Poor Atlanta Falcons lose 23-20 to Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime

An awful performance by the Atlanta Falcons resulted in an overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers inside the Georgia Dome. Once again, Atlanta turned the ball over too many times, and this time they didn’t get away with it.

The Falcons had 496 yards of offense compared to the Buccaneers’ 290, and had possession for nine minutes more than Tampa Bay. But the ultimate punch in the mouth for Dan Quinn? Atlanta turned the ball over four times, Tampa Bay none.

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Three lost fumbles and a Matt Ryan interception left points on the board, and ultimately it was too much for the Falcons to come back from. Four of the Bucs’ five scoring drives came after Falcons turnovers. The only exception was the go-ahead field goal in overtime.

For a moment, it looked like Tampa Bay was going to collapse for the second straight week. Up 20-3, the Falcons were able to rally and force overtime with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones. The drive began at the Bucs’ 40-yard line after they made the questionable decision of going for it on fourth-and-1 in their own half up one score.

But in overtime, the Atlanta defense couldn’t get off the field and allowed three conversions on third down. They finally forced a stop, but Tampa Bay was comfortably in field goal range. The Falcons took over, but turned it over on downs to end the game.

It’s a tough loss to stomach. The Falcons are the better team, and they had little trouble moving the ball throughout the game. The game was lost because of the turnovers. Atlanta is 6-2, and must clean up its act on offense to avoid dropping another game on the road to San Francisco next week.