It took a village to get Kirk Cousins over the 500-yard mark in the Atlanta Falcons’ thrilling 36-30 comeback win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.
The Falcons had five players with 65-plus receiving yards in Week 5, tying for the most in NFL history in a single game. All five different set their season-highs in receiving yards.
Drake London: 154 receiving yards, 1 TD
Darnell Mooney: 105 yards, 2 TDs
Kyle Pitts: 88 yards
KhaDarel Hodge: 67 yards
Ray-Ray McCloud: 66 yards
Cousins threw for 509 total yards with four touchdowns and one interception, setting a Falcons franchise record for passing yards. The Falcons receivers had a field day, with London and Mooney winning easily versus a banged-up Bucs secondary.
London recorded the second-most receiving yards (154) in a game of his career against the Bucs, including career-highs in receptions (8) and receiving yards (117) when aligned in the slot (1 TD), per Next Gen Stats. The big-bodied wideout has aligned in the slot on a career-high 31.6% of snaps this season under new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
Despite a big drop, Mooney finished the night with 16 targets, 13 of which came when he was aligned out wide (career-high), per NGS. Mooney caught nine of his 16 targets for 105 yards and two touchdowns, with most of his production coming when facing off coverage (seven catches for 86 yards, two touchdowns).
Hodges was the most unlikely hero.
A special-teamer who has bounced around the NFL until finding a home in Atlanta, the seven-year pro had played just six offensive snaps in the first four weeks. Thursday night, he played 13. The final rep came after London was forced to exit due to an injury. The 29-year-old took the chance to have a career moment.
“Got behind the coverage, and when I (saw) green, I just took off,” Hodge said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I said I can’t get caught at this moment, the guys are going to be on my (case) if I do. Yeah, I scored and it’s still surreal right now. I can’t believe it, to be honest.”
The score pushed the Falcons to 3-2, tied with the Bucs atop the NFC South. Back-to-back thrilling wins over division rivals New Orleans and Tampa give Atlanta an early leg up in the division.
“We’re trying to outrun the South and right now we got two down,” London said, via the team’s official website. “(We’ll) rest up this week and then we get to it in Carolina.”
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