Lofton, swarming defense kept Steven Jackson under control
Rams wide receiver Laurent Robinson (19. right) is tackled by Atlanta Falcons safety William Moore (25) during the first quarter. AP
ST. LOUIS – Falcons middle linebacker Curtis Lofton led the Falcons in tackles with eight against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.
“It just took us a little while to get into the groove,” Lofton said. “But once we got it going, things started working out pretty good for us.”
The Falcons held Rams running back Steven Jackson to 54 yards on 11 carries.
“It took the entire defense,” Lofton said. “Everyone has to keep going after him and keep putting their pads on him. Everyone did a good job of that.”
The Falcons are 8-2 and have the best record in the NFC. They are tied with New England and the New York Jets for the best record in the league.
“8-2 is great,” Lofton said. “It was a nice road win. But we haven’t played a complete game yet, so I guess that’s next. We are in a good spot right now.”
Next up for the Falcons are the white-hot Green Bay Packers, who pummeled Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings, 31-3, to improve to 7-3. The Falcons need to beat the Packers in order to garner the head-to-head tie breaker in the case the teams end up tied for the playoffs.
Homefield advantage will be key. It could mean the difference between a middle of January game in frosty Lambeau Field or a nice comfy game at the Dome.
It might be time for the Falcons to come up with that “complete” game.
“We know that we can play a lot better,” Lofton said. “We haven’t played a complete game. I think everyone realizes that. We have to try to put complete games together and start building off of that.”
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60 comments Add your comment
LG falcon fan
November 22nd, 2010
12:53 pm
Did they bench Harry Douglas for all the past drops?? Saw Weems and not Douglas in game.
Gamer
November 22nd, 2010
2:02 pm
Hopefully, Abe will be ready to go against Packers. Falcons will need his pass rush for A. Rodgers.
Keith Mercer
November 22nd, 2010
3:20 pm
didnt watch the game wuz to buzy. falcons didnt beat nobody so big games a head.
Falcon James
November 22nd, 2010
3:21 pm
at lease lofton knows what everybody else already know. the falcon dont play like champions like philly and saints do. we have the easy road schedule this season. we try too much to give up the game. it only time before it catches up. we need to be more agressive on defence and offence. the other team just having bad luck against us. our rookie look like rookie. our vets look like rookie. the only thing we got is a good kicker. bryant look like rookie too, but he make the kicks we he need to. he will choke before the season over. i honestly think our competition look better than we do in the game they just loose and that good for us. it not good when we loose because it bad for us. Robinson is not real good either. we paid too much money for him cause he cant cover my grandmother. i think the opposite opposing team should target him more if I were them. we have tough schedule coming up. i think if we win a few more game we might still have a chance to make the wildcards but if we loose we might not.
PBR
November 22nd, 2010
3:23 pm
Enter your comments here
Falcon Jim
November 22nd, 2010
4:29 pm
Trolls, and you stupid ones on here, now……………leave. Vamoose. Go. Make like a horse’s turd and hit the road ! !
MM
November 22nd, 2010
4:41 pm
I cannot speak for everyone else on this board but let me share what I see from the Falcons and how I feel. All 32 teams have “professional” players on them and capable of winning any game that they play. This is not high school nor college where the talent level can be miles apart. With that being said, the Falcons beat 8 our 10 teams in the NFL this year and judging by the individual records of those 32 teams, I would have to say that statistically the Falcons are “currently” one of the better teams.
To understand winning a football game I think that you must also understand how to accomplish this task with the least amount of resistance. While the Falcons are not your pass first team that throws 50 yard bombs all game long, they are systematic in their approach to scoring. What people fail to realize is that throwing the ball 70-80% of the time usually means that you do not control the time of possession. Incomplete pass, clock stops; marches down the field in 5 plays and score, clock stops for your possession. Your defense is at greater risk to be on the field longer with these type plays which could lead to giving your opponent’s offense a chance to get the ball and score.
When I am watching the game and hear people complaining about “why are we running the ball?”, I have to sit and wonder if they truly understand football. The offense has 4 downs to go 10 yards. If Turner runs for (3 yards) on 1st down, (4 yards) on 2nd down, that leaves us with on (3 yards) to gain on 3rd down which is very managable. Of course you can throw in a pass play here and there to keep the defense honest on any given down. A lot of fans get upset if you don’t gain 15 yards on every play and that is where everything gets cloudy.
Some people will argue that the Falcons are not that good and have been lucky all season. We lost to a 3rd string Pittsburgh QB, we lucked up and beat the Saints, if it wasn’t for the fumble recovery of Roddy White we should have lost to SF, Philly exposed how bad of a team we were, our DBs won’t be able to stop T.O. and Chad from Cin., Baltimore will crush Atl because of their great defense, etc. Every week we show up to play and at the end of 10 games, we came out with a “W” for 8 of them.
Just because the Falcons don’t make the nightly ESPN highlights or the NFL Network play of the week, doesn’t mean that we’re not good or better than the other 31 teams. Yes the Packers are coming to the Dome on Sunday but I am willing to bet that the longer we can keep the ball out of Aaron Rogers hands, the better chance we have to win the game.
alanfalcon
November 22nd, 2010
4:50 pm
MAJOR WIN, it would have been easy to have a let down, but you came through and maybe John. A. will be ready for the Green Bay challenge.
GO FALCONS AND GO SOUTHERN RUSH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
singh is king
November 22nd, 2010
7:05 pm
nice w on the road, if hd step up this offense will be unstopbale,
go falcons rise up!
PHIL
November 23rd, 2010
12:57 am
Jesse Stone, lets just say, for the sake of argument that TG SHOULD be able to catch a football thrown 100mph at a distance of no more than 30 feet. There was no reason for him to have had to make that catch because the throw was indeed no more than 30 feet and TG was wide open. Therefore, Ryan put the receiver in a position to fail and not succeed. Therefore the mistake is Ryans.