By Don Stone - Football Atlanta
Coming into the Monday Night Football
matchup, one piece of news scared me the most...hearing that the Falcons Pro
Bowl cornerback, Brent Grimes, was
lost for the season. You need your secondary at full strength when facing a
quarterback the caliber of Peyton Manning.
But, at least early on, it didn't seem to matter as the
Falcons defenders were catching more Manning passes than his own receivers.
If you were in line at the concession stand getting some
nachos at the opening kickoff, you might be kicking yourself. This game came
bursting out of the gate with such a frenzy, it was tough to keep up with
all that happened in the first two minutes.
Manning was seeing red, but it was mostly the Falcon
defenders in the way of his errant passes. He almost threw an interception
on the opening play. But, two plays later, he got it right when
William Moore caught his throw at the 34 and
returned it to the Denver one. A few handoffs to Michael Turner
and the Falcons had a quick score.
The Broncos started another drive. This time Thomas
DeCoud grabbed it and took it back 19 yards
to the Denver 43. The Falcons couldn't get it to the end zone and had to
settle for a Matt Bryant 37 yard field
goal. Falcons lead 10-0.
On The Broncos' next drive, the replacement refs missed a
call giving Brandon Stokley a
reception that appeared to bounce on the ground. The first down was followed
by a Willis MaGahee 15 yard run to the
46. Damaryius Thomas caught a 14 yard
pass to the Atlanta 40.
But, the momentum took a quick shift as Robert McClain
grabbed it and ran it back 42 yards to the
Falcons 47. His first career interception. So, Manning's first three drives
all ended in interceptions.
Already shorthanded at the
cornerback position, the Falcons had a pair of rapid fire announcements.
Assante Samuel suffered a neck injury,
his return to the game questionable. Then, boom, Christopher Owens
was taken out with a head injury. It appeared obvious that the offense was
going to have to be extra productive to handle what must have been a lip
licking Manning on the sidelines.
Unfortunately, the Falcons went three and out. Fortunately, Samuel
returned and made a great tackle to keep Jacob Tamme
from getting a first down at the 50.
On the next drive, Denver seemed to
be finally moving the ball when Stephen Nicholas
forced a Knowshon Moreno fumble at the
Falcons 27, recovered by Sean Weatherspoon.
A penalty moved them back to their own 17 to start the second half.
It became noticeable that a lot of receivers were dropping good
passes from Matt Ryan. Julio Jones
missed a certain touchdown early in the first quarter. Tony Gonzalez
dropped what would have been a third down conversion. Jones missed another
to start the second quarter.
Roddy White set a good
example with a couple of nice catches to get the Falcons down to the Broncos
43. But, Gonzalez dropped another one that almost bounced into a Bronco's
anxious hands. He made up for it on the next play with a 16 yard reception.
Another Bryant field goal, this one from 42, game Atlanta a 13-0 lead.
Thirteen is nice, but putting up three instead of seven usually comes back
to bite you.
So far so good. Seven plays and 73 yards highlighted by
sharp passes from Ryan to White, Harry Douglas
then Gonzalez in the end zone and Atlanta had
an improbable 20-0 lead with 4:39 in the half.
Late in the first half, Denver was on the move and was
helped by a holding call on Dominique Franks
on 4th and one at the Atlanta 32.
What looked like a sure touchdown was broken up in the
end zone on a great play by Moore. Another was swatted away in the
corner by Dunta Robinson. A Manning sack.
Then, he finally found Thomas in the corner for a 17 yard touchdown to make
it 20-7.
By this time Manning had passed his boss, John
Elway, for the third-most pass attempts in
NFL history.
Walking and listening among the 70,427 in the corridors
at half time, there was an element of pessimism among some waiting for the
other shoe to drop. A too good to be true type of thing. Most, though, were
cautiously optimistic.
A score to open the second half would have sent a
message, but the Falcons drive stalled at the Denver 40. Word also came out
that Owen's head injury would keep him out the rest of the game.
It was the Broncos' turn to send a message. Backed up to
their own end zone, the message was "your turn," as they went three and out.
Roddy White got busy again
with a 21 yard catch, then another for 20. His third catch of the drive was
for six points, the 100th TD pass of Ryan's career.
Six plays, 64 yards in 3:17. Of the 64, 45 were to White.
A lot of White's success was coming at the hands of
Tracy Porter. The Falcons were very familiar
with the cornerback having faced him twice a year for the last four years
with New Orleans.
Atlanta got the touchdown back and made it 27-7. Fans just
switching over after watching another exciting episode of Hawaii Five-0 had
to be in shock to see the score. Probably, players on both sidelines were as
well.
As the third quarter wound
down, Manning started getting into a rhythm connecting with a drive that
started at their own 12. It was an impressive drive covering 88 yards and
twelve plays in 5:02 ending on a MaGahee two yard TD. The Broncos' problem
was the three score deficit they had to overcome. And, seven point count,
but, at the expense of that much clock, not so good with just 11:48 left.
To add to the Falcons' concerns,
John Abraham left the game with a knee
injury. His return was questionable. Now, it became extremely important for
Atlanta to put up some points and maybe eat up some clock in the process.
That didn't happen. A three and out gave Denver the ball back in good field
position on their own 39. With eight minutes to go, omentum had officially
shifted...but
was stopped in its tracks by a 13 yard loss as Franks zeroed in on Manning
for a huge sack.
The resulting punt backed
Atlanta up in its worst starting position of the night on their own three.
Not a good place for another three and out. Denver started their drive with
6:13 at the Falcons 45. It only took about three minutes for the Broncos to
add 7 with a Moreno TD on another 4th and 1. Now, that large 20 point
deficit was slashed to 6 with plenty of time, 3:25, to make it up. Those
half time pessimists had to be getting annoying by now if they hadn't left
already. For those who stayed, it was worth the wait.
Now came the biggest drive
of the game as Atlanta had to eat up clock and put up at least a field goal
to extend the lead beyond a touchdown. A Julio Jones catch gave them a much
needed first down on the 31 at the two minute warning. The team relied on
Michael Turner to eat up clock and he came through as the Broncos ran out of
time outs and ran out of time. Final score in a nail biter, Atlanta 27,
Denver 21.
The game lasted three hours
and forty minutes, due in large part to occasional chaos on the field
created by the replacement refs and their confusion over penalties, plays
and time. An unnecessary intrusion that repeatedly interrupted the flow of
the game.
Next up, the Falcons travel
to the west coast on short rest for their third straight game against the
AFC West and the 2-0 Chargers.
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