Jameis Winston shines as Tampa Bay Buccaneers get division win over Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons were beaten at home by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-24, to kick off the new NFL season. Jameis Winston stole the show, throwing for 281 yards and four touchdowns, as the Bucs ran out winners over their division rivals.

Division Rivals Trade Blows

The scoring got underway early as the Buccaneers took a 3-0 lead after Robert Aguayo nailed a 43-yard field goal with nine minutes remaining in the first quarter. Atlanta answered immediately with a field goal of their own with Matt Bryant knocking a 34-yard attempt through the uprights.

Mohamed Sanu, acquired in the offseason, put on a show in his first official game as a member of the Falcons. His first catch went for 52 yards on the drive that led to Bryant's field goal. He caught his first touchdown with 11 seconds left in the first quarter, a short five-yard pass from Matt Ryan.

The Falcons touchdown was set up by Desmond Trufant picking off Jameis Winston inside the Tampa Bay 25-yard line, giving the home team excellent field position.

The Falcons led 10-3 as the first quarter came to a close but the Bucs came roaring back on their first drive in the second quarter. Jameis Winston threw the first of four touchdowns to his tight end, Cameron Brate, to cap off a 75-yard drive on nine plays.

Matt Bryant continued his solid day, nailing another 34-yard field with over a minute left in the half to give the Falcons the lead again but it would be Tampa Bay who would have the last laugh.

It seemed as though the visitors were aiming to get into field goal range before the end of the half, but a dump off by Winston to Charles Sims saw the running back break tackles left and right to rumble in for the score with 14 seconds left.

Second Half Comeback Falls Short

The Buccaneers received the kickoff to begin the second half and never looked back as Winston continued his superb performance on the first drive. Four plays for 75 yards to begin the second half but the highlight of the drive came on the touchdown throw from the second-year QB. Winston delivered a dime to the tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, who made the excellent grab over Sean Weatherspoon.

The Falcons couldn't get anything going in the third quarter and found themselves in a deep hole midway through the third as Winston led his team to the end zone again, delivering another great pass to one of his young receivers. Mike Evans took advantage of the mismatch against Robert Alford and made a finger-tip grab for the 45-yard touchdown, making it 31-13.

Julio Jones, who'd been extremely quiet for the majority of the game up until the third quarter, burst into life as the fourth quarter approached. Matt Ryan finally found his superstar receiver for a 25-yard touchdown and the two-point conversion to Mohamed Sanu was successful, making it 31-21.

A handful of defensive stops gave Atlanta hope in the fourth quarter after Bryant hit a 29-yard field goal to make it a one-possession game. One last chance for the Falcons ended with a whimper as Gerald McCoy batted away Ryan's fourth-down pass with a minute to go.

A valiant second-half effort from the Falcons but defensive errors cost them against a very good Buccaneers team.