TAMPA, Fla. — A Falcons player was thanked by the Florida Highway Patrol after he helped aid a trooper who was injured when the final play of Sunday's game spilled out of the end zone.
The trooper was left with a broken ankle after he was hit during the final play of Atlanta's 31-26 win over Tampa Bay, according to a statement.
RELATED: Cousins throws for 276 yards and 4 TDs as Falcons beat Bucs 31-26 to take control of NFC South
The Falcons defended a Hail Mary attempt into the end zone on Tampa's final play. The pass actually fell to a Bucs receiver after being batted down, but the ball was a bit overthrown and the play went out of bounds -- and into a Florida state trooper standing watch behind the end zone.
David Schiele with 11Alive's sister station 10 Tampa Bay reported the Florida High Patrol thanked cornerback Mike Hughes for going to attend to the trooper afterward.
“It just looked like a mosh pit back there. ... Kind of one of those things (where) you get your hopes up, but then you realize it didn't work out," Tampa quarterback Baker Mayfield said, describing the play.
More on the game
Kirk Cousins threw for 276 yards and four touchdowns, and the first-place Falcons held off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-26 to take control of the NFC South race on Sunday.
“It's always great to get away with a division win,” coach Raheem Morris, who's in his first season as Atlanta's coach, said. “We talk about outrunning the South, and the guys have absolutely bought into what we want to do.”
Kyle Pitts scored on receptions of 36 and 49 yards and Cousins also tossed TD passes of 30 yards to Darnell Mooney and 6 yards to Bijan Robinson to give the Falcons (5-3) a two-game sweep of the season series with the three-time defending division champion Bucs (4-4).
The Falcons improved to 4-0 within the NFC South and with the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over second-place Tampa Bay essentially hold a two-game lead in the division standings. The Bucs also lost 36-30 in overtime at Atlanta on Oct. 3, when Cousins threw for a career-high 509 yards with four TDs.