The Bucs finally turned things around on Sunday with their first home win of the season against the Falcons with a 21-15 victory. After losing two straight at home, Tampa Bay needed to bounce back with the division lead on the line. It wasn’t a pretty win, but the offense did enough to put up the necessary points to seal the victory. Much of that was on the back of Leonard Fournette.

Fournette led the team in seven statistical categories on Sunday including rushing yards, receiving yards, receptions and touchdowns. He scored the game’s first points and showed his skills as a receiver. On the second play of the game “Lenny” made his presence known as a runner with a 14-yard rush.

The opening series wouldn’t end in points,  but just two drives later Fournette pounded it into the end zone from the 1-yard line for the go-ahead score. That was after he contributed two of his 10 receptions for 13 yards on that march for the touchdown.

The Bucs’ next drive saw a heavy dose of Rachaad White, as the team tried to lighten the load on the Pro Bowl running back. Though on the ensuing series with just 20 seconds left in the half, Tom Brady and the offense put their trust in Fournette once again who helped get them into scoring position. After catching a short pass from Brady and turning into an 11- yard gain, the All-Pro quarterback once again looked Fournette’s way.

The result was a 21 yard catch, Fournette’s longest of the day, to set the Bucs up in field goal position. Kicker Ryan Succop connected on a 44-yard field goal as time expired, expanding the Bucs’ lead to 13-0.

Fournette Powered Bucs Through The Second Half

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Fournette wasn’t done on the day though. On the Bucs first drive after the half Brady went right back to Fournette in the passing game. With the Falcons defense playing deper coverages to prevent big plays down the field Tampa Bay’s offense picked them apart underneath.

A 10-yard catch and run to the right flat on third down was immediately followed up by a 9-yard gain to Fournette on short pass in the middle of the field. Fournette took the ball to the outside dropping a trail of would be tacklers in his wake before being pushed out of bounds for his eighth catch of the day.

Fournette’s ninth catch of the game would result in his second score on the day. This time a simple flat route where he was basically left uncovered would get him into the end zone. After the score he had some fun with a large cut out of his face that a fan was holding in the stands.

Now there were certainly some plays Fournette left on the table. A questionable decision to cut to the outside on fourth-and-1 resulted in a turnover on downs early in the first half. While his final catch of the game was tagged with a 4-yard loss. And 25 of his 56 rushing yards came on the Bucs’ final series to close out the game included a 12-yard scamper to start the last drive.

There was a clear plan to lean on the running backs in the passing game against the Falcons, and the Bucs found a high degree of success in doing so. Fournette finished the game with 10 receptions on 11 targets for 83 yards and a touchdown, while averaging 8.3 yards per catch. On the ground he tacked on 56 yards on 14 attempts and a score while averaging four yards per carry for the Bucs.

Fournette scored both of the Bucs’ touchdowns against Atlanta. It was an effort that helped propel the Bucs to their third victory of the season, their first win at home and first place in the NFC South. Thus we’ll call him “Game Changer Lenny” for Week 5.