Winner: KhaDarel Hodge
The Atlanta Falcons special teams ace continues to find a way to impact winning in limited snaps. His most memorable play of the season remains a walk-off touchdown against Tampa Bay. It is that play that gave the Falcons the tie-breaker over the Bucs and has them hanging on in the playoff picture. Hodge in very limited chances has consistently found a way to make big plays this season.
Hodge continued this trend blocking two punts, keeping the pressure on the Raiders. It was the punt blocks that would continue to allow the Falcons to stay in control and turn the heat up on Desmond Ridder.
Winner: Atlanta's pass rush
Another week of a consistent pass rush for the Atlanta defensive front. Yes, there are still obvious issues for this defense. However, far too often in these spots this is where the Falcons find a way to make an awful quarterback look great.
Even Atlanta couldn't prop up Desmond Ridder, consistently flushing him out of the pocket and creating negative plays. Whether it was the safety or key late pressures, the Falcons' defense is the reason they won this game with the exact type of performance you want to see against a tanking team.