Man Down? Rise Up!
By Sergio
Atlanta Falcons showed they live by their mantra after a 31-24 victory against the Bucs. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
With Jones and White MIA, Harry Douglas has a career day in the 31-24 victory vs. the Bucs at the Georgia Dome.
“First off, it was a great team win for us,” said Douglas. “We wanted to come out and get this win and start another streak.”
After three straight losses, the Falcons are looking to put together a string of wins to get back in playoff contention. Right now, the team is focused on taking it one game at a time.
“Whenever you can get a win, no matter how you do it or how many points you win by, it’s a big deal,” said Douglas. “We just have to continue to take it one day, week, and game at a time.”
Down two starting receivers and a running back, many didn’t know what to expect from Atlanta’s offense this game. But Matt Ryan showed that as long as you have a QB that can win games, everything else should take care of itself. The passing game didn’t skip a beat as Ryan went on to pass for 273 yards and a season-high 3 touchdowns, averaging over 10 per-pass attempt. Ryan felt the team had to come out with a victory vs. the Buccaneers.
“We needed it,” said Ryan in the post-game conference. “I thought we came out as a team and played a pretty solid football game. We made some mistakes, but we overcame them.”
Ryan also had some nice words for Douglas’s 149 yard, 1 touchdown performance.
“He played a great game. He stepped up when we needed him to.” said Ryan.
“I don’t think anyone in the locker room was surprised with the way he played.”
Kevin Cone and Darius Johnson also made plays of their own, but the catch of the night goes to Drew Davis, who haled in a one-hander similar to Vincent Jackson’s touchdown catch earlier in the game. All three finished with one catch. Jacquizz Rodgers also had a nice game receiving, finishing with 8 catches for 2 touchdowns.
“It was just a one on one situation,” said Rodgers, speaking on his 19-yard touchdown play. “I was left one-on-one with a linebacker, I had a chance to get separation and score.”
The other touchdown was the result of a great throw in tight traffic by Ryan. On a screen play, Ryan darted the ball through the middle of the trenches to Rodgers, who then made a defender miss and scatted to the endzone.
“It was a tight fit,” said Rodgers. “But Matt Ryan did a good job of fitting the ball through there.”
After handling the Bucs, the Falcons will fly west to Arizona to face the Cardinals who gave up three touchdowns to Russell Wilson last Thursday Night. Despite their performance against the Seahawks, the Cardinals defense is loaded with playmakers. Lets also remember this is the same defense that picked Matt Ryan 5 times. Add to that that John Abraham will be facing his old team, and you have all the makings for a pretty interesting match up. Stay tuned for the preview.