The Falcons’ domination, adroit Asante and one great play
Good coverage, but a better throw by Matt Ryan and catch by Tony G. (AP photo by Rich Addicks)
This post is an adjunct to the game column, which can be found by clicking here.
1. Stem to stern, that’s the most impressive Atlanta Falcons regular-season performance I’ve seen — and I’ve been following them since 1984. My standard for prove-it games has long been the 41-10 road thrashing of the Patriots on Nov. 8, 1998, and the 1998 Birds wound up in the Super Bowl. This year’s victory in Philadelphia ahead of Hurricane Sandy was the most comprehensive I’d covered since, but that one paled alongside this, which featured domination literally from the first. The Giants’ David Wilson chose to return the opening kickoff from six yards deep in the end zone, and reserve defensive end Cliff Matthews tackled him on the 13. Two plays later, the Falcons had the ball. Four plays after that, they had the lead.
2. That’s why the Falcons wanted Asante Samuel. Not only did the cornerback jump the route on Eli Manning’s first pass and then gather in the deflected ball, he also talked Mike Smith into challenging a third-quarter catch by tight end Marcellus Bennett that turned out, after further review, not to have been a catch at all. Afterward the irrepressible Samuel was asked if this game wasn’t an indication that the Falcons are the NFL’s best team, and he said: “I’m not really worried about that. Keep the haters hating. We like playing with a chip on our shoulder.”
3. The first-quarter touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Tony Gonzalez was beautiful on both ends. Ryan stood in and stepped up against heavy pressure from the fearsome Osi Umenyiora — “That’s the best front four in the National Football League,” Smith would say afterward — and threw a laser only Gonzalez could have caught. “He actually had good coverage,” Gonzalez said, speaking of safety Will Hill, but Gonzalez runs the post as well as any tight end ever, and he jumps like no tight end ever. He rose and snatched the ball, and the Falcons led 14-0.
Further reading: A Super sign? The Falcons have flummoxed three elite QB’s.
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
57 comments Add your comment
AtlanGa Faldawgs
December 17th, 2012
12:12 pm
Giants had a bad game yesterday…Falcons had a bad game vs, Carolina a week ago…neither result matters really…show me something in the second round of the playoffs…until then, yawn…
PaulWinchester
December 17th, 2012
12:31 pm
I hope that the fans dont lose sight of the fact that although the falcons have a steller 12-2 record, the truth of the matter is that, that record could have been a lot worse had it not been for some incredible heroics by the team, coupled with incredible luck. Our record could have easily have been 9-5 or 8-6 right now, but we managed to win just about all the close games with the exception of the first saints game and the last carolina game. Other than that the Falcons have had almost a perfect season. This season is starting to feel much like our 1998 season where the falcons went 14-2 and actually made the superbowl. Its unfortunate but most media outlets have disrespected the Falcons and are acting as though they have never been in the superbowl. The Falcons should win a superbowl this year, simply because there are no dominant teams out there to speak of other than the 49ers, Patriots, Packers, Texans, Falcons, Steelers, Cowboys, Redskins, Ravins and Colts. These are the best 10 teams in the league and they should all make the playoffs and somebody will emerge out of that group and become SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS. I think it is our turn just due to the fact of the way the ball has bounced for us this season. This season has been every bit as magical as our 1998 superbowl season. The only difference I see is that this time if we get into the superbowl, I expect us to win it easily like we pasted the giants yesterday afternoon whitewashing them 34-0.
Grumps
December 17th, 2012
12:57 pm
Everybody’s talking about Ryan and Jones and Gonazlez. What happened yesterday was the Falcons finally started blocking and tackling. The offensive line gave Turner some holes to run through — something I haven’t seen all season. The defense actually put some real pressure on the quarterback. I haven’t seen much of that either this season. And the tackling was great — not “put out your arm and let him run through it.” It was good, solid hitting, the initial tackler wrapped the guy up and then 27 (ok, 5 or 6) other guys jumped in.
Don’t get me wrong. The pitch and catch game was awesome. Ryan placed the ball extremely well. I don’t remember any seriously bad drops by the receivers. And once Turner got going, he was really hard to stop. As was Rogers.
Terrific game.
Grumps
December 17th, 2012
12:57 pm
Everybody’s talking about Ryan and Jones and Gonazlez. What happened yesterday was the Falcons finally started blocking and tackling. The offensive line gave Turner some holes to run through — something I haven’t seen all season. The defense actually put some real pressure on the quarterback. I haven’t seen much of that either this season. And the tackling was great — not “put out your arm and let him run through it.” It was good, solid hitting, the initial tackler wrapped the guy up and then 27 (ok, 5 or 6) other guys jumped in.
Don’t get me wrong. The pitch and catch game was awesome. Ryan placed the ball extremely well. I don’t remember any seriously bad drops by the receivers. And once Turner got going, he was really hard to stop. As was Rogers.
Terrific game.
Grumps
December 17th, 2012
1:00 pm
Sorry about the double post. My browser is doing funky things today.
A Super sign? The Falcons have flummoxed three elite QB’s | Mark Bradley
December 17th, 2012
1:17 pm
[...] reading: The Falcons’ domination, adroit Asante and one great play. By Mark [...]
warfalcon
December 18th, 2012
2:00 pm
ONE GAME AT A TIME ,LETS GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!