The Falcons may want to think about having more prime time games in the future.
With Atlanta down 21-20 with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter, Matt Ryan led the Falcons down the field, which led to a 33-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White and the Falcons went on to win 26-21 over the Baltimore Ravens.
“If you like football and you like an intense football game, that was one of them,” Falcons head coach Mike Smith said. “That might have been the most intense football game that I have ever been involved with in any level of football.”
It looked at one point like the Falcons had control of the game, as they were up 20-7 with 11:49 left in the fourth quarter after Ryan found White for a 4-yard touchdown pass. But on the ensuing drive, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason to cut the Falcons lead to six with 5:49 left in the game.
When the Falcons got the ball back, they looked to burn clock by gaining a couple of first downs, but White dropped a third-and-four pass as the Falcons 42-yard line and they were forced to punt giving the Ravens the ball at their own 28-yard line with 2:57 left in the fourth. That led to a Flacco 9-yard touchdown pass to Todd Heap to put the Ravens ahead.
“If I catch that ball, they start using their timeouts and no telling what happens after that,” White said who finished with 12 receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns. “It’s tough looking out there watching out defense when I knew our offense should be out there on the field, but we got the ball last and we scored.”
White was able to score on the final drive for the Falcons because the play was meant for Tony Gonzalez was on the other side, he was covered by Ed Reed, which led White open.
“Roddy was disciplined at what he does and ran his route,” Ryan said. “I pulled up, saw that he was open and delivered the football.”
That drive probably would not have happened had Michael Jenkins not made a fingertip catch four plays later which converted a third-and-10.
“He’s made that play before,” Ryan said on the catch. “My rookie year, Mike makes that catch against Chicago, we kick a field goal and we win that game. When you’re in those positions throughout your career, you continue to develop confidence when you’re in those situations.”
The game was an uncharacteristic one for the Falcons as Ryan threw 50 times and Michel Turner ran for only 39 yards on 17 carries. The offense also ran the no-huddle package the entire first half.
“The plan wasn’t necessarily to come out and throw it on every snap, but that’s just kind of the looks we were getting,” Ryan said. “We were able to move the football effectively doing that.”
They were able to move the ball in the first quarter, but they did not put any points on the board. It wasn’t until the start of the second quarter when the Falcons got on the board with a Ryan 28-yard touchdown pass to Jason Snelling to put the Falcons up by seven. They were able to tack on three more points to their lead late in the second quarter with a Matt Bryant 28-yard field goal to put the Falcons up 10-0.
Bryant also nailed a 51-yard field goal early in the third quarter to put the Falcons up by 13. That drive was answered, as Flacco threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin to put the Ravens on the board.
The Falcons improve their record to 7-2 and have a solid grip on the NFC South lead. Their next game will be November 21 when they travel to St. Louis to take on the Rams. With 10 days until their next game, there is going to be one thing the players will be doing the next two days.
“Rest,” John Abraham said who came away with two sacks to put him at eight for the year.
“We got a big game in St. Louis so our best thing now is to get rest. Take these two days off and really rest and get back into the mode on Monday.”
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