Hester sets NFL record, passing ‘Prime Time’

Matt Ryan threw for 286 yards and three TDs, and Jones hauled in nine passes for 161 yards and a couple of scores to lead the Falcons past the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 56-14 on Thursday night.

ATLANTA — Devin Hester has set an NFL record with his 20th return for a touchdown, breaking the mark he shared with Deion Sanders.

Hester returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown midway through the second quarter to give the Atlanta Falcons a stunning 35-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.

He took the punt at his own 44, found a seam up the middle, and zipped around the last man who had a shot at him, punter Michael Koenen. Hester high-stepped the last 20 yards or so, a hand behind his ear — the move that Sanders made famous during his Hall of Fame career.

Sanders, now a television analyst, was covering the game and watched his record fall at the Georgia Dome, which he once proclaimed “is my house.”

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