Kirk Cousins on Falcons' thrilling OT win over Bucs: 'I got home at 2:30'

Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons earned a thrilling 36-30 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night, capped by a 45-yard walk-off touchdown by the veteran signal-caller. The touchdown was capped off by wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge.

Cousins joined Colin Cowherd on Friday's edition of “The Herd” to provide insight into Atlanta's big win and share how he and his teammates celebrated the win that moved them to 3-2 on the season and into the lead which brought NFC South.

“I got home about 2:30 in the morning last night,” Cousins said, laughing. “It was a long night, but a fun night. Now we have a long weekend to relax and I’m going to sit on my couch and watch everyone else play football.”

Cousins finished the game with 509 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a passer rating of 114.8 while completing 72.4% of his passes. Atlanta took over at its own 20-yard line with 1:14 left in the fourth quarter and no timeouts. After kicking the ball with one second left, the Falcons put themselves in position for kicker Younghoe Koo to make the game-winning 52-yard field goal as time expired. Koo sent things into overtime – and Atlanta prevailed.

Cousins broke his mindset on that final drive in the fourth quarter.

“You trust your training and return to your process,” he shared. “With Koo being the kicker, you know you have a certain level of grace in how far you have to go to get the field goal. We're pretty well trained in situations where the ball has to go in or out of the end zone and when to measure it, so that was implemented well.

“The referees have gotten a lot better at allowing people to hit the ball quickly. I think two or three years ago that referee might have taken too long and we wouldn't have had a chance. Kudos to them for the way he did it, just touching the ball and allowing us to move quickly.”

Kirk Cousins goes through the Falcons' game-winning 2-minute drill

Cousins has totaled 1,373 passing yards, eight passing touchdowns, five interceptions and a passer rating of 93.7 while completing 67.2% of his passes this season. Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract ($100 million guaranteed) with Atlanta in March after his 2023 season with Minnesota was cut short after eight games due to a torn Achilles tendon.

Cousins, 36, explained how he was feeling more and more comfortable after the injury as the season progressed.

“It had less to do with the Achilles tendon… (and) more to do with the fact that I just hadn't played since Week 8 of last year,” Cousins said. “I wore a red jersey in training for all these months and didn’t play a preseason game. …There were just a lot of simulated things that weren't real. “Standing in the fire again for the first time.” Over time, I had to get rid of some rust. I think there has been improvement every week over the last few weeks and I think we took a big step forward last night.

“The challenge now is to continue to maintain this standard as we move forward. I felt a different level of anticipation last night and played fast – it kind of went back to my old self. I felt like we were getting there, but we hadn't really closed the perceived gap until last night.

Cousins, a 13-year NFL veteran, also expressed that he enjoys playing with Atlanta's young offensive playmakers, including running back Bijan Robinson (22 years), wide receiver Drake London (23) and tight end Kyle Pitts (23) belong.

Atlanta opened the regular season with an 18-10 home loss to Pittsburgh, which failed to score a touchdown. The Falcons then beat Philadelphia on the road and took a 22-21 lead with 34 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After a 22-17 home loss to Kansas City, in which the Falcons turned the ball over on downs at the Chiefs' 16-yard line with 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Atlanta beat its rival New Orleans, with Koo gaining a lead. Lead, 58-yard field goal with two seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Cousins & Co. is coming off a road win against division rival Carolina in Week 6 (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App).

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