Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul notched his fifth sack of the season.
Winston completed two passes to tight end O.J. Howard to move the Bucs to the Atlanta 16-yard line. But Winston was sacked and Catanzaro kicked a 35-yard field goal.
