The clock was ticking down, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed a late, game-winning touchdown and Cade Otton had plenty of experience in this.
On Sunday, the former University of Washington tight end slipped behind the Atlanta Falcons secondary and hauled in an 11-yard scoring pass from Baker Mayfield with 31 seconds left to provide the Bucs with a thrilling 29-25 victory on the road.
“Baker put up a perfect ball,” Otton said. "It's such a satisfying win. It didn't go great the whole game, but we believed and we fought.”
Otton, who's become a highly reliable second-year pro, had done this sort of heroic, last-second thing multiple times before. In college and in the NFL.
As a rookie, he caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from the legendary and now retired Bucs quarterback Tom Brady with just nine seconds remaining to beat the Los Angeles Rams 16-13 in Tampa Bay.
Three years ago, Otton caught a 16-yard TD pass from UW quarterback Dylan Morris with just 36 seconds on the clock to enable his college team to rally from a 21-0 halftime deficit to beat Utah 24-21 at Husky Stadium.
In just two seasons, Otton has gone from fourth-round draft pick to starter to game-deciding player for Tampa Bay (6-7), which in spite of its sub .500 record is still in playoff contention.
With 2 catches for 16 yards against the Falcons, Otton has season receiving totals for 40 catches for 464 yards and 4 touchdowns over 13 games. Over two seasons, he has 82 receptions for 855 yards and 6 TDs.
Against Atlanta, Otton settled a highly competitive game that had the Falcons score a go-ahead touchdown with 3;23 left to play when Falcons running back Desmond Ridder broke a tackle by the Bucs' Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, another former Husky and a one-time Otton teammate in Seattle, and scored from 6 yards out.
The Buccaneers responded with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that included running back Rachaad White running for 2 yards on fourth-and-1 and Mayfield hitting wide receiver Chris Godwin on a 32-yard pass on third-and-10 play to the Atlanta 15 to keep the drive going.
Two plays later, Mayfield found Otton in the end zone with a step on Falcons safety Richie Grant and Tampa Bay was a comeback winner, thanks to its very savvy tight end.
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