The Atlanta Falcons were running on borrowed time, down 28-26. But on their last chance, they pulled off a shocking 29-28 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And the credit belongs to one man: Falcons center Ryan Neuzil. Five minutes out, receiver Darnell Mooney fumbled, and many believed the Falcons’ best chance to grab a win was gone. However, as Kirk Cousins just put it, his teammate emerged as a true hero in the biggest play of the evening.

In a contest that included a record 19 penalties for the Falcons, with a two-touchdown lead surrendered, the Falcons still made a comeback. And quarterback Cousins described just how unbelievable it was.

“I jogged off the field,” Cousins began his narration post-game. “There’s no way you recovered that ball. I just jogged off. Somebody was saying, ‘No, we might have it.’ I’m like, ‘How?’ And our offensive line coach, Coach Led, preaches, they call it covering. So when the ball is thrown, and the rush stops, you’re to run forward.”

It all worked because Cousins then explained that it came down to a principle Dwayne Ledford emphasized.

“They coach it,” Cousins said of the strategy. “They do it so much that we’re in walk-through. After every play, they walk forward to train the muscle memory. Neuzil covered tonight. If you watch the tape, they do it a lot. More than most guys I’ve played with. But when you cover like that, it saved the game. I’m so happy for Neuz making that play.”

Falcons coach Raheem Morris called Neuzil’s plays “the absolute definition of playing for each other when you run down the field.”

Cousins faced a third-and-28 on the final drive, a 14-yard completion to Kyle Pitts Sr., and then a 20-yard dart on fourth-and-14 to David Sills V to set up Zane Gonzalez for a 43-yard field goal, giving the Falcons a 29-28 victory.

Cousins closed with one of his best performances as a Falcon, 30 out of 44 passes completed for 373 yards and three touchdowns, all caught by Pitts, who had 11 receptions for 166 yards, making him the first tight end with 150 receiving yards and three touchdowns since Shannon Sharpe in 1996.

“Pro Football tests you,” Cousins said. “It keeps me on my knees (in prayer). It’s been a difficult two years since tearing my Achilles. All I know to do is trust and keep going and walk by faith, not by sight, and that can be hard sometimes. Nights like tonight, you get a boost.”

The Falcons witnessed everything they could get from Cousins. Bijan Robinson caught a touchdown from six yards. Dee Alford made an interception on Baker Mayfield, and then the Falcons drove 67 yards for a score. Both two-point attempts were unsuccessful, but there was still a way ahead, as Neuzil had “saved the game.”

Bijan Robinson was all praise for Kirk Cousins!

Although the comeback made the game special, it was Bijan Robinson’s statements about his preferred quarterback that caused a stir on social media.

“No, it’s cool,” Robinson said. “Kirk will go to the sideline, and he was like, I need you to make this guy miss, like don’t mess around. So it’s cool to play with Kirk, man, like this man’s a GOAT.”

The endorsement didn’t seem arbitrary. It came on a night when Cousins dominated. His fumble, his lone misstep, was washed away by the miraculous OL recovery, which he spoke so fervently about.

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Cousins performed as they expected when they signed him. Doubly impressive was the display given the limited offense available at his disposal. With Drake London out due to a knee injury, the expectation was a more conservative passing game.

However, he elected to go with one of his more aggressive passing attempts of the season.

On the other hand, Michael Penix Jr. hasn’t been playing because he partially tore his ACL in Week 11. Penix, who had shown promise, will be sidelined for the rest of the season but should be back within nine months.

The offense, rightfully so, belongs to Cousins, and today’s game exemplified why.