ATLANTA — KhaDarel Hodge’s left thigh pad has the silhouette of a guitar on it. His right thigh pad reads “Rock Out” in script letters. They are the remnants of a touchdown celebration he developed when he played in Cleveland, one of many stops in a long and mostly anonymous football career.
Hodge mimics breaking a guitar, taking another one out of its case and playing air guitar. Thursday night would have been the perfect time to do it. Unfortunately, the Atlanta Falcons wide receiver “blacked out,” he said.
Hodge, a reserve wide receiver on the field only because Drake London suffered an injury on the previous play, caught a 45-yard touchdown pass in overtime to give the Falcons a walk-off 36-30 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I blacked out. I came back to, and the next thing I know I’m on the ground,” Hodge said. “Hopefully, I’ll get in the end zone again, and I won’t black out, and I’ll actually do the celebration.”
Hodge’s touchdown gave the Falcons (3-2) their unlikeliest win in a season that is already full of them. Atlanta’s decisive scores in its three wins have all come within the final 36 seconds of regulation or overtime. Thursday was the second time this season that the Falcons have won a game in which they had less than a 5 percent win probability at one point, according to Next Gen Stats. They had no such wins between 2016 and 2023.
KHADAREL HODGE CALLED GAME#TNFonPrime | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/vtKobQt7gc
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 4, 2024
So maybe it was fitting that this victory was sealed by Hodge, who was born in D’Lo, Miss., played collegiately at Alcorn State, Hinds Community College and Prairie View A&M and has made four stops in the NFL, hanging on to a job mostly because of his special teams prowess.
“Red, we call him Red, he’s just made plays all camp, shows up on special teams all the time,” quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “When you’re coming from Prairie View, you’ve got to have some serious tape to get noticed out of college, so it didn’t really surprise me because I thought, ‘That’s probably how he got in this league and probably why he’s stayed in this league.’ I’m so grateful we didn’t have to trot our red zone offense out there on the 3-yard line. He just ended it.”
Hodge’s catch pushed Cousins past 500 passing yards in a game for the first time in his 13-year career. Cousins finished 42 of 58 for 509 yards and four touchdowns, setting not just his own personal yardage mark but also the Falcons’ franchise record of 503 yards, established by Matt Ryan in 2016. As if the game needed any more storylines, Ryan was in the building Thursday because he was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor at halftime.
“I just wanted Matt to be able to have a special night,” Cousins said.
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Even with Cousins’ historic night, Hodge got all the attention in the locker room after the game. Teammates Zach Harrison and Ruke Orhorhoro were repeatedly watching clips of his play and shouting while Hodge was surrounded by media members nearby. At 12:15 a.m., Hodge’s cellphone had 160 text messages, and they were still rolling in.
It was Hodge’s second touchdown in five days. He recovered a muffed punt for a touchdown in the Falcons’ Week 4 win over the New Orleans Saints. He had one touchdown in his previous six seasons.
“These last two weeks for me have been wild and just a blessing. I pray for times like these every night,” Hodge said. “I just pray to get in the end zone some type of way. To get in it on special teams and then come back and get it like this, I’m just so grateful, and I thank God for it.”
Talk your talk, Hodge! 🗣️🗣️🗣️ pic.twitter.com/skmKwNAWN5
— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2024
Darnell Mooney ribbed Hodge after the game because he was in tears on the field after his catch.
“I’m probably going to have a hard time in the meeting room,” Hodge said. “I was trying to hold back the tears, but they came out. The people close to me know what I have been through and the opportunities I pray for. The guys in the locker room will tell you it’s well deserved because I put in so much work.”
“He’s been working his ass off,” Falcons safety Richie Grant said. “If any guy deserves to have that moment, it’s him. Last one off the field every single day.”
Hodge hit 19.7 mph on his way to the end zone, the second-fastest speed of his career, according to Next Gen Stats, which calculated the play as the sixth-most-improbable touchdown in the NFL this season.
KhaDarel Hodge reached a top speed of 19.70 MPH on his game-winning TD reception in overtime, his 2nd-fastest speed as a ball carrier in his career.
Hodge’s touchdown was the 6th-most improbable touchdown reception of the season (0.03% probability).#TBvsATL | @AtlantaFalcons pic.twitter.com/NMXzEP0aod
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 4, 2024
“Once I seen them high knees start going, I threw my hands in the air and started screaming,” said London, who had 12 catches for 154 yards. “I think he surprised some folks.”
“That’s special, man,” punt returner Avery Williams said. “He deserves it completely. It’s just nice to see something like that happen to a guy like him who’s dedicated. He’s extremely detailed. He’s a great teammate.”
Hodge, who joined the league as an undrafted free agent with the Los Angeles Rams in 2018, had 57 catches for 864 yards and one touchdown in 97 games before Thursday night. He led the Falcons in special teams tackles in 2022 and leads again this year.
“They are going to have to kick me out of (the NFL),” he said. “I am going to work hard every day. To have this type of moment, it shows, ‘Just keep steady, keep going, no matter what is going on.’ Adversity is going to strike. Sometimes you’re going to feel like you’re out of it, but you just have to keep working, keep praying.”
Hodge was one of seven Falcons to catch a pass against Tampa Bay (3-2) as Atlanta gained 550 yards, its highest total since 2016. Cousins passed for 253 yards in the first half and 256 yards in the second half and overtime, becoming the first player in NFL history to top 250 yards before and after halftime in a single game, according to OptaSTATS.
Not bad considering he thought the game was over when he threw an interception to linebacker Lavonte David on fourth-and-15 at the Atlanta 28-yard line with 1:52 left in the game and the Falcons trailing 30-27.
“I walked off the field thinking, ‘There it is; we weren’t able to do it,’ but the defense stepped up,” Cousins said.
After Atlanta’s defense forced a three-and-out, Cousins and the Falcons went 46 yards in 1:14 seconds to set up Younghoe Koo’s score-tying 52-yard field goal as time expired. The Falcons won the overtime coin toss and scored on their first possession.
“I have been in some crazy games and been on the losing end of a lot of them, so to have one like this, overtime, walk-off, at home, on a Thursday night, against a great football team in the division, it’s a great performance, and it shows a lot of character and resilience,” Cousins said. “It was a big night, one I’ll never forget.”
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)