Matt Ryan proved he is worthy of the “Matty Ice” nickname, as he threw for a 9-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins with 4:31 left in the fourth quarter and the Falcons went on to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28-24 in a wild NFC South game.
But believe it or not, that was not the play of the game for the Falcons. The play came earlier in the fourth quarter when Eric Weems returned a kickoff for a 102-yard touchdown to cut the Bucs’ lead to 24-21. The score came right after a Tampa Bay touchdown when running back Earnest Graham threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to John Gilmore which was possible due to a Matt Ryan interception to Sean Jones which was returned to the Falcons 39-yard line. Ryan threw two picks in the game and it was the first time in five games the Falcons have committed a turnover.
Tampa Bay had a chance to win the game as they had possession with less than four and half minutes left in the game and Josh Freeman was able to drive the Bucs down to the Falcons 27-yard line. But on a first-and-10 play with two minutes left, Freeman’s pass was intercepted by Brent Grimes and the Falcons were able to burn the clock.
The Falcons got the scoring started early in the first quarter when they drove the ball 52 yards on six plays and Michael Turner was able to score on a 5-yard run to put the Falcons up 7-0. But Tampa Bay was able to bounce back with an 11-play 86-yard drive which ended with a LeGarrette Blount 6-yard touchdown run to tie the game with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.
The second quarter is where both defenses tightened up as both teams exchanged punts twice. The Falcons were able to break the tie when Matt Ryan threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Ovie Mughelli with 4:46 left in the half. Atlanta go the ball back with 2:24 left and look to add more to their seven-point lead going into halftime. That did not happen because Ryan threw an interception to Sean Jones and t hat led to a Josh Freeman 1-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams seven plays later to tie the game at 14 going into the half.
The only scoring in the third quarter came when Tampa Bay kicker Connor Barth nailed a 33-yarder 11:34 left in the third to break the 14-14 tie.
Ryan ended the day with 205 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also completed 18-of-36 of his passes and had a QB rating of 62.8. Michael Turner had another workman-like game, rushing for 88 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown. He tallied half of his yards in the first quarter. Roddy White was the game’s leading receiver, catching seven passes for 74 yards.
Defensively, the Falcons were able to limit Freeman to 181 yards and one touchdown, but Blount was able to rush for 103 yards on 20 carries, it’s the first time since September the Falcons have allowed an opposing running back to run for over 100 yards in a game.
This was a big win for the Falcons because they improve their record to 10-2 and Tampa Bay now has a record of 7-5. That puts the Bucs three games back in the NFC South with only four games left. However, the Falcons are still only one game ahead of the New Orleans Saints who defeated the Cincinnati Bengals early Sunday afternoon. The Falcons will have a chance to win their seventh consecutive game when they take on the Carolina Panthers next Sunday who are now 1-11 after losing to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
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