EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the next two weeks AtlantaFalcons.com will review the 2008 season four games at a time. Today, we look at games five through eight. Check back next Tuesday for games nine through 12. Click here to recap the Falcons season.
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Falcons continued a brutal stretch of road games in the second quarter of the 2008 season, playing three of four games away from the friendly confines of the Georgia Dome. The team came out of the stretch with a 3-1 record, however, making another statement about its ability to win in tough locations (Lambeau Field) and dominate an opponent on the road.
Atlanta Falcons 27, Green Bay Packers 24
Lambeau Field
Week 5
On a field that's seen its share of great quarterback-receiver combinations Matt Ryan and Roddy White introduced themselves to the NFL.
The Falcons rookie quarterback and veteran wide receiver went to work at historic Lambeau Field leading their team to a 27-24 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
The game came down to fourth-quarter heroics, but overall Ryan engineered the best game of his short career, completing 16 of 26 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns. One of those scores went to White, who finished the day with eight catches for 132 yards -- all in the first half. The duo started quickly, hooking up for 37 yards on the first snap of the game. Nine plays later Ryan found tight end Justin Peelle in the end zone for an early touchdown.
On defense the Falcons found ways to harass quarterback Aarron Rodgers. Atlanta recorded two sacks (Grady Jackson and John Abraham) and did enough early to keep Green Bay off balance. The Packers opened the game with two three-and-out possessions and the Falcons dominated the first quarter (8-0 on first downs, four plays of 18 yards or more on offense, 147-10 on net offensive yards and 75-7 on rushing yards).
A late score by the Packers would close the gap, but an onside kick attempt failed. A few runs by Michael Turner polished off his 121-yard day and allowed the Falcons to run out the clock.
QUOTABLE: "We haven't won on the road yet before today, but I think we have done some things well and we have built on that as a team," Ryan said. "Today we kind of put it together and we did a good job in a tough environment; a tough place to come in and win. They played well and hard, but we just made enough plays to get a tough win in a tough place. In that sense it is very satisfying."
FROM THE BLOG: "His stat line may include only 194 passing yards but (Ryan) led his team to a victory in one of the toughest venues in the wide world of sports. Lambeau Field is the cradle of professional football history and a symbol to some of the greatest, blue-collar fans the sport has ever seen."
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-PACKERS GAME:
- GAME CENTER: Stats and more in the NFL.com Game Center
- GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the Lambeau Field press box
- GAME RECAP: White, Ryan go to work for win at Green Bay
Atlanta Falcons 22, Chicago Bears 20
The Georgia Dome
Week 6
His shot at redemption at hand, kicker Jason Elam left little doubt about the power in his 48-yard, game-winning field goal. The kick jetted off his 38-year-old foot and through the uprights as time expired to give the Falcons a thrilling, 22-20 victory over the Chicago Bears.
The 16-year veteran's celebration was interrupted by a swarm of teammates near midfield. It was his fifth successful kick of the day but just moments before he missed a kick that could have iced the game. Chicago came off the miscue with a 77-yard touchdown drive to take a 20-19 lead with 11 seconds to play. But a 9-yard return off a short kickoff by Harry Dougals and a 26-yard strike from rookie quarterback Matt Ryan to Michael Jenkins set Elam up for the game-winner with 1 second left.
Ryan finished the game 22-of-30 for a career-high 301 passing yards. He also had a key fourth-quarter touchdown to Roddy White, who posted his second-straight 100-yard receiving game. With the victory the Birds matched the win total from all of 2007.
Elam set career highs in points (16) and field goals made but it's the drama leading up to the final kick -- and the play of the team's young quarterback -- that revived Falcons fans in the Dome. Ryan led an efficient offense that faced off against a Bears team that entered the game ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing defense. The Falcons scored on three of their first four possessions -- all field goals -- and controlled the ball for more than 19 minutes in the first half. Chicago sported trademark blitz looks throughout the game but the Falcons offensive line did not allow a sack for a second week in a row.
With time to throw Ryan thrived. The rookie found five different receivers and performed regular Houdini-like acts to find open players down the field for third-down conversions. Fellow rookie Douglas caught five passes for 96 yards including a 47-yard strike on third down that set up a 3-yard scoring toss to White with 13:25 remaining. Ryan opened the game 8-of-8 for 107 yards and captained nearly identical scoring drives in the first quarter, leading the team on 48- and 49-yard marches that ended with field goals.
The defense made up for an early lack of offensive production by delivering on the statistical slugfest promised between the two teams. Running back Matt Forte was held to 20 rushing yards in the first half and the Bears were held scoreless until late in the second quarter. Defensive end Jamaal Anderson paced a defense that fed off the crowd's energy. He finished with four tackles (two for loss) and the first sack of his two-year career. Anderson also had two pass deflections on the Bears' first drive of the second quarter.
QUOTABLE: "I knew the kick was going trough. I honestly think that Jason Elam missed that first field goal to put himself in that position," Anderson said. "So of course everyone was upset (after the Bears score), but we got the win and it’s past us. We have to look forward to the following week after the bye week.”
FROM THE BLOG: "Saturday I had the opportunity to watch a friend's 7-year-old son play a little pee wee football. It was quite the change from the speed and athleticism I'm used to but I have to say it was the most fun I had at a football game for a long time. Then I took the edge of my seat at the Georgia Dome for Sunday's nail biter between the Falcons and Bears."
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-BEARS GAME:
- GAME RECAP: Late field goal lifts Falcons to victory
- GAME CENTER: Stats and more from the NFL.com Game Center
- GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the Georgia Dome press box
Philadelphia Eagles 27, Atlanta Falcons 14
Lincoln Financial Field
Week 8
Matt Ryan watched plenty of Donovan McNabb's heroics growing up in suburban Philadelphia. Sunday, he got a front row seat.
The Falcons spent much of the first half keeping McNabb and the Eagles high-flying offense on the ground but McNabb rebounded toward the end of the second quarter and got Pro Bowler Brian Westbrook involved in the offense late to send the Birds back to Atlanta with a 27-14 defeat. The Pro Bowl quarterback threw for 253 yards and rushed for a touchdown in the game.
The Birds rattled McNabb in the early going, holding the Eagles to a 33-percent success rate on third down and coming away with a pair of sacks -- one from upstart defensive end Jamaal Anderson -- in the first half. Rookie linebacker Curtis Lofton would later force a fumble. Ryan gave the Falcons an early lead with 8:56 remaining in the first half when he threaded a pass between two Eagles defenders and into the hands of Roddy White. White scampered toward the end zone for a 55-yard score and a 7-0 lead.
But Philadelphia responded with 20 unanswered points, including scoring drives of 60, 70 and 69 yards. Twice McNabb scrambled for key first downs.
McNabb turned from prolific passer to game-manager as the afternoon progressed, finding openings in the Falcons zone defense for short to medium gains and handing the ball off to Westbrook. The All-Pro rushed for 63 yards on 10 carries in the first half and finished with 22 carries for 167 yards. He also had six catches for 42 yards, one of six Eagles receivers with two or more catches.
But a late goal-line stand held the Eagles to a field goal and kept it a two-possesion game with 7:57 remaining.
Ryan led a no-huddle offense into the red zone on the next series and found White with a second touchdown with less than four minutes to play. Trailing 20-14, the Falcons defense stepped up with a key three-and-out but an odd turn of events kept the Birds offense from getting a shot at the win. Return man Adam Jennings decided at the last second not to field the punt after the Eagles' three-and-out drive. Officials ruled Jennings touched the ball and the muffed punt was recovered by the Eagles. The Falcons did not have a timeout left and, by rule, could not challenge the play.
Three plays later Westbrook rushed over the left side for a 39-yard, game-clinching touchdown.
QUOTABLE: “We want to run the football," Head Coach Mike Smith said. "I think anytime you go into a game, rushing the football effectively opens things up for the rest of your offense. They did a very nice job up front in terms of putting eight men on the line. I thought they did a nice job stunting guys through gaps. We really were close. I think when we go back and look at it like in any football game we’re going to see that there were opportunities for some big plays that we just weren’t able to convert.”
FROM THE BLOG: "Not a lot of time to break down a strange call or dwell on mistakes. It's easier to build on positives like the defense's inspired three-and-out to force that critical punt, a goal-line stand to keep the game at two possessions in the fourth quarter and Jamaal Anderson's second sack of the season."
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-EAGLES GAME:
- GAME RECAP: First-quarter flashes fade in road loss
- GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the Lincoln Financial Field press box
- GAME CENTER: Stats, play-by-play and more from NFL.com
Atlanta Falcons 24, Oakland Raiders 0
Alameda County Coliseum
Week 9
Raider Nation got loud throughout Sunday's game against Atlanta at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Falcons just made sure to convert early screams and hisses to a chorus of boos against the home team.
The Birds took a big lead into halftime and cruised to a 24-0 victory over the Silver and Black. Rookie quarterback Matt Ryan threw two first-half touchdowns to wide receiver Michael Jenkins as Atlanta out-gained Oakland in total yards 309 to minus-2 in the opening two quarters. They would finish the game with a 453-77 advantage. The Raiders ran just 13 offensive plays in the first half, three of which ended with John Abraham sacks.
Atlanta kept former Falcon DeAngleo Hall and the rest of the Raiders defense off balance with a mixture of techniques that worked in four previous victories: power running, working without a huddle and moving players around before the snap.
Ryan piloted the Falcons on long scoring drives of 88, 77, and 88 yards in the game. The team chewed clock in the second half with a steady dose of Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood, who combined for 202 rushing yards and a touchdown. Turner talked earlier in the week about bulldozing over teams that loaded up near the line of scrimmage to stop the run. He did most of the heavy-hitting between the tackles, breaking away from defenders and gaining 139 yards on 31 carries. Second-year man Jason Snelling spelled Turner late in the game and picked up an additional 47 yards.
The Birds picked up 30 first downs. The Raiders, three. Atlanta controlled the ball for more than 45 minutes -- the second highest total in the NFL since 1991.
Abraham led an aggressive defense that feasted on opportunities and forced the Raiders offense into mistake after mistake. In the process, the Birds shutout an opponent for the first time since 2002. Defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux recovered a fumble with 8:08 remaining in the third quarter that ended a drive. A scramble by quarterback JaMarcus Russell put the Raiders in scoring range early in the fourth quarter but two tackles for loss and an incompletion on fourth-and-17 gave the ball back to Atlanta.
Safety Erik Coleman intercepted Russell in the end zone with 7:27 left to preserve shutout.
That's when the crowd fell completely silent.
QUOTABLE: "Any time you can get out to a good start that’s beneficial, we definitely did that today," Ryan said. "We came out and three touchdowns on our first three drives, then got the field goal on the fourth. We had a good rhythm and good momentum and I thought we did a good job in the no-huddle today. Most importantly, our defense kept them from doing anything on offense today so it was an impressive effort by everybody.
FROM THE BLOG: "You don't see these kind of numbers often in the NFL. In fact, I've never seen one team get 27 more first downs and gain 376 more yards than another.
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-RAIDERS GAME:
- GAME RECAP: Defense smothers, offense sizzles in big win
- GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the press box
- GAME CENTER: Stats and more from the NFL.com Game Center
