After a dismal loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night, the Falcons wanted to get back on track on Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the final regular season game of the year.
Thanks to a strong performance by the offense and defense, the Falcons flattened the Bucs 45-24 and have clinched the No. 5 seed in the playoffs.
From the start of the game, the Falcons dominated. They started the game with possession and put together a 12-play, 80-yard drive which ended with a Jacquizz Rodgers 1-yard touchdown run.
After forcing the Bucs to go three-and-out on the ensuing drive, the Falcons added to their lead with a 7-play, 53-yard drive which ended with a Matt Ryan 17-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones.
But the Falcons weren’t done yet in terms of scoring in the first quarter.
When the Bucs got the ball back, Josh Freeman threw a deep pass which was intended for Dezmon Briscoe, but the ball was picked off by Dominique Franks.
The Falcons offense capitalized as Ryan threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones and the score put the Falcons up 21-0 with 3:16 left in the first.
The Bucs looked to pick up the momentum when they got the ball back, but Freeman committed another turnover as he was sacked by John Abraham and fumbled the ball which was also recovered by the veteran defensive end.
That led to a Turner 1-yard touchdown and that put the Falcons up by 28 early in the second.
When the Bucs got the ball back, Freeman threw another interception, and this time Curtis Lofton got into the mix and he returned the pick 26 yards for a touchdown to put the Falcons up 35-0.
But wait, the Falcons onslaught was not done yet.
Later in the quarter, Turner ran off the left tackle for an 81-yard score to put the Falcons up 42-7 to go into the half.
The Bucs did pick things late in the second quarter and throughout the second half. Freeman threw a touchdown pass late in the second quarter and again in the fourth quarter.
Falcons head coach Mike Smith pulled his offensive starters late in the second quarter so Chris Redman got to see his most action of the season.
He did make one mistake in the third quarter, throwing a pick to Elbert Mack which was returned for a 40-yard touchdown.
The majority of the defensive starters played the entire game but some of the starters sat down most of the second half. Because they had such as big margin, the Falcons could afford to rest some players to get them ready for the playoffs.
Not only did the Falcons win, some of the key players broke records in the process.
Ryan went only 6 of 9 passing for 109 yards and two touchdowns, but he finished the regular season with 4,177 yards and that is now a franchise record.
Turner rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns. With the two touchdowns he scored, he now has 50 rushing career touchdowns as a Falcon which is also a franchise record.
Roddy White finished his day with four receptions for 69 yards. With those numbers, he surpassed Terance Mathis for the Falcons all-time leader in receiving yards with 7,356. White also hit the 100 reception mark this season which is the second consecutive time White has 100 catches in a season. He is also the only Falcons player in history to have two seasons of 100 receptions.
The Falcons will have to wait to see who they play in the wildcard round of the playoffs, because they will play the winner of the Dallas vs. New York Giants game which will determine the NFC East winner.
But whoever they play, the Falcons are confident they can go into any stadium and beat anybody.
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