Atlanta Falcons Win: Move to 3-0 Despite Ryan’s Three Interceptions
By Ikaika Hall
The Atlanta Falcons win in dramatic fashion to move to 3-0 on the season.
This week, the Atlanta Falcons defense prepared to take on the Detroit Lions and Matthew Stafford, but they probably did not expect to take on Matt Ryan and their own offense as well.
The Falcons defense was forced to take on the Stafford led Lion’s offense after the Falcons turned the football over three times on three interceptions. Sans some outstanding offense plays (e.g. 40-plus yard touchdown pass to the Falcon’s receiver Taylor Gabriel), this game really came down to the final minute.
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The Detroit Lions had the football late in the game and were driving towards the Falcons end zone. Ball positioning went back and forth on the last drive of the game as a result of penalties on both teams. At one point, the Lions were at 1st down and 30 (yes 30) yards, however after a penalty from cornerback Desmond Trufant of the Falcons, that 1st down and 30 became 1st down and 10.
Fast forward to 3rd down and less than eight seconds to go in the game, the Lions threw a pass to Detroit Wide Receiver Golden Tate III. The pass was initially called a touchdown and with just eight seconds left in the game, the Falcons were facing their first loss of the season after turning the football over three times on the road.
Then the potential game winning touchdown was overturned.
After review, it was concluded that Tate’s knee was down and he was touched prior to the football crossing the plane of the goal line. With eight seconds left on clock and an NFL rule that requires a 10 seconds runoff in this situation, the game was over.
The Atlanta Falcons, by all accounts, should have lost that game. However, their week one performance and game ending sack against the Chicago Bears perhaps gave the Falcons more than a win in their first game of the season.
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Against the Bears, the Falcons defense had to hold Chicago’s offense through four red zone plays in order to seal the victory. In that game, it appears that Atlanta strengthened their resiliency. With today’s game against the Lions on the line, the Atlanta Falcons had to rely on their defense resiliency to win.
Great road win for the Falcons who are now 3-0 on the season.