Falcons Finish Season on High, Beat Tom Brady's Bucs in Atlanta
The Atlanta Falcons (7-10) made history in more ways than one Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9).
Perhaps the most important milestone came with the Falcons winning 30-17, their first win in 12 meetings against Tom Brady.
With nothing to gain, the Bucs sat Brady just before the end of the first half, where the game was tied at 10.
The Bucs scored a touchdown just before halftime to take a 17-10 lead, but it was all Falcons in the second half.
Atlanta scored 20 unanswered points in the second half with touchdowns from Olamide Zaccheaus and Cordarrelle Patterson and a pair of field goals from Younghoe Koo.
However, the Falcons rookie class still accomplished a couple of milestones.
At the quarterback position, Desmond Ridder broke a personal milestone, throwing his first two NFL touchdowns. He finishes the season 2-2 as a starter and a case to be the man for the starting job next season. This was arguably his best showing in four games as a starter, throwing for 224 yards.
At the receiver spot, No. 8 overall pick Drake London surpassed teammate Kyle Pitts for the most receptions for a rookie. London's six catches for 120 yards gave him 72 on the season, a new franchise record. His 120 yards marked his first 100-yard game as a pro.
And at running back, fifth-round pick Tyler Allgeier broke the rookie record for rushing yards. With 135 rushing yards, Allgeier was four shy of a career-best, but it pushed him to 1,035 on the season, breaking a record that stood for 43 years.
So while the Falcons are going home without a playoff berth for a fifth consecutive season, there's a lot of optimism in Atlanta going into the offseason, with hope that the postseason drought will end in 2023.
Follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.
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