The Falcons traveled to Toronto to face the Buffalo Bills and came out with a thrilling 34-31 overtime victory. The Bills led 14-0 in the opening quarter and took a 31-24 lead early in the fourth quarter. Matt Ryan led the offense on an 11-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a one-yard Steven Jackson touchdown to tie the game at 31-31 with 1:28 remaining in the game. In the overtime, William Moore forced a Scott Chandler fumble and Robert Alford recovered it and lateraled it to Desmond Trufant. Ryan took over and the offense drove the ball 30 yards on the short field to set up Matt Bryant’s 36-yard game-winning field goal.
There were plenty of standout performers against Buffalo and the remainder of the season looks optimistic despite a 3-9 record. Ryan tossed his sixth 300-yard passing game of the season and running back Steven Jackson scored his first multi-touchdown game of the year. Special teams standout Antone Smith made a strong case for more playing time as he broke free for his second rushing touchdown of the season. Smith has totaled 145 yards on five carries and is averaging 29.0 yards per carry this season. Roddy White has always been clutch in the month of December and he returned to Pro Bowl form in Buffalo. White caught a season-high 10 passes for 143 yards.
FROZEN TUNDRA …
The Falcons’ next trip will be to Green Bay to take on the Packers in what will be the cold- est game of the season. Weather is predicted to be in the low 20s for kickoff. The Packers are fresh off an embarrassing 40-10 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Lions. The Lions sacked Green Bay seven times and outgained them 561-126 in total yards. Green Bay is 2-2-1 this season at home and despite the stumble last week boast an offense that is top 10 in the run and pass.
Green Bay linebacker A.J. Hawk has a team-high 103 tackles and Clay Matthews has 6.0 sacks this season despite missing four games. The game was scheduled to be shown on Sunday Night Football, but NBC moved kickoff to 1:00 p.m.
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