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
scott
November 21st, 2010
11:13 pm
1st for 1st comment. good to be a winner!
scott
November 21st, 2010
11:15 pm
A pretty good game but the Falcons will have to really turn it on to beat GB. Still in a good position though.
kaminari
November 21st, 2010
11:21 pm
We survived and did well. Looks like the Rams are back. Good to be going home next week.
Tweets that mention Lofton, swarming defense kept Steven Jackson under control | Atlanta Falcons -- Topsy.com
November 21st, 2010
11:29 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Myron Abernathy and John, D. Orlando Ledbetter. D. Orlando Ledbetter said: Lofton, swarming defense kept Steven Jackson under control http://bit.ly/cdb5Rv [...]
Native Georgian
November 21st, 2010
11:29 pm
Hope Abe’s back because we need to make Mr. Rodgers very uncomfortable!
2Legit2quit
November 21st, 2010
11:39 pm
anyone see Harry Douglas today? Did he even play?
ATL Fan
November 21st, 2010
11:45 pm
Good to see spoon out there for a few plays. Hope Abe will be back for GB. Nice all around game once the Defense got on track. And how about that clock management. Wow, the time of possession was great.
bgfalcon
November 21st, 2010
11:46 pm
yeah HD played but you wouldn’t have know if from his increasing abiltity to disappear in games. he’s like a ghost
Sly Ty
November 21st, 2010
11:55 pm
Hey bird fans what happened to enjoying the victory. Forget Harry Douglas for right now, what about how well Michael Jenkins played today. While Jenks is not HotRoddy, he did really well today.
charles
November 21st, 2010
11:55 pm
Well now let me sat, that was a hell of game today. Next up is Green Bay so this is for you brother AAron Mr. Rogers this ant your neighborhood. If you don’t know it be longs to Mr. Ryan’s and Mr. Turner
so come on down and get yourself some. GO FALCONS
charles
November 22nd, 2010
12:00 am
That he did sly ty. he had a really good game today and it was on time, but those drops by T G hurt for a while then the O got on track.
Dominic Hughes
November 22nd, 2010
12:18 am
Let’s order a new set of shoes for the Falcons most expensive CB. Left shoe: ‘Earn your’. Right shoe: ‘pay Dunta’. Packers coming to town – it’s time to step it up, secondary.
LJ
November 22nd, 2010
1:22 am
Green Bay has ZERO running game, so the key will be to get pressure on Rodgers so he doesn’t have time to pick apart the secondary. Also, gotta get Turner going early to maintain time of possession. Keep Rodgers on the sidelines!
Falcon Jim
November 22nd, 2010
1:33 am
Wow. Cannot wait for the Gang Green Packers ! ! ! !
san diego dawg
November 22nd, 2010
2:02 am
This was one of the best games ever called by Mike Murlarkey. The falcons need to keep the no huddle going and let Matt Ryan make decisions at the line. I saw very little negative today except for Roddy uncharacteristically losing his temper once and Dunta being asleep at the wheel on a few plays. Special teams play today was solid. O line gave up zero sacks today. Overall solid effort on the road. I’m not sure what the 3 RB formations were all about since I think they netted 5 yards total out of that scheme. maybe this is something they are trying to build on for one big play in the future?
Reid Adair
November 22nd, 2010
2:22 am
It’s going to take an effort equal to, if not better than, the Baltimore game to beat the Packers. I am looking forward to the Green Bay game, especially if John Abraham can get healthy and back in the lineup.
Keith Brooking
November 22nd, 2010
3:53 am
I sure miss you guys.
Kurt Warner
November 22nd, 2010
7:28 am
Don’t worry Keith, I’ll send you an early xmas present like I have the last few years.
Lawyer Milloy
November 22nd, 2010
7:29 am
Don’t forget about me Kurt!
dean
November 22nd, 2010
8:02 am
Good win yesterday. But…does anyone else get the feeling the Falcons are playing up/down to the competition?
SRF
November 22nd, 2010
8:14 am
I like the Falcons but I really cannot see them beating Green Bay or Philly. The Giants have amazing speed on defense and they could not cover the Philly receivers. You saw what Philly did to us a few weeks ago – in the playoffs they will beat us twice as bad.
PHIL
November 22nd, 2010
8:18 am
I am a Matt Ryan fan. BUT he made 3 bad plays in the red zone today that cost us three TD’s and that can’t happen against a good team if they expect to win. He threw a very short pass to TG at the 5 that was thrown too hard for any human to grab. Next trip down he didn’t see him uncovered in the endzone. Next trip he tried to make up for that mistake by throwing it to TG who was blanketed by 3 Rams. Those mistakes can’t continue to be made and also beat good teams.
THE SPORTS UNION: For Sports Fans by Sports Fans!
November 22nd, 2010
8:22 am
[...] swarming defense kept Steven Jackson under control (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Falcons middle linebacker Curtis Lofton led the Falcons in tackles with eight against the St. [...]
Joycee Banicheck
November 22nd, 2010
8:30 am
Since Fox Charlotte decided to show the flippin’ Saints game and I had company in town I was unable to watch the Falcons/Rams at a bar so please bear with me…
Did I see on a “gamebreak” that #23 for the Falcons got burnt for another TD??? Please, someone tell my eyes were playing tricks on me. What is the breakdown on performance between #23 and #20 this season on coverage, TDs, yards after catch, etc.??
Some “shutdown” corner he has been. He’s pretty much one step away from being Big Play Ray.
stendek
November 22nd, 2010
8:43 am
Worth another glance…
http://stendec7.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/falcons-butt-rams-34-17-in-saint-louis/
SRF
November 22nd, 2010
8:44 am
Dunta is just one step above placing a tackling dummy in front of the receiver and hoping that he will trip.
Joe Tess Fish House
November 22nd, 2010
8:52 am
So…..Where was Perrier Jerry? Same with Witherspoon. I seen him in the game, but I only seen him NOT make plays.
Way to go Atlanta First Round Busts!
Jake
November 22nd, 2010
8:55 am
The coaching staff by focusing on fast developing routes, Matt Ryan with his quick release and the O line all deserve credit for stopping cold a good defensive pass rush. –We seem to be transitioning into a pass first to set up the run team as once again Turner and the run game was ineffective early in the game. Has Harry Douglas retired? Kudos to the long snapper, holder and PK as we have one of the most consistent kickers in the conferance. Special teams had a second straight excellent game. Hope Abe recovers soon, but remember he had a groin injury after the opening Carolina game two years ago and was out three or four games. Pass rush against the Rams was ineffective without him. Ryan needs to improve in one aspect: once again he overthrew a wide open receiver White on a long pass. Defense holding Rams to 17 is a B+.
Jesse Stone
November 22nd, 2010
9:01 am
PHIL- If you want to be picky, I agree with points 2 and 3. However, an NFL player, especially one the caliber of Tony Gonzalez must make that catch.
stendek
November 22nd, 2010
9:03 am
Nice victory Falcons. Ram QB prevented TD return of 100 or so yards after key interception at end. Things were about to get really scary. Falcon secondary needs tremendous amount of improvement. Too many blown assignments and mishandled interceptions. Falcon front needs to notch up pressure on QB. With or without John Abraham. Still not completely satisfied with offensive play calling. Falcons had no business allowing Rams to continue to hang around. Final score does not indictate closeness of contest. Another Matt Ryan overthrow for TD plus Roddy White drop on third down were not factors. Would be against quality teams like Green Bay Packers or New Orleans Saints. Glad Michael Turner squeezed out over 100 yards rushing with last burst. Deserved plateau. Defense saved day again with end zone interception. Becoming a habit. On top in NFC now but one or two losses can knock Falcons into middle of pack in a hurry. So it goes. Still no respect. Oh well. STENDEK
stendek
November 22nd, 2010
9:06 am
Hi Dean. Every professional team in Atlanta seems to make that mistake. Killer instinct never been present in city teams. Best. STENDEK
Jesse Stone
November 22nd, 2010
9:41 am
Looks like Joe Tess either found his spell check or posted under the wrong moniker by mistake.
North FLA Falcon
November 22nd, 2010
10:21 am
You guys who are giving kudos to the special teams did not watch the game that I did … another STUPID step out of bounds penalty, more long returns, and then we almost got called for having an “illegal wedge” on our longest return of the day — the announcers pointed this out and were expecting a call on it. Gotta lock down our special teams play. Teams that go deep in the playoffs take care of this stuff.
RockyMtnFalcon
November 22nd, 2010
10:24 am
I LOVE my Falcons, don’t get me wrong, but if we gave up two touchdowns to a rookie QB, what is our pass defense gonna look like vs. Aaron Rodgers? Our pass defense has to get better. We can not afford to allow big plays vs. Green Bay. Crowd noise needs to be loud, our defensive front needs to pressure Rodgers and our safeties and corner backs better be covering the WR’s and TE’s like a blanket! Our defense better step it up a couple of notches if we plan on keeping the best record in the NFC and NFC South!
Joe Tess Fish House
November 22nd, 2010
10:25 am
@ Jesse
Eitehr tlak football or leave. No need 2 call me names.
FrontRow
November 22nd, 2010
10:30 am
@ North FLA Falcon – Special teams were solid. The one long punt return should have been flagged….Weems was clearly being held at the point. The illegal touch was not a penalty….the refs picked up the flag during the TV timeout and the Rams started right where the ball was touched.
The Rams did what they could (nice young disciplined team) but they got mauled by a better team.
FalconsFan284
November 22nd, 2010
10:32 am
Joe Tess—–Peria Jerry made a huge play to stop Steven Jackson from making a third down run. He looked pretty good despite not being out there the entire game; which is the only way you would stop calling him a bust.
As for Sean WEATHERSPOON, it was his first game back from a knee injury. What did you expect?
JONESBORO SLIM
November 22nd, 2010
10:33 am
Some of you fans (or what ever you are) are to %$#@@ sorry…”you keep drinking the Kool-Aid of ESPN, NFL Nework, Mike and Mike, desk top analyst, and sorry a$$ sports writers who have never played a down…..If I remember last year we beat a good Jets team in New York…and then you scare to death because the Ravens were coming to town to beat our BUTTS….so for you sorry doubtful so call Falcons fans check and FEEL if you still have some BA*&S…….
North FLA Falcon
November 22nd, 2010
10:42 am
Move the Green Bay game to 4:15. Let the fans get home from church, down to the Dome, get all likkered up and then make it LOUD for Mr. Rodgers.
Fish Bisch
November 22nd, 2010
10:55 am
Nobody cares about the Falcons. The media is gushing over Green Bay, The New York Jets, and The Patriots.
JONESBORO SLIM
November 22nd, 2010
11:00 am
@KOOL-AID drinkers…
Green Bay is not all that….keep in mind they have no running game… they’re one dimensional that makes playing them a little easier…so just have your BUTT at the “ICE HOUSE” Sunday making as much noise there as you do on this blog….let me know if you and your party would like to join me in my suite with food and drinks…..
Ueeediot
November 22nd, 2010
11:05 am
Dude, I am at every game! I would love to see the inside of a GA Dome suite!
ueeediot@yahoo.com
JONESBORO SLIM
November 22nd, 2010
11:19 am
@ Ueeediot and Everybody else
I been informed that its not my week to have the “Timeshare” suite at the Dome…but I’ll let all of you know when its is…..I’m sorry.
Ueeediot
November 22nd, 2010
11:21 am
oh well, the dream lives on…
Joe Tess Fish House
November 22nd, 2010
11:24 am
@ Falconfan284
Witherspoon is a first round pick. I expect more better then he is giving us. He is a bust. Plane and simple.
Lagunadawg
November 22nd, 2010
11:36 am
If Atlanta beats Green Bay and Chicago beats Philly this week it’s possible neither Green Bay or Philly will make the playoffs. The wild cards will be either Atlanta or New orleans and most likely Tampa Bay.I would love that to happen. I think Chicago and New York win their divisions.
Ken Strickland
November 22nd, 2010
11:57 am
Remember during the off season when everyone was all up in the air about getting rid of WR MJenkins, or replace him with HDouglas, as well as replace CB BGrimes and DT/DE JAnderson? Can you now see how stupid it is to make snap judgements based on emotions and/or uninformed opinions?
OC MMularkey has certainly opened up the OFF, and we’re clicking. The only thing that keeps the Falcons from being considered an elite team by the masses is our DEF. While we certainly have the talent to be an elite DEF team, we don’t have enough experience.
Other than DE JAbraham, DT JBabineaux and OLB MPeterson, none of our starters have 4yrs of experience, and the same goes for the majority of our backups. This is expecially true when it comes to the interior of our DL. DT CPeters is a rookie, DT PJerry is essentially inhis rookie yr, due to missing virtually all of last season, DT VWalker is in his 2nd yr, and DT/DE JAnderson is in his 4th yr and really coming on strong. OLB SWeatherspoon is a rookie, SNickolas is in he 3rd yr, and SAdkins is in his 2nd yr. This is essentially FS WMoore’s rookie yr, due to missing all of last yr due to an injury, and SS TDeCoud is in his 3rd yr. CB BGrimes is in his 3rd yr, COwens his 2nd yr and DFranks his rookie yr.
Due to youth and lack of experience, the Atlantal Falcons DEF has a tremendous amount of room for growth, and will continue getting better as a result. We just need to add more depth.
FrontRow
November 22nd, 2010
12:06 pm
Do you have to wear a tie and jacket in a suite?
If you ever catch me wearing a tie to a football game, shoot me.
dbird1
November 22nd, 2010
12:18 pm
Joe,
“Witherspoon is a first round pick. I expect more better then he is giving us. He is a bust. Plane and simple.”
what are you talking about. “give us” you are not a falcons fan. you talk garbage all day long. repeat the same junk about players who are busts. you have no idea what you are talking about. from the true fans to you, LEAVE. NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU THINK
Justin
November 22nd, 2010
12:39 pm
The Falcons are playing to their competition, and that’s fine as long as they keep finding ways to win. If this, if that…..there are few COMPLETE teams in the NFL, so here’s my IF……Give us and sho nuff shut down corner…..not another D. Hall (his big head won’t let him be as good as he can be.) Even if it’s someone older like a Charles Woodson with a couple of good years left in him. Someone to teach the younger guys. I like our D line, but they are young. Is Abraham a big help to these guys in the locker room? I’m not knocking him, it’s an honest question because I don’t know…
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.