TAMPA, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Catch by catch, Kyle Pitts Sr. put the mistake-prone Atlanta Falcons on his back and carried them to a thrilling comeback victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n
Thursday night got even better for the fifth-year pro when the former University of Florida star learned his 11-reception, 166-yard, three-touchdown performance that keyed a 29-28 win was the most productive game by an NFL tight end in nearly three decades.<\/p>\n
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The previous tight end to finish with at least 10 catches, 150 yards receiving and three TDs in a game was Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe in 1996.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old Pitts noted he wasn’t even born yet back then.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, I love the state of Florida,\u201d the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Pitts said as he stepped up to the podium in the visiting interview room at Raymond James Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d he added about the mention of Sharpe. \u201cIt’s a great person to be (compared to).\u201d<\/p>\n
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Kurt Cousins targeted Pitts a team-high 12 times, leaning heavily on the young tight end with leading receiver Drake London out with a knee injury. Pitts scored on receptions of 8, 17 and 7 yards, the latter trimming what had once been a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit to 28-26 with 3:34 remaining.<\/p>\n
His last catch, on third-and-28 from the Atlanta 29, was for 14 yards. Cousins threw 21 yards to David Sills V on fourth-and-14 to set up Zane Gonzalez’s 43-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the plan, you know, all along. Kyle is our guy,\u201d second-year Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. \u201cYou’re down a couple of your guys like Drake, some of those guys, and Kyle has really filled in that role and become the lead dog guy. He has done an awesome job.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Falcons (5-9) are eliminated from playoff contention, but they relished the opportunity to play spoiler against the division-rival Bucs (7-7), who are trying to win the NFC South for the fifth straight season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s amazing. I mean, we’ve been having our ups and downs through the year,\u201d Pitts said. \u201cObviously, it’s not fun being eliminated early, but we’re resilient. … It was just pretty fun to get that win.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Falcons overcame a team-record 19 penalties for 125 yards. They also withstood a wide-open Sills dropping what would have been a go-ahead TD catch in the third quarter, as well as Bijan Robinson’s third-quarter fumble that led to the touchdown that put Tampa Bay up by two scores early in the fourth.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt’s a steppingstone to where we want to go,\u201d Morris said. \u201cWe talked about this, building blocks for what we’ve got to do. What we’re talking about is next year. … Only thing we can do right now is finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
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