Atlanta Falcons defense put them back into the wildcard race

The story of the Atlanta Falcons 29-21 win this week was a defense creating turnovers and an offensive attack that leaned on their rushing attack instead of Matt Ryan. This is surprising considering playing defense and running the football were the least two consistent aspects of the Atlanta Falcons game.

After the Panthers grabbed a 7-0 lead Atlanta answered by scoring seventeen straight thanks to a pick-six from Mykal Walker and an interception from A.J. Terrell. The Atlanta defense realized that Carolina couldn’t throw the ball consistently and loaded the box hunting the running back and whomever the Panthers lined up at quarterback.

For once in this game, you didn’t wince when the Atlanta Falcons defense walked onto the field you had a measure of confidence that they could get a stop and keep the lead. Something that is rare over the last three seasons.

The Atlanta Falcons won this game based solely on their rushing attack and their defense creating turnovers

Outside of the aforementioned defensive heroics what stood out most in this game was Matt Ryan’s struggles.  Ryan threw three passes in the first half alone that could have gone the wrong way add in a terribly missed deep pass to Tajae Sharpe and this was far from Ryan’s best game.

The fact Atlanta was able to win a game that Ryan wasn’t perfect in, is very encouraging that this team is headed in the right direction.  Arthur Smith has been able to institute his rushing offense with a very iffy offensive line and without a prototypical starting running back.

Atlanta surpassed 100-rushing yards yet again leaving Carolina more concerned about the Atlanta running game than Matt Ryan’s arm. Giving Ryan the power to use play-action to get multiple key first downs and a big touchdown to Hayden Hurst.

The Falcons now sit at 6-7 on the season and sit right in the thick of a tight NFC wildcard race. With four games left on the season, Atlanta will be playing meaningful games well into December for the first time in three years.

If they can find a way to upset the San Francisco 49er’s ahead of their matchup with the Detriot Lions Atlanta will have a legitimate wildcard chance. A crazy fact when you consider just how poorly this season has gone at times for the Falcons.

Atlanta is now in the mix with the Saints, Washington, Eagles, 49er’s, and Vikings for the final wildcard spot and in head coach Arthur Smith’s first season that is all you could ask.