ATLANTA — Sunday’s game was not without its hiccups, but the Bucs are breathing easy in the NFC South.
Tom Brady threw four touchdowns, including two to tight end Rob Gronkowski, and the Bucs defense had five sacks of quarterback Matt Ryan in Sunday’s 30-17 win over the Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The victory gives the Bucs (9-3) a comfortable four-game lead in the division with five games to play. They could clinch the NFC South for the first time since 2007 with a win over the Bills — and some help — next week.
The Bucs were cruising along with a 20-10 lead just before halftime. Brady, who finished the game 38-of-51 for 368 yards, had thrown three touchdowns. Chris Godwin had nine receptions for 82 yards. (He finished with 15, most in a game in the NFL this year and a franchise record.)
The Bucs had one timeout and only 25 seconds remaining in the first half. Time to take a knee and regroup at halftime.
But greed got the best of them.
Brady attempted a screen pass to Leonard Fournette that was intercepted by defensive end Marlon Davidson and returned 3 yards for a touchdown.
Suddenly, the Falcons had life.
It wasn’t all Brady’s fault that the Falcons were that close to begin with.
Tampa Bay’s defense, playing without safety Jordan Whitehead, watched the Falcons rush for 101 yards in the half alone. Cordarrelle Patterson (66 yards) averaged 11 yards per attempt.
That’s not what anyone had come to expect from the Bucs. A week ago, coach Bruce Arians proclaimed “nobody runs against this defense.”
Apparently, the Falcons didn’t get that memo. But never underestimate Brady’s connection with Gronkowski.
Needing to atone for that mistake, Gronkowski beat safety Erik Harris on a fade route and Brady delivered a perfect strike for an 11-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone in the third quarter.
That gave the Bucs a two-score lead again.
The Bucs defense gave up plenty of yards and first downs, but they put plenty of pressure on Ryan. Both Ndamukong Suh and Vita Vea had two sacks apiece, three of them coming on third down.
The Bucs played not only without Whitehead and safety Mike Edwards, who is serving a three-game suspension, but they lost cornerback Jamel Dean to a concussion.
