Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons: Tampa Bay Grades, Notes & Quotes

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers bounced back from last week's heartbreaking loss with another big road win against a division foe, beating the Atlanta Falcons 23-20 in overtime at the Georgia Dome on Sunday.

The win puts the Bucs at 3-4 on the season, giving them more wins already this year than they had in all of 2014, along with a 2-1 record in the NFC South. Atlanta dropped its second game in as many weeks after starting the season 6-0.

Despite giving up nearly 500 yards of total offense, Tampa Bay's defense tallied four takeaways, scoring 20 of their 23 points on Atlanta turnovers.

Rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander was the star, playing the best game of his young NFL career despite the death of his teenage brother on Friday. In addition to his 11 total tackles, the LSU product had a key interception in the second half, as well as an impressive strip of Julio Jones after chasing him down from behind on a long catch-and-run.

The teams traded field goals in the first quarter, but the Bucs took a two-score lead at halftime thanks to another three-pointer from Connor Barth and a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jameis Winston to reserve tight end Cameron Brate.

The Bucs stretched their lead even further in the third quarter, with Winston taking it in himself from four yards out after an attempted shovel pass broke down.

But as was the case last week, the rest of regulation belonged to Tampa Bay's opponent. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan hit tight end Jacob Tamme from seven yards out to cut the lead to 10, while Matt Bryan's second field goal made it a one-score game in the fourth quarter. Ryan would find Jones for an eight-yard score in the game's final minutes to force overtime.

After winning the toss, Winston and the Bucs marched down the field on the opening drive of the extra period, but they had to settle for a field goal and trust the defense to come up with a game-winning stop. They did just that, forcing an incompletion on a 4th-and-7 to secure the victory.

In a losing effort, Jones caught 12 passes for 162 yards and a score, marking the fourth time this season the star receiver has caught at least 10 passes for over 100 yards. Tamme had an impressive day himself, catching 10 passes for 103 yards and the touchdown.

All stats courtesy of NFL.com

Position Grades for Bucs

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Position	Grade
QB	B
RB	B
WR	C-
TE	B+
OL	C
DL	C
LB	A
DB	D
Special Teams	B
Coaching	C

Winston struggled with his accuracy at times but made plenty of quality throws and clutch plays, putting the Bucs in position to win the game with a scoring drive in overtime. His three carries for 24 yards and a touchdown showed his versatility and ability to make plays when things break down.

In the backfield, Doug Martin failed to tally 100 yards rushing for the first time in four games, but he and Charles Sims combined for 124 total yards on 33 touches. Martin continues to grind out tough yardage after first contact, while Sims is still a dangerous receiver out of the backfield.

The receiving corps were thin thanks to injuries to both Vincent Jackson and Louis Murphy, and they didn't move the needle much. Mike Evans led the team with 48 yards on three catches, but his biggest play might have been drawing a long pass interference penalty late in the game to set up a score.

On the other side of the coin, the tight ends made a surprising impact, despite being without starter Austin Seferian-Jenkins yet again. Cameron Brate caught Winston's only touchdown pass, while Brandon Myers had three catches for 32 yards, including a key first down on a 2nd-and-15 play deep in Tampa Bay's own territory.

The offensive line had its ups and downs, giving up a pair of sacks but doing enough to get the job done both in pass protection and on the ground.

Tampa Bay's front four simply couldn't generate consistent pressure on Matt Ryan, allowing him to pick apart the secondary for most of the afternoon. But they made key plays in the game's biggest moments, which helped seal the win.

The grade for the linebackers can be mostly attributed to Kwon Alexander's incredible performance. The rookie fourth-rounder out of LSU had 11 total tackles and two key takeaways, with another interception being called back for a penalty. There's still work for this unit to do in coverage, but Alexander's gutsy outing took center stage and set the tone for the entire team.

The Bucs still have tons of issues in the defensive backfield, giving up nearly 400 yards through the air this week. Ryan completed 15 straight passes at one point, carving up the Tampa Bay secondary with relative ease.

On special teams, Connor Barth stayed perfect for the season by nailing all three of his field goals, also landing four of his six kickoffs for touchbacks. Bobby Rainey didn't get a chance to make an impact in the return game, but the coverage units avoided any mistakes or big plays.

The coaching was hit-or-miss for the Bucs, as the team clearly responded to last week's deflating loss with a renewed focus and increased intensity. But poor clock management and questionable play-calling in key situations demonstrated that the coaching staff still has plenty of room for improvement moving forward.

Despite Brother's Death, Alexander Turns in Career Performance

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The Bucs knew they faced a tall task against a potent Falcons offense on Sunday, but one member of the defense was fighting more than just the opponent across the field.

Rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander suffered a huge personal loss when his younger brother was murdered on Friday, per Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. Despite his grief, Alexander was in the starting lineup for Tampa Bay, turning in his best performance as a Buccaneer so far.

After posting 11 total tackles and two takeaways, Alexander was overcome with emotion, collapsing at midfield after the Bucs sealed the overtime victory with a fourth-down stop on defense. To have played at all is an impressive feat for Alexander, but his incredible performance was nothing short of admirable.

Defense Gives Up Plenty of Yards, but Prevails on Key Turnovers

David Goldman/Associated Press

A quick glance at the box score would make it seem like the Bucs got trounced by the Falcons, but turnovers were once again the great equalizer.

Atlanta turned the ball over four times, though you'd be hard pressed to call two of them "takeaways." Alexander's strip of Julio Jones and late-game interception were impressive, but the Falcons lost a pair of fumbles on completely unforced errors that could have easily been avoided.

Tampa Bay gave up just shy of 500 total yards, with 395 of them coming through the air. But despite yet another poor performance from the secondary, their ability to make big plays in key moments and take advantage of opportunities helped them come away with the victory.

Winston Turns in Third Straight Turnover-Free Outing

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After some early-season struggles when it came to taking care of the football, Winston's performance on Sunday marked his third straight game without committing a single turnover.

Winston has put together an impressive stretch since throwing four picks in a Week 4 home loss to the Carolina Panthers, making better decisions with the ball and being more willing to take what the defense gives him. He's still struggling with consistency when it comes to ball placement and accuracy, but it's clear he's improving each week.

Despite working with a skeleton crew of receivers thanks to various injuries, Winston is getting the job done and putting the Bucs in position to win on a weekly basis recently. Bucs fans should be plenty excited about his development and future potential, and his play on Sunday is just the latest reason why.

Jameis Winston on Teammate Kwon Alexander

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After the game, fellow rookie Winston spoke of the team's mindset regarding Alexander, his grieving teammate, per Scott Reynolds of PewterReport.com:

"

We did it for Kwon. When a brother goes down, we are our brother’s keeper.

When you talk about the true definition of a man, it’s the way he overcomes adversity. [Alexander] took the field and we saw it in his eyes. He was quiet on the ride [to the stadium]. He had his head down and headphones, but we saw in his eyes that purpose. When something happens to your family and you are a true man, and you represent for your family like that, that says a lot. Keep his family in your prayers. That’s the true definition of a man. For him to be a rookie, it’s even more amazing. That’s my brother.

Our brother is in pain and we won this game for him. We don’t care about the division right now. We care about our brother that is on our team that is in pain. He put all of his distractions behind him, all of the burden and the things that he had on his back, but he decided to go out and play for us. We have to fight for him as well. I could go on and on about Kwon. That’s a man.

"

Alexander had another interception that was called back because of a penalty, but even without it, the fourth-round pick out of LSU played superbly with a heavy heart. He clearly set the tone for the entire team on Sunday, making the biggest plays to help the Bucs come away with a huge road victory.

DE Howard Jones on Finishing Strong

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Just like last week, the Bucs needed a big stop on defense in the game's final moments. But unlike their losing result against Washington, the Tampa Bay defense sealed the victory, pressuring Ryan into an errant throw on fourth down in overtime.

Tampa Bay defensive end Howard Jones was the first to get to Ryan on the play, and he and the rest of the defense were prepared to do whatever it took to secure the win, per Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com:

"

Coach just said, 'Get off the ball.' Everyone's like, 'Get off the ball, this is the last down, everyone go for it, everyone get after it.' I was just trying to get him on the ground, just doing everything coach taught me during the week since I got here.

Coach in the locker room at halftime [said], 'Keep pushing, keep pushing, don't let down, keep pushing.' And that's all we tried to do, just go out and keep pushing.

"

Jones had a sack and forced fumble earlier in the game, giving him three since being promoted from the practice squad prior to Tampa Bay's Week 5 win over the Jaguars. An explosive athlete, Jones is already proving he can make an impact as a situational rusher, and he came up big again when the Bucs needed it most on Sunday.

Head Coach Lovie Smith on Yardage vs. Points

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Tampa Bay's defense gave up 496 total yards to the Atlanta offense but made enough plays to still come away with the close win, including a huge fourth-down stop in overtime.

Head coach Lovie Smith knows it's only the scoreboard that matters in the end, per Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune:

"

And, to me, the yardage doesn’t matter. You have to get the ball in the end zone. And our guys did a great job of keeping that potent attack with a lot of great players out of the end zone. It’s about taking the ball away and making critical plays, and today that’s what we did.

"

Tampa Bay's four takeaways on defense helped keep the Falcons off the scoreboard, negating the huge yardage output by the opposing offense. The Bucs still need to improve when it comes to giving up so many yards, but it's points that decide games, and they got the job done on the scoreboard this week.