TAMPA, Fla. — Catch by catch, Kyle Pitts put the mistake-prone Atlanta Falcons on his back and carried them to a thrilling comeback victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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 victory in an NFC South Division rivalry matchup was the most productive game by an NFL tight end in nearly three decades.
The previous tight end to finish with at least 10 catches, 150 yards receiving and three touchdown in a game was Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe for the 1996 Denver Broncos.
The 25-year-old Pitts noted he hadn’t been born yet when Sharpe had his big performance.
“Man, I love the state of Florida,” the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Pitts said as he stepped up to the podium in the visiting interview room at Raymond James Stadium.
“It means a lot,” he added about the mention of Sharpe, calling him a great player to be compared to.
Kirk Cousins targeted Pitts a team-high 12 times, leaning heavily on the young tight end with No. 1 wide receiver Drake London out with a knee injury for the fourth straight game. 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.
His last catch, on third-and-28 from the Atlanta 29, was for 14 yards. Cousins threw 20 yards to David Sills V on fourth-and-14 to set up Zane Gonzalez’s 43-yard field goal for the win as time expired.
“It was the plan, you know, all along. Kyle is our guy,” Falcons second-year head coach Raheem Morris said. “You’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.”
The Falcons (5-9) were eliminated from playoff contention earlier this month and are assured of their eighth straight losing, but they relished the opportunity to play spoiler against the Bucs (7-7), who are trying to win the NFC South for the fifth straight season but fell a half-game behind the Carolina Panthers.
“It’s amazing. I mean, we’ve been having our ups and downs through the year,” Pitts said. “Obviously, it’s not fun being eliminated early, but we’re resilient. … It was just pretty fun to get that win.”
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 touchdown catch in the third quarter, as well as running back Bijan Robinson’s third-quarter fumble that led to the touchdown that put Tampa Bay up by two scores early in the fourth.
“It’s a stepping-stone to where we want to go,” Morris said. “We 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.”