When it comes to winning games in the NFL, it’s never easy. The Falcons can agree with that as they had to scratch, kick and hang on for dear life to defeat the Seattle Seahawks 30-28 on Sunday. It wasn’t like that in the first half as the Falcons outscored Seattle 24-7.
Matt Ryan threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez in the Falcons opening drive of the game to take the 7-0 lead. In the second quarter, Michael Turner scored on a 21-yard run to give the Falcons the 14-0 lead.
Seattle came back with a strike of their own as Tavaris Jackson threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Sidney Rice to cut the Falcons lead to seven.
Turner answered again with a 2-yard score to increase the Falcons lead on the ensuing drive. Later in the quarter, Matt Bryant answered with a 47-yard field goal to increase the Falcons lead before half. He was able to add three more points at the start of the third quarter to put the Falcons up by 20.
That is when Seattle made its comeback.
They cut the lead to 13 when Jackson threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams on the ensuing drive. Later in the quarter, the Seahawks scored again thanks to a Marshawn Lynch 11-yard to cut the Falcons lead to six.
The Falcons started the fourth quarter with a 5-play, 48-yard drive that ended with a Bryant field goal to increase the Falcons lead to nine. Seahawks answered with a 9-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a Jackson 8-yard touchdown pass to Ben Obomanu to cut the Falcons lead to two with 8:13 left in the game.
On the Falcons ensuing drive, they burned over six and half minutes, leaving Seattle little time to drive down the field and kick a field goal to take the lead for the first time.
The Seahawks, who started their last drive of the game at their own 15, took it down to the Falcons 43-yard line. With 13 seconds left, Steven Hauschka attempted a 61-yard field goal, but came up short and the Falcons hold on for their second win of the season.
The offense played as well as they had all season. Ryan completed 28 of his 42 pass attempts for 292 yards, one touchdown, zero picks and more importantly zero sacks as well as zero turnovers.
One thing the Falcons wanted to establish is the run game. Turner rushed for 70 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns. However, 75 percent of his yards came in the first half. Julio Jones and Roddy White also played well. Jones caught 11 passes for 127 yards and White caught six passes for 78 yards.
But let’s not forget about Tony Gonzalez who caught seven passes for 56 yards and one score. He also had a great one-handed catch late in the game on a third-and-long play which will be shown on ESPN for a long time.
As good as the offense played, the defense had issues stopping Jackson. They did force Jackson to throw two interceptions, but he did throw for three touchdowns and 319 yards. The reason for Jackson’s success is the fact the Falcons front seven could not apply any pressure on him. Once again the defensive line tallied zero sacks and it’s the third consecutive game they have yet to sack an opposing quarterback.
Regardless, the Falcons come away with a win and improve its record to 2-2. They stay one game behind the New Orleans Saints for the NFC South lead and two games out of the NFC lead which is held by the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.
Speaking of Green Bay, that’s the Falcons next opponent next Sunday at the Georgia Dome. Kickoff will be at 8:25 P.M. and it will be in front of a national audience.
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