TNF winners and losers as Falcons' Kyle Pitts shines, Buccaneers flop

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TNF winners and losers as Falcons' Kyle Pitts shines, Buccaneers flop

Nate Davis, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports

Fri, Dec 12, 2025 ·

6 min read

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Thursday night produced a fantastic-looking football game … and the quality of the contest was fairly gripping, too, by the end of the fourth quarter – keep reading, I'll explain.

Big picture, the Atlanta Falcons converted a field goal on the night's final play, overcoming a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29-28 and knocking the Bucs out of first place in the NFC South. Losers of five of their past six since a Week 9 bye, the Buccaneers dropped all the way to ninth place in the conference – though their prospects of winning the division for a fifth straight season are hardly shattered.

It was a night with a range of winners and losers beyond the final result. They are as follows:

WINNERS

Kyle Pitts ' free agency outlook

Drafted fourth overall in 2021, the earliest a tight end had ever come off the board, Pitts hasn't exactly lived up to those lofty expectations during his five NFL seasons – though the Falcons' instability at quarterback during his tenure certainly hasn't helped. But he had a career night Thursday , finishing with 11 receptions for 166 yards and three TDs, all career highs. Scheduled to reach free agency early next year, Pitts certainly showcased his talents anew on a national platform and might have rekindled visions of the type of impact player he could be in the right situation.

Bijan Robinson 's fantasy owners

The fantasy football playoffs have started in most leagues, and the Falcons tailback was probably a top-three pick in nearly all of them. And while a third-quarter fumble was a minor blemish, Robinson wound up with eight receptions, 175 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown – stats that should get the owners around the country who aren't paying him a dime off to a good start.

Kirk Cousins

Atlanta's 37-year-old quarterback had what was easily his best game of the season, passing for 373 yards and three TDs while orchestrating a 15-point fourth quarter and the game-winning field-goal drive in the final two minutes. Whether or not he's a member of this organization in 2026, like Pitts, Cousins provided the kind of performance to the rest of the league that suggests he's got a lot more good football left in him.

Spectacular throwback uniforms

The Bucs, who are celebrating their 50th season in the NFL, wore their "Creamsicle" jerseys for the first time this season. The Falcons, who are in the midst of their 60th NFL season, broke out the black jerseys and red helmets from their inaugural season in 1966. It was a pleasing visual aesthetic in the rare game when both teams were allowed to wear colored jerseys. Of further note, it was the first time these longtime rivals had ever met in a game with this particular combination of uniform eras. More, please.

Bucs' pirate ship

While much of Raymond James Stadium was decked out in Florida Orange, aka "Creamsicle," to capitalize on the throwback vibe, the pirate ship that rests in "Buccaneer Cove" behind the north end zone was not. Instead, it got a sweet holiday treatment, the masts adorned in Christmas lights.

Carolina Panthers

Sitting at 7-6, they backed into first place in the NFC South with Tampa Bay 's latest loss. Still, Thursday night's outcome was basically incidental to the Panthers , who haven't played since their 31-28 upset of the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 30. If Carolina, which plays the Bucs in Weeks 16 and 18, sweeps those two games, it wins the division regardless of any of those teams' other results.

Zane Gonzalez

Atlanta's third kicker of the season, his 43-yarder at the gun won the game. The last time Gonzalez kicked at Raymond James, as a member of the Washington Commanders in January, he also drilled a field goal on the final play – that one ending the Bucs' 2024 season in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris

Atlanta's general manager and head coach, respectively, seem to find themselves on increasingly warm seats given the Falcons were eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend for the eighth consecutive season. But give Morris, only in his second season on the job, credit for having his team ready to play on the road in a short week and effectively playing spoiler. Fontenot, who's been in his role since 2021, could have a larger burden of proof to overcome given some of his unconventional personnel moves in recent years and ahead of owner Arthur Blank's plans to re-evaluate the football operation after the season. But, for one night anyway, this group lived up to its estimable potential.

Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan

The Bucs basically had a full receiving corps for the first time this season on Thursday night. Evans, the likely future Hall of Famer, had a team-high six catches for 132 yards in his first game since Oct. 20, when he suffered a concussion and broken clavicle in a loss at Detroit . McMillan, who had 37 catches (8 for TDs) as a rookie last year made his 2025 debut after suffering a serious back injury in the preseason. He had two catches for 38 yards. The challenge moving forward could be finding a rhythm given Chris Godwin has only been back for a few weeks, while rookie Emeka Egbuka 's role is also bound to shift after he's carried much of the receiving load up to this point.

LOSERS

Tampa Bay's offensive line

LT Tristan Wirfs was back after missing Sunday's loss to New Orleans , yet a battered group is still searching for the right combination − especially on a night when QB Baker Mayfield absorbed a season-high five sacks while the run game spent most of the night in neutral.

Sloppy Falcons

Atlanta committed 19 penalties (for 125 yards), the most in a game during their six-decade existence and the most by a team in a single game in the 2025 season.

Los Angeles Rams

Owners of the Falcons' 2026 first-round pick, another loss by Atlanta would have improved LA's chances of landing in the top five. Alas.

Baker, Bowles and the Bucs

Tampa Bay is in a tailspin that QB Baker Mayfield and coach Todd Bowles, who had an expletive-laden press conference after the game, can't seem to stop. And while the team has most of its best players back in the fold, it's playing its worst football at the worst time. Still, similar to the Panthers, Tampa Bay still controls its own fate – two wins over Carolina guaranteeing a fifth straight division championship.