Texans slow down Falcons’ playoff push, 17-10
Atlanta recovered the ball after a Falcons defensive tackle Vance Walker (99) grabbed the arm of Houston Texans quarterback T.J. Yates (13), causing a fumble, in first quarter of an NFL football game on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011, in Houston. AP
HOUSTON — The Falcons’ march to the NFL playoffs suffered a setback on Sunday.
Enlarge photo Dave Einsel, AP Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) is grabbed by Houston Texans defensive end Antonio Smith (94) in the second quarter.
T.J. Yates, who played his high school football at Pope High in Marietta, led the Texans to a 17-10 victory over the Falcons before 71,545 fans at Reliant Stadium.
Yates, who made his first NFL start, received ample help from a stout defense and running back Arian Foster. The Falcons chipped in with some overthrown passes, dropped footballs and untimely penalties that helped erase two touchdowns.
“That was not the kind of performance that we want to have, especially at this point in the season,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said.
Yates, a 24-year old rookie, out-played Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who was under duress from Houston’s blitzing 3-4 defense. Yates completed 12 of 25 passes for 188 yards and one touchdown. He had a passer rating of 86.8.
Ryan, who overthrew three long passes and was intercepted twice, has had much better days. He completed 20 of 47 passes for 267 yards and one touchdown. He had a passer rating of 50.6 points.
The Texans improved to 9-3. The Falcons dropped to 7-5, and could find themselves two games behind the New Orleans Saints in the NFC South if the Saints handled the Detroit Lions in the late Sunday night game.
With four games to play, the Falcons will need the Saints to partially collapse in order to defend their NFC South title. Realistically, the Falcons are in a battle for one of the two wildcard slots with Dallas, the New York Giants, Chicago, Detroit and Seattle.
The loss was difficult for the Falcons to accept.
“We feel like this was a game that we should have dominated,” cornerback Dunta Robinson said. “I can honestly say that the only team that beat us this year was the Chicago Bears. The rest of the games, we shot ourselves in the foot, on both sides of the ball.
“If we want to be a dominant football team, we can’t beat ourselves. We are too good of a team to make some of these mistakes.”
With the score tied 10-10, Robinson was one of the culprits.
Linebacker Mike Peterson had intercepted Yates and had an apparent 32-yard touchdown. But, on the other side of the field, Robinson was in a fierce battle for inside position with Houston wide receiver Kevin Walter. Robinson was called for a holding penalty to erase the touchdown.
With a new set of downs, the Texans put together a 19-play drive. Foster capped it with a 1-yard touchdown to put the Texans ahead with just over six minutes to play.
Instead of taking a 17-10 lead on Peterson’s “touchdown” the Falcons were down.
Earlier in the game, on third and 8 from the Falcons 15, Yates was hit by defensive tackle Vance Walker. Safety James Sanders picked up the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. Even though no whistle was blown, players from both teams thought it was an incomplete pass and wandered onto the field, anticipating a Texans’ field goal attempt.
“The ruling on the field was the ball was dislodged from his hand before his hand went forward, so the fumble was ruled,” referee Bill Levy said. None of the players who wandered onto the field interfered with the play. “It was what we call a double foul after a change. What we decided to do is offset those penalties at the spot where the Atlanta player came on the field.”
Defensive end Ray Edwards was announced at the Falcons player who came onto the field, but Levy later announced there were multiple players from each side on the field.
The play was called back and instead of a touchdown, the Falcons were given the ball on their 35. Ryan was intercepted three plays later.
The Falcons started off misfiring.
Ryan missed on deep passes to Roddy White and Julio Jones on their first and third plays from scrimmage. He also was intercepted later on a flea flicker when the Falcons tried to catch the Texans’ safeties creeping up to help in the run game.
Ryan was not pleased with his game. The Texans basically dared him to beat them with some deep passes and he didn’t pull it off.
Smith said the offense played in spurts.
“We had opportunities, specifically early,” Ryan said. “We had some shots designed that were really good. I just missed on them.”
The Texans came up to stop running back Michael Turner and then tried to blitz Ryan into throwing quickly. Turner was held to 44 yards on 14 carries.
White, who had two back-to-back 100-yard games, caught four passes for 51 yards and a touchdowns.
“Our rationale coming into the game was let’s try and hit some of those balls down the field,” Ryan said. “We designed them to get one-on-one matchups with our guys and kind of pushed those safeties off. We just didn’t make enough plays. We didn’t make the plays when we needed to.”
Instead of keeping pace with the Saints and moving to the head of the playoff class, the Falcons find themselves back in the middle of the NFC pack.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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336 comments Add your comment
WTF?
December 4th, 2011
6:32 pm
So your saying that Aints fans respect their opponents? REALLY? ……REALLY?
Saints4life
December 4th, 2011
6:32 pm
Shutup atl crybabies. Your people come on our blogs and talk trash all the time. This blog isnt about cities, its about football . Most of you fans are just like your team… years away from being anything worth talking about. BELIEVE DAT!
matt
December 4th, 2011
6:33 pm
dunta robinson, roddy white, and julio jones have cost us winning GAMES this year… at last count a minimum of three. That Roddy guy drops TD passes regularly… Recal the Tampa Bay Game and also the New Orleans game. I dont think any one would be upset if the Falcons were 9-3 right now…STUPID REDNECKS dont know a thing about PRO FOOTBALL.
WTF?
December 4th, 2011
6:33 pm
F!@# DAT!
Juggernaut
December 4th, 2011
6:33 pm
anyways…good luck atl fans.
arthur i only shoot blanks
December 4th, 2011
6:35 pm
julio this aint the school yard the ex got the rest of my money catch one and my xbox is yours
Tom G
December 4th, 2011
6:35 pm
I usually do not criticize the Falcons even if they play badly but today’s game was horrible. Terrible game game and execution. A rookie 3rd string QB should have been pressured the entire game and he would have made mistakes. No pressure on him allowed him to throw for 200 yds with no INT’s. Julio Jones looked awful. He needs to learn where sideline is where he is not forced out of bounds on attempted atches, did not hustle back to huddle with 40 seconds left in game, missed catch last play of game(big time WR’s make that play), perhaps dsguisting long braids got in his eyes. CB #23 (Robinson)is awful cost one TD with his hold and probably others with his coverage, does not tackle well downfield. a complete waste of money. Ryan missed receivers wide open first of game, no guarantee they would have caught them though. Running a 250 lb RB, lateral instead of just straight is completely stupid!! He does not have that type of speed anymore(if he ever had it). Tough loss to allow 3rd string QB to defeat you, might have knocked you out of playoff hunt with that effort today.
WTF?
December 4th, 2011
6:36 pm
I assure you i don’t go NEAR anything that has to do with NARLINS’ or their sorry a$$ team the Aints!
Saints4life
December 4th, 2011
6:39 pm
Great keep it that way wtf cause we don’t need you down here. Like y’all say it’s enough trash down here already
WTF?
December 4th, 2011
6:43 pm
Your right about that Aints4life!
WTF?
December 4th, 2011
6:44 pm
Probably get HEP B just reading the news paper from there.
Tom G
December 4th, 2011
6:45 pm
Did Harvey Dahl really mean that much to our OL?? They look so different this year.
Colin
December 4th, 2011
6:47 pm
Julio seemed to check out when it mattered most on the final drive and final play. Hopefully he matures. However, his hands were never that good in college so I worry that he will never be dependable for clutch catches. Even if these guys back into the playoffs, does anybody believe we are looking at anything other than another first round exit? I am so tired of the team’s inconsistent play. Hey Arthur, please move the team to Los Angeles and put us all out of our misery!!!
Buzz
December 4th, 2011
6:51 pm
Hey Colin, I agree with you – ship the whole franchise to LA.. Better yet, let them join the Thrashers, I mean Jets, in Winnipeg.
lamac66
December 4th, 2011
6:55 pm
Oh, so now it’s the OL..lol. These problems have been here before Ryan got here but it was never a big deal until now. When the issues were raised back then it was ALL on the QB but not now huh? Selective memory and criticism.
eddy
December 4th, 2011
6:56 pm
Just not nearly enough draft picks to make the Falcons a consistent team….need OL (big, mean ol’ fat boys who can block), LBs/DL who can consistently get pressure and some DBs who are not skinny midgets. Other than that, everything is good. Julio is not the answer so far but maybe if there was a running game (OL block someone), Julio and company might be able to do some damage. On the positive side…just look at Gonzalez…the man has some hands and heart.Long way to go for Birds.
78dawg
December 4th, 2011
6:56 pm
Matt Ryan overthrew too many balls but he was hurried all day. Receivers need a gut check. When will Smith learn Turner is a liability? Unless he just pounds straight ahead with no sidesteps at all he is useless. We need a big pounding back that just runs over people and has some moves. Turner has lost it. Snelling is even better. The diva Dunta costs the team again. When are we gonna waive him? We will not make the playoffs.
Caretaker
December 4th, 2011
6:59 pm
Very poor Coaching. 3rd and 1 with minutes to play and a delay of game penalty.Every snap at the 1 sec mark.Julio was awful today, not knowing he needed to get back to the line of scrimmage with zero timeouts….
78dawg
December 4th, 2011
7:04 pm
I would ban braids if I’m Smith. They all have a diva “hood” ATTITUDE. Cut the damn braids or be gone. I can’t can’t believe we gave up next year’s draft for another braided Diva. Want more proof? Look at Isaih Crowell…
m
December 4th, 2011
7:04 pm
Who CONTINUES to lead the NFL in DROPPED PASSES??
That loser of a wide receiver named RODDY WHITE!
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:05 pm
Just like their older brothers, the braves, they too will not make the playoffs and s lesser of a end of season collapse. Falcons are 0-4 versus potential playoffs teams (Chicago, Green Bay, New Orleans, and Houston). Too bad, Detroit Lions are not going to make because Falcons can you the victory. I hope they are not going to make the playoffs because it will waste a lot of people’s time. These people are having tough time looking for jobs and not depression.
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:10 pm
Can we play the colts or Duke every game.
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:11 pm
Can we play the Colts or Duke every game?
lamac66
December 4th, 2011
7:11 pm
Oh, so now braids has something to do with falcons woes. That’s not even grasping at straws. It’s lower than that..lol. Falcons and UGA have something in common. I’ll paraphrase Steve Spurrier. ‘The state of Georgia has good players, but something happens to them when they get to UGA.”..lol. Classic Spurrier jab at UGA.
Here’s another Spurrier quote, at his Redskins introduction press conference he said “Hopefully Dallas can be our Georgia.” Ah that had me rollingLMAO.
Leeman B
December 4th, 2011
7:16 pm
Which team has a worse OC and which has the worst O?
The Dawgs or Birds? Wow, what a weekend?!!!
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:17 pm
Can Falcons play New Mexico Lobos or Indiana Hoosiers every game?
Leeman B
December 4th, 2011
7:17 pm
4 draft picks for Julio….LOL.
At least we have WRs that have great hair.
dabo
December 4th, 2011
7:19 pm
Three years ago our biggest problems were we couldn’t protect our QB and we couldn’t rush their QB. Three years later those problems haven’t been corrected!!!
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:19 pm
Can Matt Ryan throw the ball beyond 30 yards? Oh wait, yes, with 500mph wind.
Blake
December 4th, 2011
7:20 pm
SeenThisB4 Is right….LSU could beat the falcons….
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:20 pm
Is Vince Young available?
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:22 pm
When was the last time a third-string QB beat a contender? Never, because falcons are not contenders or playoffs bound team.
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:24 pm
LSU would kill the falcons, YMCA youth 7 and under, maybe.
PeachTreeCity
December 4th, 2011
7:24 pm
The Texans are a better team and have a better scheme. They don’t even have Mario Williams and that D was relentless.
MATT RYAN=AARON MURRAY
December 4th, 2011
7:24 pm
MATT NOODLEARM CHOKE RYAN = PHILLIP RIVERS
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:25 pm
The way falcons played, a dead man would single-handed destroy them.
Dawgs Man
December 4th, 2011
7:25 pm
Looking at 2 recents catches by Green Bay receivers on the game on right now tells you why they are world beaters and the Falcons are a very mediocre team.
12 men in the huddle
December 4th, 2011
7:25 pm
“I would ban braids if I’m Smith. They all have a diva “hood” ATTITUDE. Cut the damn braids or be gone. I can’t can’t believe we gave up next year’s draft for another braided Diva. Want more proof? Look at Isaih Crowell…”
….I’m wondering out loud if all that jailhouse tattoo ink has effected there brain cells…..especially since they had precious few to begin with!
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:27 pm
Matty Ice-Cold had a QB rating of 2.7 at the end of first quarter. Wow, I did not know there’s such a number.
MATT RYAN=AARON MURRAY
December 4th, 2011
7:29 pm
NOW THE RACISTS WHITES WANT BLACKMEN TO CUT THE HAIR!
BUT ITS COOL FOR WHITE PLAYERS TO HAVE LONG HAIR!
WHY DONT YOU RACISTS REDNECKS GO SMOKE SOME CRYSTAL METH,YOU DEVILWORSHIPPING HICKS!
Michael M.
December 4th, 2011
7:30 pm
After reading most all comments on here I have not saw one good thing said about today’s game…………………..lmao !
MATT RYAN=AARON MURRAY
December 4th, 2011
7:32 pm
SINCE THE RACISTS WHITES THINK THAT ALL BLACK PLAYERS ARE THUGS!
THAT MEANS ALL WHITEMEN ARE CHILDMOLESTERS LIKE PENN ST COACH AND SYRACUSE BASKETBALL COACH,IDAHO SENATOR WHO WAS LOOKING FOR MALE SEX IN AIRPORT BATHROOM!
Ms.Atl
December 4th, 2011
7:32 pm
Falcons have been inconsistent all year. What’s the most amazing is all of the non falcon fan bloggers on this site. Who does that? I mean every day every post there are saints fans on this blog dissing the falcons. I can kinda understand the texans fans since we played them today but I suspect after tonight we won’t hear from them anymore. The saints fans are azzholes. I am however hoping they beat the lions tonight.
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:34 pm
Can we trade Matt Ryan for 80th draft round pick or for some hash markers? Oh wait, hash markers are very valuable on a football field and there is no such a thing as 80th round draft pick in football.
Michael M.
December 4th, 2011
7:34 pm
Chicago lost,Dallas just lost, a few others lost and the Falcons are still on the playoffs boys so chill out
Michael M.
December 4th, 2011
7:35 pm
Yes I said STILL in the playoffs
MATT RYAN=AARON MURRAY
December 4th, 2011
7:36 pm
THE WAY THESE REDNECK HILLBILLIES ACT,NOW I SEE WHY UGA AND THE FAILCANTS(FALCANS) ARE CURSED!
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:38 pm
Michael M.
Falcons are in 7th place (look it up if you cannot read), since when the 7th place team is allowed to be in the playoffs? Who will they play, the Colts?
Falcon
December 4th, 2011
7:39 pm
Michael M,
I know you can’t read so I’m typing slow or maybe you have dyslexia (dyslexia means someone like you).
Michael M.
December 4th, 2011
7:40 pm
oh I am sorry I missed a team somewhere…watching the Packers game its tied up