Getty Image / Todd Kirkland
Thursday night’s game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was an instant classic, with the Falcons finding a way to tie the game in regulation before winning in overtime. It was a big win on the day they honored the best quarterback in franchise history, Matt Ryan.
But, in an ironic twist of fate, one of Matt Ryan’s franchise records went down at the hands of Kirk Cousins on the night where Ryan was supposed to be the center of attention.
The Atlanta Falcons backed up the Brinks truck in the offseason for Kirk Cousins, signing the veteran to a 4-year, $180 million deal. He’s starting to get more comfortable playing on his repaired torn Achilles, and he had a huge game on Thursday when the Falcons needed it.
Cousins was 42/58 for 508 yards and 4 touchdowns with an interception in a shoot-out 37-30 win over Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. The Falcons’ passing offense was pretty much unstoppable.
Matt Ryan had some big games in his career. But, in terms of passing yards, he never had a game this big.
Matt Ryan held the previous single-game passing record at 503 yards, set in the 2016 season against the Carolina Panthers. The fact that he had to watch Cousins break his record on his night is incredibly funny.
As for the current Falcons, the importance of the win can’t be overstated. That gets to the Falcons to 3-2, and drops the Bucs to 3-2. The worst they can do in the all-important season series is a split. In a divisional race that should be close in the NFC South, that’s huge.