There was a lot of heat surrounding Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts heading into Thursday’s 36-30 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Pitts has struggled to be productive in a way that meets expectations ever since he logged his 1,026-yard rookie season back in 2021. Some were even going as far as to go ahead and deem the 24-year-old a bust entering Week 5.
Fans can move on to other subjects now, though, as Pitts had his best game of the season so far against the Bucs. The former Florida star recorded seven receptions on eight targets for 88 yards. It was a breath of fresh air after Pitts dropped a complete goose egg in the team’s 26-24 win over the New Orleans Saints despite being three times.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins spoke to that and how Pitts was able to become more of a factor, saying that it mostly came down to the time of possession and number of plays. The law of probability, if you will.
The more opportunities an offense has to throw the ball to its pass-catchers, the greater the likelihood that any one of those pass-catchers will become more of a factor.
“I’m going where my reads take me,” said Cousins. “I never drop back and say, ‘where’s Kyle, let me throw to him.’ But when you have 81 plays, when you have 58 attempts, it gives you that opportunity. And he did such a good job after the catch, turning five, six, seven yard catches into much bigger gains.”
Cousins also turned in his best game of the year on Thursday, passing for a career-high 509 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
The Falcons head into a bye week for now, but will aim to build upon this success when they face the Carolina Panthers on the road on Oct. 13.
