The Falcons lose a close one but again find a quarterback
Tony Gonzalez rises above Michael Boley and sends it to overtime. (AP photo)
East Rutherford, N.J. — The Falcons lost a game but saved a season. If that sounds convoluted … well, try this: On the day the Falcons fell to 5-5, they nonetheless demonstrated why this will be that forever-sought second consecutive winning season.
Or this: The Falcons lost a game but found a quarterback.
The first half was wretched. It ended with the Falcons down 17-7 but was far more distressing than that. The defense was awful, which we’ve come to expect, and Matt Ryan was just as bad, which has become a recent phenomenon. But in the second half things changed: The defense was still bad, but the Iceman again, er, cameth.
Ryan in the first half: Six completions in 11 attempts with a long gain of 18 yards, two sacks, one fumble. Ryan in the second: Twenty completions in 35 attempts, two touchdowns, no turnovers, no sacks. The first half he looked like a rookie, and this is the guy who never looked like a rookie when he was one. The second half he looked like a pro.
Said Tony Gonzalez, who caught seven second-half passes including the overtime-inducing touchdown with 28 seconds left in regulation: “There’s definitely some confidence to be taken from this.” And then: “It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t have gotten the ball [to start OT]. ”
Well, yes. The Falcons lost the coin toss — for the second time Sunday, Ryan called “tails”; he was 0-for-2 on coin tosses — and never touched the ball again except when Michael Koenen’s toe met leather. The Giants moved expeditiously, as you figured they would. (New York gained 456 yards on the day, 384 on Eli Manning’s passes.) And that was that. Game effort in a big game but ultimately a loss.
But not totally a loss. At halftime it was possible to see the Falcons as a a team going way wrong. They’d lost three of four after starting 4-1, and now they were playing as if overmatched and overwhelmed. Even with a kind schedule the rest of the way, there was no guarantee this team playing this way would break .500, let alone slide into the playoffs.
The second half, however, made us rethink. This defense won’t ever be anything of substance, but this offense still has that potential. The Falcons won’t play a better defense than New York’s, and at some point Michael Turner will return.
Matt Ryan returned Sunday. He played scared in the first half. Nobody associated with the Falcons would admit as much, but there seemed no other explanation. Having thrown 10 interceptions over the past five games, he was unwilling to risk throwing anything chancy, anything deep. The result was an offense that dared little and still yielded a turnover when Ryan held it too long.
The second half was a transformation. Said Roddy White: “We knew we had to go out and score. And we were on the field so long the defense got tired.”
These were the Falcons’ second-half possession: Touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown — all on drives of 63 yards or longer. Ryan was again letting it fly, stepping into the teeth of the mighty Giant rush. Said Gonzalez: “We were on a roll. We moved the ball up and down the field.”
If this season is to be saved, the offense must do the saving. On Sunday the offense surged from 14 points back to force a fifth quarter. And that offense playing that way can still hoist this team to 10-6 and a wild card.
Said Ryan: “As a quarterback, you have to continue to play the way you’re supposed to play.” His perseverance bore fruit Sunday. He fought through the first downturn of his NFL career and nearly conjured up an astonishing victory.
He’ll be fine now. His team — the offensive part, anyway — will be fine, too. “There are no moral victories,” Ryan said, but on this he was wrong.
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384 comments Add your comment
JSS
November 22nd, 2009
7:57 pm
Poor BugKiller…
Now he has even dragged the old reliables of the daffy minded into his team being 500% into it… Oh my, it is the boogie man, Barak Obama!!! Hides them women, hides the babies, hides the dead dog buried at Sanford Stadium (bless his genetically altered little heart), and let’s go hide our money in a off shore bank!!! MSNBC, ha ha, I watch PBS, bet that scares you even more now!!! SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSShhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
Tell it like it is
November 22nd, 2009
7:57 pm
As a fan of the falcons, you and i know we are not going to the playoffs.and if we are not going to the playoffs what else matters?Thats why they play the game. as far as this fan i don’t care aout moral victorys i don’t care about back to back winning seasons i care about being a playoff team.
Atlanta Peach
November 22nd, 2009
7:58 pm
Vengence is mine saith the Lord, I will repay ! If I were you Choke, I would ask for forgiveness. Say he won’t strike you down, I dare you too!
M.Bradley
November 22nd, 2009
7:59 pm
Im on the phone now calling Vick. I dont know what the F_CK I was thinking. I gotta get some help!
Atlanta Peach
November 22nd, 2009
8:00 pm
4 give Dezz Nuttz! would you do that for me?
BugKiller
November 22nd, 2009
8:00 pm
JSS… see, now your lies and negativity make MUCH more sense.
And again, not one fact or truth in ANYTHING you say.
You almost make this too easy.
Atlanta Peach
November 22nd, 2009
8:01 pm
Also Choke, you may not want to mess with the Lord”s people. He don’t take kindly to that.
Springman
November 22nd, 2009
8:01 pm
Have we seen;
1) a secondary as outmatched / under coached? (plus we let the Saints grab McCalister when they got short handed @ DB)
2) a gutsier, smarter performance by a Falcon QB as seen in 2nd half?
3) an ‘O guy’ like Snelling ever standin and stepup like that ?
4) enough evidence that the no huddle really works for this team ( and yes we know it speeds up the game but, duh, my stats show the offense actually stays on the field longer thus giving the ‘D’
more time to rest.
Matt "Choke" Ryan
November 22nd, 2009
8:02 pm
JSS
November 22nd, 2009
7:57 pm
Poor BugKiller…
Now he has even dragged the old reliables of the daffy minded into his team being 500% into it… Oh my, it is the boogie man, Barak Obama!!! Hides them women, hides the babies, hides the dead dog buried at Sanford Stadium (bless his genetically altered little heart), and let’s go hide our money in a off shore bank!!! MSNBC, ha ha, I watch PBS, bet that scares you even more now!!! SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSShhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
“Spermkiller is a whining little girl”
M.Bradley
November 22nd, 2009
8:02 pm
OK guys, Vick says he interested. Now I got to figure out what to do with Mattie Lice… Does anybody have a number to ebay?
Eman
November 22nd, 2009
8:02 pm
Mark, I am not saying that we need to buy every good player like the Yankees. The falcons should have address the DBs situation. We all knew that this was the weakness on this team! Addressing the problem, with rookies will not help. I would have search for a trade or sign a free agent. The most important positions in football are the D-Line and secondary. The falcons did not address neither!! I love TG but we did not really need him!! Matt looks for him to much. We need to draft a TE next year and now we do not have a second round pick.
Nothing about this team is exciting!!! Sorry but the Hawks will win a championship before the Falcons. I rather spend my money watching a young and exciting team rather than a boring team,
Skippy
November 22nd, 2009
8:03 pm
Somebody find Tim Mazetti!!
DirtyBird
November 22nd, 2009
8:03 pm
Mike Smith, please get rid of Jason Elam…he’s done
JUST SAYING
November 22nd, 2009
8:03 pm
So your offense goes down field to tie the score and send game into overtime just for this defense (ha ha) to suck again? I hope this off season Blank opens his checkbook for some real players in that secondary.
GO HAWKS!!!! (Time to focus on the real winners in this city)
Mary Wanna
November 22nd, 2009
8:04 pm
MB – you let CHOKE TROLL hijack your blog and delete my post for an “illegal use of hands” joke? What kind of show are you running around here? I’m starting to think that CHOKE TROLL is Ledbetter in disguise…
Jesse Tuggle
November 22nd, 2009
8:04 pm
Boy Mike Vick is doing a good job holding down the Bench.If he was in Atlanta now he would be the scout team QB. He is a never-was. Go Falcons.
Matt "Choke" Ryan
November 22nd, 2009
8:06 pm
M.Bradley
November 22nd, 2009
8:02 pm
OK guys, Vick says he interested. Now I got to figure out what to do with Mattie Lice… Does anybody have a number to ebay?
“I just contacted EBAY” They said they don’t accept rejected damaged goods
JSS
November 22nd, 2009
8:06 pm
Tell It Like It Is…
Yep, it is sad but true… Oh but that is being “negative!” Heaven forbid, you tell the truth on the internet!!!
falcon21
November 22nd, 2009
8:06 pm
MB, do us a favor and get choke the hell out of here!!!
Atlanta Peach
November 22nd, 2009
8:07 pm
I knew you were smart Choke, I knew you would not mock the Lord. He will and shall repay you for you’re haterd. You better ask for forgiveness day and night.
Mark Richt
November 22nd, 2009
8:07 pm
I know what some of you are thinking… My poor coaching caused UGA to die. That may be true, Im not the smartest guy in the world, but I like to blame my sorry azzse on other people. I was going to blame it on my mom or Martinez, but I come up with this
Michael Vick killed UGA,! He heard I was going to make UGA a backup quarter back and that Mark Bradley was going to get UGA a job when they fire Mattie lice this year. Vick heard about it and killed UGA. Hes going to do some time for this. Mark, get PETA on the phone. That was a great Idea Mark.
JUST SAYING
November 22nd, 2009
8:09 pm
White people want Ryan and black people want Vick (don’t really know why). It is like the Chander / Vick feud all over again. At some point people you need to let the whole Mike Vick thing go. He had potential to be one of the greats but it did not work out. Move on!
Manning went through the same thing when he first came to the Giants and he turned into a pretty decent starting QB I would say. Our problem right now is no defense. Fix that crap first!
Atlanta Peach
November 22nd, 2009
8:09 pm
Enter your comments here
Jesse Tuggle
November 22nd, 2009
8:11 pm
“Springman”- Nice posts, Nice game Matty, Jason, Tony and Michael.
JUST SAYING
November 22nd, 2009
8:11 pm
Im glad Obama has brought this country together. (smirks)
Atlanta Peach
November 22nd, 2009
8:11 pm
I guess you know what I’m talking about.
JSS
November 22nd, 2009
8:11 pm
“You make this too easy”
If it is so easy, why can’t you do a better job with it? Oh, it is because you mentally dysfuntional!
BugKiller
November 22nd, 2009
8:11 pm
And again… the trolls have taken over the board.
AJC, I never ever thought I’d say this, but it’s time you become MORE like ESPN and for the love of God:
TAKE CARE OF YOUR FRAKKING TROLL PROBLEMS!!!
I’m off to Barbaritos or Keba to get some chow.
Have fun with the trolls, Mark.
EBAY Marketing DEPT
November 22nd, 2009
8:12 pm
We have a offer for Mattie lice, does he have problem with cleaning out stables?
JSS
November 22nd, 2009
8:13 pm
Oh let me spell check before he has a hissy fit.
D-y-s-f-u-n-c-t-i-o-n-a-l…
Matt "Choke" Ryan
November 22nd, 2009
8:13 pm
falcon21
November 22nd, 2009
8:06 pm
MB, do us a favor and get choke the hell out of here!!!
“BOO HOO HOO”
THE CHOIR
November 22nd, 2009
8:14 pm
JUST SAYING HELL NO, WE WONT GO. WHY DONT YOUR SORRY ASZE GO?
Atlanta Peach
November 22nd, 2009
8:15 pm
Pure Haterd get’s you no where but hell.
william cranman
November 22nd, 2009
8:16 pm
Hey Mark, does John Abraham still play for the Falcons?
Matt "Choke" Ryan
November 22nd, 2009
8:16 pm
EBAY Marketing DEPT
November 22nd, 2009
8:12 pm
We have a offer for Mattie lice, does he have problem with cleaning out stables?
“No but his arm gets tired easily”
Bodog
November 22nd, 2009
8:18 pm
So Kane337, How do YOU propose they change OT rules? Have the QB’s or DB’s run out onto the field & arm wrestle? ****LOL!
Capt. Obvious
November 22nd, 2009
8:18 pm
I’m so frustrated, I couldn’t even read all of my fellow fans’ blogs before commenting. A couple of things.
NO WAY YOU CAN WIN WITH MISSED FIELD GOALS AND DROPPED TOUCHDOWN PASSES! No F#@#ING WAY!!!!!
With that said;
Is anyone else noticing that we are not doing what got us here?
A) No huddle offense (granted, they did under 2 min., but who doesn’t?)
B) Screen passes (even J. Snelling would rock this!)
C) Smash mouth football! (Why didn’t we send pressure on Eli in OT? Rushing 4 on the d-frontis not/ DID NOT/ get it done.
Matt looked good in the 2nd half, but come on. Let’s get some “consistent” play calling. No reason to go deep on 2 and 8. SLANT PATTERNS, SCREEN PASSES, ( I can’t believe I’m going to say it……..” DRAW PLAY”).
On Defense, we have one of the weakest secondarys in the league. Pressure up front always helps our secondary. DO NOT EVER LET UP! We were getting to Eli; Why stop???
Elam, I can’t even say it. …..Jenkins, you’re pathetic. Either own it every Sunday, or leave. We have other players that want to play. Use them. If the guys on the field are not producing, Bench them. C’mon!! We have talent. USE IT!!!
Hoping for better days!
Cpt. Obvious.
M. BRADLEY
November 22nd, 2009
8:18 pm
I ACTUALLY PREFER VICK, BUT I WAS TOLD TO VOTE WITH THIS SORRY AZZSE POOT BUTT MATT STANKIE AZZSE LICE BECAUSE HE AND I ARE BOTH WHITE AND WE ARE TAKING THIS TOWN FROM BLACK PEOPLE.
VOTE WHITE IF YOU WANT TO BE RIGHT ON THE MAYORS ELECTION.
NO-TRIGGERS!
JSS
November 22nd, 2009
8:19 pm
Now that the little Fella has gone upstairs to get his Nana to make him a PB&J sandwich… Let’s get serious, anyone including “Choke” and those considered untouchables by the lunatics… How can the bad ship HMS Flowery Branch be righted before they end up under 500% again for a whole season?
M. BRADLEY
November 22nd, 2009
8:19 pm
THE REASON MATT LOOKED GOOD IN THE SECOND HALF IS BECAUSE HE IS HALF A QB
M. BRADLEY
November 22nd, 2009
8:20 pm
THOSE B!TCH AZZSE FALL CONS WERE SUPPOSE TO WIN A SUPER BOWL THIS YEAR. !
Vick Supporter
November 22nd, 2009
8:22 pm
Mark Bradley
November 22nd, 2009
7:34 pm
Jason Elam’s leg is tired from having to kick so many field goals, eh?
Imagine how tired it was in the second half today when the Falcons scored three touchdowns and he had to boot all those extra points.
We get it: When the Falcons win, it’s never Ryan’s doing. When they lose, it’s all his fault. We get it.
———————————————————-
Excuses, Excuses, Excuses ,lol
MV7
November 22nd, 2009
8:23 pm
I tolt yall that skinny lanky @$$ whiteboy cant play no ball!
M. BRADLEY
November 22nd, 2009
8:23 pm
william cranman NO, HE QUIT AS SOON AS I TOLD HIM MATTIE LICE WAS THE NEW QUARTER BACK. HIS COMMENTS WERE “WTF!’
JSS
November 22nd, 2009
8:24 pm
They aren’t going to get a new QB unless he goes Dany Heatley or MV, so how do we optimize his shortcomings without Turner to pound out the ground control game? Our defense spends a ton of time on the field…
Vick Supporter
November 22nd, 2009
8:25 pm
I’m smart.
I work for Crisco.
I'm Melting...
November 22nd, 2009
8:26 pm
Was I watching the same game or did Ice Ice Baby, fumble and NYG score 7 points off the fumble ultimately winning the game? Unless advance math escapes me, a missed field goal is only 3 points, but Ice’s fumble led to 7 points after the turnover. Wow…Ice Ice can do no wrong. If this had been MV7, I think Mr. Bradley’s take on the game would be a lot different.
Capt. Obvious
November 22nd, 2009
8:27 pm
To those pathetic bloggers (you know who you are). Go watch Tool Academy 2, Kardashians, or some other nonsensical show to entertain your little brains. Let’s talk FOOTBALL!
M. BRADLEY
November 22nd, 2009
8:27 pm
Vick Supporter Mattie stankie lice is white and you have no right to talk about him in that tone of voice. If you want me to answer your question first apologize, My trigger!
CHOKE -- on this
November 22nd, 2009
8:27 pm
From TMG– ESPN:
Stats of the Week No. 9:JaMarcus Russell, a quarterback taken first overall in the draft, has two touchdown passes, five lost fumbles and nine interceptions. Michael Vick, a quarterback taken first overall in the draft, has a total of 6 yards passing and a 39.6 passer rating. If every attempt by a quarterback falls to the ground incomplete, his rating is 39.6.