From the AJC
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – It was looking rather bleak for the Atlanta Falcons. Again. They hadn’t moved the ball all day against the league’s top rated defense and, on a cold and wintery day, were down to their last opportunity in a season gone wrong. Then suddenly, it was 2008 again. Dodging snow balls thrown from the stands, quarterback Matt Ryan rallied the offense in the final minutes to pull out a thrilling 10-7 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday at Giants Stadium.
Ryan, sidelined the last two games due to a turf toe injury, found tight end Tony Gonzalez in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown with 1:38 left to play, the kind of play Ryan and the Falcons lived by last season.
The reminiscence was as short as it was bittersweet. The Falcons had been eliminated from the playoffs with Dallas’ Saturday night win over the New Orleans Saints but besides pride, the team still wanted a shot to end the franchise’s string of never having posted back-to-back winning seasons.
The Falcons improved to 7-7 and need to beat Buffalo (5-9) and Tampa Bay (2-12) to finish 9-7 and end the inglorious 44-year streak.
“No matter what the circumstances are, what our situation is as far as the postseason, all of that,” right tackle Tyson Clabo said, “we are going to show up and we’re going to fight. I expect us to do that for the next two weeks. You are going to get our best shot.”
The Jets’ out-gained the Falcons, 314-238, but couldn’t put them away. They had their opportunities. But they bungled three field goal attempts and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez threw three interceptions.
The nine points lost on field goals came in every variety. The Jets bobbled a snap on a field goal attempt with 6:40 left in the second quarter. Jay Feely missed a 38-yarder as time expired in the first half. Most critically, Feely’s 37-yard fourth-quarter attempt was blocked by defensive end Chauncey Davis.
The block came with 4:27 to play, the Falcons had the ball at their 27 and the game was there for the taking.
“We are a real confident bunch,” Clabo said. “Every time that we go out on the field and get in a huddle, we expect to go score points. We got out there with 4:27 left and said, ‘Hey, not only do we expect to score points, but we’ve got to score points.’ ”
After short passes to Jason Snelling and fullback Ovie Mughelli, Ryan found Jerious Norwood for 9 yards on a third-and-5.
Two plays later, Ryan floated a ball through the wind to Roddy White that he turned into a 16-yard gain. An accompanying face mask penalty on Jets cornerback Donald Strickland moved the ball down to New York’s 27 with 2:15 left. One snap later, Jason Snelling ripped through the middle of the Jets defense for 20 yards and the Falcons had the ball at the 7-yard line at the two minute warning.
They had been there once before and failed. The Falcons had been inside the New York 10 on their second possession of the day and had to settle for a field goal. That wasn’t an option now and after a 1-yard run by Snelling and two incompletions, the Falcons were down to one play.
White came in motion from left to right and nobody on the Jets defense moved with him. That was key because Ryan then knew they were playing zone. Gonzalez was able to get off the line without being jammed and found a soft spot in the zone.
“It’s a semi-option route,” Gonzalez said. “If it’s zone, you find that sweet spot and hopefully the quarterback can find you.”
It was not lost on Ryan that Norwood, White, Snelling and finally Gonzalez all made plays at clutch times.
“That’s our offense at its best,” said Ryan, who completed 6 of 9 passes for 37 yards on the drive.
The Jets held a 7-3 halftime lead. Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud gave the offense the ball on the Jets 4o with his third interception of the season just 3 1/2 minutes into the game and thought the Falcons drove down to the Jets’ 1, they couldn’t punch it in.
Matt Bryant hit a 24-yard field goal, which would be the only Falcons scoring for over 51 minutes.
The Jets claimed the lead when wide receiver Braylon Edwards broke open for a 65-yard touchdown reception from Mark Sanchez with 2:57 left in the first quarter. Edwards ran past Falcons cornerback Christopher Owens after 25 yards, hauled down the pass 23 yards later at the 17 and had a big cushion.
“Somehow, we got it done,” Clabo said.
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