The Ball Lied: Terrible missed facemask costs Bucs crucial NFC South win over Falcons

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ought to have defeated the Atlanta Falcons on their own terms Thursday night in a critical early-season NFC South matchup. Including overtime, the Falcons outscored the Bucs 19-3 in the final three quarters.

Kirk Cousins had over 500 passing yards on the night against a Bucs secondary that clearly has some work to do this week. Cousins himself is less than a year removed from a season-ending achilles injury, and is finally starting to look comfortable in the pocket.

However, despite Cousins impressive display, the Buccaneers have a bone to pick with the officials. On a Tampa drive in the fourth quarter, the referees missed a fairly blatant grab at Bucky Irving's facemask. Said 15-yard penalty would have given Tampa Bay a first down and put them in field goal range.

Did the officials cost Buccaneers a win against the Falcons?

While the officials should have called a facemask on this run by Irving, human error is part of the game itself, and said calls aren't reviewable. Sure, it's easy for Tampa to blame the refs, but surely Todd Bowles knows better, as does Irving.

The Buccaneers received an excellent start from Baker Mayfield, and a balanced offensive approach thanks to 160 yards from their rushing attack. On most days, that would be enough to emerge victorious. Thursday was not one of those days, and as a result they sit in second place in the NFC South. The New Orleans Saints have yet to play this week, but it's a crowded division.

Atlanta and New Orleans made substantial improvements the last few offseasons. Tampa Bay has wins over the Lions, Commanders and Eagles on the season, but a loss to the mediocre Broncos and now the Falcons has Bowles and Co. going back to the drawing board defensively.