TAMPA, Fla. — The Atlanta Falcons didn't have much — if anything — to fight for.

With a loss to the Seattle Seahawks four days ago, they were completely out of playoff contention in a year expected to be the season they broke through a postseason drought.

With 13:29 left in the team's Thursday night rematch with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they were down by 14 points, 28-14. At that point, the Falcons had just a 4.8% chance to win, according to Next Gen Stats.

They were actively racking up a franchise-high 19 penalties for a loss of 125 yards. They gave the Buccaneers seven first downs by way of penalties. They lost explosive after explosive on offense because of penalties.

There was so much mounted against the Falcons in enemy territory in a prime-time slot on Thursday Night. And yet, despite having nothing to fight for, they fought anyway. They fought with — and for — each other.

"We knew that at this point," tight end Kyle Pitts said, "we're just playing for each other."

That, and they fought for the team they should have been perhaps all along.

"These guys, they're fighters, man," head coach Raheem Morris said postgame. "… Went out there and was able to execute. Got down early. Watched the guys go out there and fight, overcome a couple dropped passes and overcome a couple things, overcome a couple touchdowns."

The Falcons out-gained the Buccaneers 476 yards to 338 in their comeback win. They averaged 7.2 yards per play. They were a perfect 4-for-4 in the red zone.

The stars who needed to step up, did.

Pitts became just the fourth tight end in NFL history to finish a game with 10-plus catches, 150-plus receiving yards and 3-plus receiving touchdowns in a game. The last player to reach these numbers in a single performance was Shannon Sharpe in 1996.

Kirk Cousins continued his reign of terror over Tampa Bay. With 1,158 total passing yards accumulated against the Buccaneers over two years and three wins, that total ranks as the most by a quarterback versus any opponent over the last two seasons. His 11 touchdowns are tied for the most against any opponent over that span, too.

And, of course, there was Bijan Robinson, who recorded more than 100 scrimmage yards in his ninth consecutive divisional game. That is the longest such streak in Falcons' history.

When the Falcons needed a play made offensively, they made them. But they weren't alone, and that is perhaps why the Falcons head back to Atlanta with a win.

For weeks, Morris has said the team needed someone — anyone — to step up and make a play when it mattered most. For much of this season, the team has found the defense can be relied upon to be that. But it couldn't be that unit alone. The team needed more from its offense and special teams units. With stars like Drake London out, they needed contributions and big moments from names you probably don't have on your fantasy team.

Key moments came by way of redemption — like when David Sills V dropped a wide-open touchdown catch earlier in the game only to make up for it with a clutch fourth-down grab down the sideline to get the Falcons in field goal range with mere seconds remaining in the game.

Moments also came because of sheer want-to, too — like when Darnell Mooney fumbled the ball in the red zone as the Falcons were mounting their comeback. As the ball hit the ground, Mooney was outnumbered by Bucs defenders seven to one. That is, until center Ryan Neuzel barreled his way through the creamsicle mass to recover said fumble. It kept the Falcons drive alive, and they scored soon after.

"When we were down 14, it was really cool to see the sideline," Robinson explained. "There was energy that injected in all of us."

Robinson recalled Chris Lindstrom walking up and down the sideline during moments the defense took the field. He was screaming, Robinson said, at the top of his lungs that the Falcons were going to go win that game.

"And that's what we did," Robinson said. "It's that leadership that it takes for all of us, and all of us to hear, because when we do it the right way — like that — we know nothing can stop us."

By no means was the Falcons' win in Tampa perfect. Far from it. What it was, though, was a battle. One could argue a fight the Falcons didn't even need to put up. But one they did anyway. And they're hoping this performance is more like what fans can expect from them.

"It's a stepping stone to where we want to go," Morris said. "We talked about this, about building blocks for what we got to do. What we're talking about is next year. … We got a lot of right things that we like, a lot of things that we love, and it's our job to go out there and prove to our fans that we can do it. Only thing we can do right now is finish."