We’re done with the preliminaries.
No more seeing Michael Penix Jr. standing on the sidelines. No more wondering what the offense will look like with the second-year quarterback. No more imagining how rookies Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. will impact the defense.
The regular-season opener is today at 1 p.m. against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where all of the offseason possibilities will have some actual eyeball data to back them up.
Of course, the Falcons won both meetings against the Bucs last season, but they still didn’t win the division or make the playoffs. They’ll try to turn that around to in the opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons had their chances in this one, all the way until the end — it went down to the last second.
They had a chance to go to overtime against the Buccaneers, but Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yard field goal with two seconds left, and Tampa Bay escaped with a 23-20 win Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
After taking the lead with 2:19 remaining on a 4-yard run by Michael Penix Jr., the Buccaneers answered with a 63-yard drive and moved ahead, 23-20, in the final minute.
The Falcons had an impressive drive to get down to set up the field-goal try, but after two potential go-ahead throws toward the end zone, they set up for the try by Koo, which was off the mark.
After the dramatic touchdown just before the 2-minute warning, the Bucs drove down the field and answered with a 25-yard pass play from Baker Mayfield to Emeka Egbuka with 59 seconds left.
The Bucs pulled ahead, 23-20, after they missed the PAT, and the Falcons have a chance to tie it with a field goal in the final minute.
The Bucs converted a 3rd-and-9 and after a roughing penalty, they got another 15 yards and then the go-ahead touchdown by Mayfield and Egbuka.
Now, that was a surreal drive.
The Falcons moved ahead, 20-17, on a 4-yard TD run by Michael Penix Jr. on fourth-and-goal. The Bucs looked to have him stopped before the goal line, but Penix stretched the ball over the boundary and after a review — one of several on the drive — the Falcons had the go-ahead touchdown with 2:19 left.
The drive also saw 1st-and-goal from the 1, before Bijan Robinson lost 3 yards and a pair of incompletions toward Drake London, one of which was reviewed after he lost control.
The Falcons have put together an impressive drive, aided by a pair of roughing penalties against the Bucs.
Atlanta is inside the red zone with just over four minutes remaining, with a chance to take the lead. Kyle Pitts has two nice catches in the possession, and they've milked more than seven minutes off the clock.
The Bucs lead, 17-13, but maybe not for long.
After the Bucs' touchdown, the Falcons mounted a promising drive and got inside Tampa Bay's 10-yard line. The possession featured a 15-yard catch by Ray-Ray McCloud and an underneath catch by Bijan Robinson to get to the 15, but they weren't able to turn it into a touchdown.
The Falcons settled for a 36-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo and cut the margin to 17-13 at the 0:20 mark of the third quarter.
It's another missed opportunity, but the takeaway is that the offense perked up and they were able to move the ball, including a pair of third-down conversions.
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