KhaDarel Hodge’s second career touchdown was worth the wait

KhaDarel Hodge’s first career NFL touchdown came midway through the 2022 season. It was his first year with the Atlanta Falcons — his fifth year in the league — and in a November game against the Carolina Panthers, Hodge caught a vertical route from Marcus Mariota late in the fourth quarter for his first NFL TD. It was a game the Falcons lost by a final score of 22-15.

He had to wait almost two calendar years to reach the end zone again, but what he did on Thursday night will live in Falcons’ lore forever.

Hodge caught a pair of passes on Thursday night from Kirk Cousins, his first two receptions of the 2024 season, but it was his second that will live forever. After the Falcons forced overtime against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a field goal from Younghoe Koo, Atlanta opened overtime with possession and a chance to win the game.

After Atlanta picked up a first down on a connection between Cousins and Drake London, the receiver left the game due to an injury. When play resumed Hodge was in the lineup, and Cousins looked in his direction, throwing to the receiver on a quick hitch route.

That’s when this happened:

Cornerback Zyon McCollum tries in vain to make a play on the football, which allows Hodge to shrug off the initial contact and race upfield. From there he splits the Tampa Bay defense — picking up a key block from Ray-Ray McCloud — and outruns the Buccaneers to the end zone, and the game-winning score.

The play touched off incredible scenes at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with Hodge being lifted up by his teammates in celebration:

He then tried to put the moment into words, talking about how he was “still soaking it in” after the game:

Moments later Hodge admitted that he was “trying to hold back tears” in another video:

This angle of the game-winning touchdown, shared by the NFL on social media, offers a great view of the receiver accelerating away from Tampa Bay’s defense, and into the end zone:

Speaking after the game Cousins talked about how the play design, and Hodge’s route in particular, are not ideal when working against man coverage, as the Buccaneers were on the final play. But the quarterback gave all the credit to Hodge, calling it a “special” play and the receiver a “special player:”

It took the veteran receiver almost two years to reach the end zone again. But given the scenes in Atlanta Thursday night, it might have been worth the wait.