Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Atlanta Falcons Box Score on Jan 08, 2023

Rookie Desmond Ridder threw his first two career touchdown passes and Tyler Allgeier rushed for 135 yards as the Atlanta Falcons closed a disappointing season with a 30-17 victory against the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Atlanta (7-10) scored all of the second half's 20 points to avoid a solo spot in last place in the NFC South.

The Buccaneers (8-9), who clinched the NFC South and a home playoff game a week earlier, were largely tuning up for the postseason. Tampa Bay had 222 yards of total offense.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady threw for one touchdown on 13-for-17 passing for 84 yards in first-half action. Blaine Gabbert replaced Brady late in the first half. Gabbert ended up 6-for-8 for 29 yards and Kyle Trask was 3-for-9 for 23 yards.

Ridder, a rookie in his fourth NFL game, completed 19 of 30 passes for 224 yards without an interception. Allgeier had 24 carries.

Younghoe Koo had three field goals, including a 51-yarder in the fourth quarter, to help Atlanta end the season with back-to-back home victories.

The Falcons finished with a 6-3 home record and a season split with Tampa Bay.

Ridder's 3-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus put the Falcons on top with 51 seconds to play in the third quarter. Atlanta stretched its lead to 27-17 on Cordarrelle Patterson's 2-yard run with 8:07 to play.

There was a different tone for most of the first half.

The Buccaneers drove 70 yards on 10 plays on the game's opening possession for a touchdown, with Brady throwing to tight end Kyle Rudolph for an 8-yard scoring play.

The Falcons were up 10-7 by the end of the first quarter. Ridder threw 2 yards to MyCole Pruitt for a touchdown and Koo booted a 49-yard field goal less than three minutes later.

The Buccaneers were back ahead by halftime, holding a 17-10 edge. Ryan Succop kicked a 41-yard field goal before Gabbert found Russell Gage for a 3-yard score with 1:46 left in the half.

--Field Level Media