Struggling Falcons survive turnovers, Cards in 23-19 victory
11812 ATLANTA: Falcons defenders Stephen Nicholas (from left), Thomas DeCoud, John Abraham and Kroy Biermann line up to pass rush the Cardinals during 2nd half action at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. CURTIS COMPTON / CCOMPTON@AJC.COM
This time, the Falcons got that scrawny little yard when they needed it the most.
On a day when they were clearly not at their best, the Falcons imposed their will over the struggling Arizona Cardinals. After his team trailed all day, running back Michael Turner marched into the end zone from a yard out midway through the fourth quarter to lead the Falcons to a 23-19 victory Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons improved to 9-1 despite Matt Ryan throwing a career-high five interceptions. The last time the Falcons won while committing at least five turnovers came 25 years ago against the Los Angeles Rams.
“I can tell you that we can’t turn the ball over the way we turned the ball over today,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “You can’t be minus-four in turnovers. Normally you’re not going to win those games.”
With six games to play, the Falcons have three-game lead over the Buccaneers in the NFC South and a four-game game lead over the Saints. The Panthers, who are 2-8, are out of the title race.
Atlanta trailed 13-0 early in this one and was down 19-16 inside the last seven minutes. They embarked on the decisive drive knowing that last week, with the game on the line in New Orleans, Turner was stuffed on a third-and-goal from the 1. A fourth-down pass to Roddy White was batted down in the 31-27 loss.
The Falcons had a dramatic meeting this week about their short-yardage woes.
“I don’t want to get into the specifics of it, but when it came down to that segment, there was some serious talk,” Turner said. “We felt embarrassed that we couldn’t get it done. Coach (Smith) just reminded us that’s the time that you have to dig down deep and give it all that you’ve got.”
The offensive line also accepted the challenge.
“(Offensive coordinator) Dirk (Koetter) called the run (on the last touchdown),” center Todd McClure said. “He had faith in us and we got it done.”
The Falcons also picked up a key third-and-2 while they were trying to run out the clock. Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 6 yards near the two-minute mark, settling the issue.
“That confidence is going to go a long way with this group,” McClure said.
The accomplishment of Turner’s run, in the wake of how the team lost its only game thus far, was not lost upon Smith.
“We were able to get some movement and we were able to get that precious 1 yard,” Smith said. “They are hard to come by. It was blocked correctly. The offensive line did a nice job and Michael was able to step in.”
The Falcons did not appear ready to play against the Cardinals, who were coming off their bye week and had dropped fifth straight games. Though the Cardinals converted Ryan’s first interception into a touchdown just 66 seconds into the game, the Falcons limited Phoenix to just two field goals following the other four picks.
“I just felt like our energy wasn’t there,” White said. “I felt that we came out flat. We can’t have another one of these episodes, I’ll tell you that.”
Veteran linebacker Mike Peterson noticed a lax attitude early and called the team out during pregame warmups.
“We have to get ourselves mentally ready to play,” said White, who finished with eight catches for 123 yards. “I don’t think we came in thinking that we had to be on our A-game. That was part of it.”
With the five interceptions, Ryan had a passer rating of 40.5.
“Part of playing this position in this league is knowing that there will be times when you make mistakes and fall flat on your face,” said Ryan, who completed 28 of 46 passes for 301 yards. “You just have to get up and keep playing.”
After Ryan’s fifth interception, the defense had to hold the Cardinals on last time. On fourth-and-3 from the Atlanta 24 with 3:13 left, a pass intended for Larry Fitzgerald was thrown incomplete.
Thanks to a defensive score — defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux ran back a recovered fumble — and three Matt Bryant field goals, the Falcons tied it 16-16 at halftime.
Ryan’s fourth interception led to a 27-yard Cardinals field goal for a 19-16 lead with 14:56 to play.
After an exchange punts, Ryan, shaking off one of his worst days, drove the Falcons 69 yards in six plays, Turner slamming into the end zone on the seventh play.
Nearly lost in the shuffle: the victory clinched the Falcons’ fifth straight winning season.
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93 comments Add your comment
Dogmatic meme
November 18th, 2012
8:55 pm
& his mom dresses him funny
Dogmatic meme
November 18th, 2012
9:02 pm
I bet the bowtie covers up
Dogmatic meme
November 18th, 2012
9:03 pm
a pearl necklace
Just wanna know
November 18th, 2012
9:06 pm
I agree with everything most of you said. If i was the coach of the falcons after every practice this week that is if they practice but afterwards I would make every player sit in the film room and watch each of the blow out games just so they can see how very good teams play other teams even the games that was a mismatch the good teams each player played like there jobs depended on what they did the last play. The way the Falcona act and play, unless the other team scores they play like the game is at hand. Come on Mike teach them the killer instincts and play every play like its the last your going to play. I got tired of all the announcers saying this and that player was signed earlier in the week because that team wasnt very good a one aspect of the game the way I see it we need a good defensive tackle that can clog the center of the line and a Linebacker that can play even when he isn’t 100% . Look at Suggs he had a torn achillies tendon out for the year and he is playing lights out. What is wrong with you Witherspoon?!?!
Hiramsaint
November 18th, 2012
9:12 pm
Good job by the Falcons today. It was a good win. I went to church.
Gmac13
November 18th, 2012
9:22 pm
Enter your comments here
Ray
November 18th, 2012
9:35 pm
IT’s a combination of O-line and Running game
Great Running backs are able to create holes maybe not all the time, but sometimes.
9-1 We are sort of elite, but remember this Texans and 49ers plus Chicago have all struggled at some point.
I mean come on Jacksonville REALLY!!!! Texans gave up 37 and had to go into Overtime to beat them.
JSS
November 18th, 2012
9:49 pm
Enter your comments here
Falcons > Everyone
November 18th, 2012
9:52 pm
I don’t care how bad we played today, because we’re still going to win the whole damn thing.
Rise Up.
Loserville USA
November 18th, 2012
9:58 pm
Get Julio and Spoon healthy for the playoffs.
Team with healthy Julio is the only one that can win in the playoffs. This one is toast.
Gmac13
November 18th, 2012
10:34 pm
Same ole’ Falcons as 2010. They should be blowing these lesser opponents out and they barely squeak by week after week. Yes, even the elite teams struggle once in a while, but not each week. Never thought I would be saying this, especially this year, but maybe Matt Ryan isn’t the answer especially when it comes to the playoffs…any chance Luke or Dominique gets a look if this kind of crap happens again (especially in a playoff game).
DR. FALCON
November 18th, 2012
10:41 pm
OOH WELL, A WIN, AIS A WIN! SH@#T! WE’RE 9-1! BOTTOM LINE!
DR. FALCON
November 18th, 2012
10:43 pm
MY GUESS IS: MATT RYAN WON’T THROW 5 INT’S IN A GAME FOR 5 YEARS! SUPPORT OUR QB!
Falcon James
November 18th, 2012
11:06 pm
Gmac13= Don’t know where you would think Ryan is in trouble with his job. He is ranks 5th in the entire league. I think even with his pathetic performance today, he will still be in the Top 5. I would however like to see the team do something with Turner. That being said, the first 3rd and 1 we had today, they gave it to Snelling and guess what happened? Loss on the play. I think it is a safe bet that we will see no major personnel changes for the rest the season. This offseason, I bet we see a bunch of changes on the OLine and the Running Backs.
Falcons: Play 60!
November 18th, 2012
11:08 pm
“On a day they they were clearly not their best”
this statement is becoming a scary trend …… you just get the feeling that their luck of winning these close home games is going to end in predicable January fashion
Mike
November 18th, 2012
11:19 pm
Matt Ryan had a bad game today. I was there and I was not happy as a lot of fans were as well. A WIN IS A WIN . If Brady or Rogers or Manning had a game like Matt did today , everyone would say that they would bounce back and give them a pass. Give Matt a pass. We are 9-1 and this isn’t good enough for you people . Give me a break. It wasn’t long ago that we were 2-12 , Remember those days ? So relax and RISE UP.
Mora less Petrino
November 19th, 2012
12:08 am
Baltimore just played a bad game and won! Only 200 yards of offense. Just 47 rushing. I bet their fans are on the Ravens blogs right now discussing all on the problems their Birds have despite being 8-2.
FalconJim
November 19th, 2012
12:47 am
Relax, guys….just a bump in the road. We STILL got the win (even though we had to take a “Mulligan”), and I feel like our best play is ahead of us.
I feel good about this team, especially when we get Spoon back, and a healthy Julio.
GO, YOU DIRTY BIRDS!!! RISE UP!!!!!
MarkATL
November 19th, 2012
1:12 am
I think it is time to bring back a good FB like Ovie. He was a main reason why Turner was running so well. A good FB would solve a lot of problems for the running game!
WhoDat4Eva
November 19th, 2012
2:48 am
Q: What do you call an Atlanta Falcon with a Super Bowl ring?
A: A thief.
WhoDat4Eva
November 19th, 2012
2:50 am
Q: What do the Atlanta Falcons and Billy Graham have in common?
A: They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell “Jesus Christ”.
Esquire
November 19th, 2012
5:09 am
“Coach (Smith) just reminded us that’s the time that you have to dig down deep and give it all that you’ve got.”
***************************************
I was kinda hopin’ you guys were doing that every play…………you know, like 110%.
Michael M.
November 19th, 2012
5:41 am
Some of you are just hilarious with the comments……………………..okay, you got to listen and wake up……….All season long we have had problems with the run game. The Cards knew that and their game-plan was to attack the passing offense and they almost did the job and whipped the Falcons.
The only problem was………..they forgot about the Atlanta defense and when they needed to score Atlanta would shut them down. When you take the ball away form the opponent 4 or 5 times in a ballgame you suppose to be able to beat em but in this case, the defense of Atlanta stood pretty strong and was able to keep the score close enough that all it took was a late drive to seal the deal!
So Matt had a bad day, its no big deal when you win and hold the best record in the NFC. Only the Texans have the same record in the NFC. The only game the Falcons lost was the Caints game and it was just a point win for the nasty good for nuthin Aints and Atlanta had opportunity after opportunity to beat em in that one.
Be proud of what the Atlanta Falcons have done this year and stop the crap trash talk about the Team and stop listening well reading this garbage that these good for nothing trolls spit out on their keyboards. They just looking for something to spew out the garbage on here about.
Atlanta Falcons are 9 – 1 and not even looking behind em in the NFC South and next week Tampa Bay is next on the list to go down. Josh Freeman isn’t as hot as he is being played on the highlight reels boys………………………………and that is a REal Wrap ! ! !
Esquire
November 19th, 2012
6:09 am
So it turns out Ray Edwards got the boot for being an island in the locker room. Certainly you heard about this DLed and just couldn’t report it to keep your sources intact. And his release was supposed to ignite this team?. Well that fuse went fizzle. But…………..the defense played a great game except for a couple of runs and some special teams failures. They really didn’t have to defend the pass because even when not pressured the Cards QB’s had little accuracy. Maybe Ryan needs some lifts put in his cleats………….how many balls did he have batted at the line of scrimmage? 6 turnovers…………even other lesser teams would have won this game. Christmas came early to the Cardinals and yet could only score 13 points on turnover opportunities. No, this isn’t the Falcons team we think we know but if this is what shows up in Tampa next Sunday we are coming home 9-2.
Except for that pass bouncing off of Roddy and becoming Ryan’s first interception of the game White had a good game. Jacquizz and Douglas had good games too. Matt Bryant put 11 points on the board for us, nailed that 51 yarder! Note to Matt Ryan: What the hell was that?
Esquire
November 19th, 2012
6:16 am
Falcons Offense
PTS 27.4 (7th) YDS 385.2 (6th) PASS YDS 292.6 (4th) RUSH YDS 92.7 (26th)
Tampa Defense
PTS 23.2 (18th) YDS 401.4 (31st) PASS YDS 321.3 (32nd) RUSH YDS 80.1 (1st)
Tampa Offense
PTS 28.9 (3rd)YDS 365.6 (13th) PASS YDS 240.9 (15th) RUSH YDS 124.7 (11th)
Atlanta Defense
PTS 19.3 (6th) YDS 365.6 (21st) PASS YDS 235.8 (20th) RUSH YDS 129.8 (25th)
Report card: Falcons’ grades for ugly win over Cardinals | Atlanta Falcons
November 19th, 2012
6:20 am
[...] Struggling Falcons survive turnovers, Cardinals in 23-19 victory [...]
Whadda Ya Know?
November 19th, 2012
6:53 am
Falcons aren’t going anywhere with Smitty at the helm. This team is just soft and lacks killer instinct because the HC is soft and lacks killer instinct. Maybe they need to let Nolan talk to the team and Smitty sit in the background like the little B he is.
Whadda Ya Know?
November 19th, 2012
6:57 am
And when are they going to get rid of the team clown Decoud? He’s completely worthless, out of position all the time, and tackling air. This team is talking garbage to teams when they need to act like grown men and play tough, physical football. But they’re just a finesse team instead and not very good at it. This is actually the luckiest 9-1 team I’ve ever seen. No more slouch teams on the schedule. We’ll see what these “fools gold” are made of.
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November 19th, 2012
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[...] Struggling Falcons survive turnovers, Cards 11812 ATLANTA: Falcons defenders Stephen Nicholas (from left), Thomas DeCoud, John Abraham & Kroy Biermann line up to pass rush the Cardinals during 2nd half action at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Sunday, November 18, 2012. CURTIS COMPTON … Read more on Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) [...]
Wendell
November 19th, 2012
3:52 pm
Thanks for the heads up on this blog d-led: dirtybirdrock.blogspot.com
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