By Don Stone - Football Atlanta
It seems odd to call a game a must win this
early in the season. But, in many cases, this one has some elements of that
in place. After losing the season opener last week in New Orleans, the
Falcons find themselves needing in an almost desperate situation of needing
a win in the home opener. Not only to calm down the Chicken Littles of the
world who think the NFL sky is falling in, but to re-establish a winning
feeling on the team. Of course, pre-season games don't count. But, going 0-4
in them doesn't make you feel good, either. And, counting those four losses
and going back to last December, Atlanta has lost seven of the last eight
times they have taken the field. And, the one time they did win was a skin
of their teeth 30-28 Divisional Playoff victory over Seattle after blowing a
huge lead and pulling out a last second miracle.
But, to put it in perspective, the December 17 loss to Tampa Bay
was in a meaningless game. But, the NFC Championship Game meant something as
did the season opener last week at New Orleans. And, both ended almost
identically with the Falcons having the game in their grasp at the opponents
goal line with time running out, only to come up short.
So, this game with St. Louis is significant. You don't want to start your
season with two losses against teams that didn't even make the playoffs last
year. Granted, they are both better than that. But, its rare to win the
Super Bowl with an 0-2 start, much less make the postseason.
Electricity was back in the Dome after we finally got those lifeless
pre-season games out of the way. With 70,056 on hand, it was quite a
different feel.
I would say that the Rams had to primary objectives going in. First, of
course, win. But, second, don't let Steven Jackson look good. You don't want
the faithful back in Missouri wondering why you let the RB go in the
offseason. Both objectives looked in jeopardy with Atlanta's first drive.
The Falcons got the ball first and lost two on Steven Jackson's
first attempt at his old team. Jackson also couldn't bring in a pass headed
his way. Tony Gonzalez got Atlanta a
first down at the 33. Fullback Brady Ewing
got another 14 yarder to the 48, but was banged up on the play. While he was
being checked out on the sidelines, another run by Jackson and a catch by
Julio Jones only netted two yards. But the drive was kept alive when
Harry Douglas took a pass to the Ram 30. It
was announced that Ewing had a shoulder injury with his return questionable.
Jacquizz Rodgers got in on the
action with 16 more to the 14. He caught another for six more to the 8. If
Jackson couldn't do it on the ground, he stuck it to his former teammates
with a nice run after catch to make it 7-0.
A holding penalty on the kickoff started the St. Louis drive on
their 8. Two injuries on the play, Jackson sustained a thigh injury, return
questionable. And DE Cliff Matthews
was also shaken up. The Rams safety Matt Daniels
had to be carted off the field after the play
with an ankle injury. Things got worse as Atlanta backed them up to the 5 on
a minus three yard pass. RB Daryl Richardson
got eight to the 15 forcing a 63 yard punt to Douglas that got a lucky roll
to the AF 22.
So, how would Atlanta do without Jackson and Ewing on offense? Rodgers
got nothing on his first carry. Douglas made up the difference plus some
with a 15 yard catch to the 37. The drive would stall there. A Matt
Bosher 50 yard punt would again back up the
Rams at their 8 yard line.
Sam Bradford would find Richardson
and give them some breathing room at the 26. On a third and nine, the
Falcons defense put pressure on the QB forcing him to throw it out of
bounds. This time, a holding penalty would start Atlanta's drive at their
26.
It was also announced the Assante Samuel's
return to the game was questionable. After two nothing plays, Matt
Ryan hit Jones in open field and the fleet
footed WR took it the length of the field for 84 yards, the longest
reception of his career, to make it a two touchdown lead.
Starting at their 20, Bradford would convert a third and three at the end
of the first quarter with a thirteen yard pass to WR Chris Givens
to the 40. A nine yard pass to Austin
Pettis coupled with 8 on the ground by
Richardson gave the Rams another first down at the AF 43. The Rams would
convert a 4th and one and get a new set of downs. But that new set resulted
in a deflected pass that Osi Umenyiora
barrelled down the field 68 yards. Atlanta ahead 21-0. It would be his first
career interception and TD.
On the next drive, Bradford would go deep on third and ten for 47 yards
to Givens all the way to the AF 33. A third and two would make it to the 15
with a nine yard pass to Pettis. An illegal motion penalty would nullify a
Richardson catch and move it back to the 21. It would start to look like a
M.A.S.H unit as St. Louis right tackle Roger Saffold
would have to be carted off the field with a
knee injury. New CB Desmond Trufant
would break up a potential TD pass to force a 29 yard Greg Zuerlein
field goal to put the Rams on the board.
Atlanta's offense would only get nine yards and force a punt from
the 29. An illegal block in the back would give the Rams the ball for their
final drive of the half at their 11. William Moore
would make sure they remember him back in Missouri with a dynamic tackle to
plant a defender flat on his back. But on the next play, Bradford would
complete a 10 yarder to Richardson for a first down. That's all they would
get and Atlanta started their drive after a 44 yard punt at their 34 with
3:02 in the half.
Jones would catch a short pass and turn it into a 16 yard gainer to the
48 at the 2:00 minute warning.
More injury news for the Falcons. Kroy Biermann
and Sean Witherspoon
were out with an uncertain return.
Passes to Jones, Douglas and Rodgers and Roddy White
would move the ball to a first down at the St.L 26. Gonzalez go them 11 more
to the 15. Matt Bryant would end
the half with a 36 field goal to bring the lead back to 21. Amazing that
Atlanta, without Jackson for most of the game, would score 24 points with
one net yard of rushing.
St. Louis and Atlanta would each start the second half with three
and outs. A penalty would again back up the Rams to start their drive at the
13 but had to punt from their 35. Atlanta would start on their 24. At this
point, with Biermann, Witherspoon, Jackson, Samuels and Ewing, the Falcons
had half as many players in the locker room as on the field.
The next drive started with a 14 yard catch by Jones to the 42. But
it would stall with St. Louis taking a wobbly punt at their 13. They would
shoot themselves in the foot again with another illegal block in the back
starting the drive at the 5. And there they would stay. But another good
punt, this one 57 yards would move them Atlanta back to their 33.
Jason Snelling would show a
few nifty moves to pick up 8 to the 41. A pushing penalty by Gonzalez would
take back a nice catch by the tight end and move the ball back to the 32
followed by a sack on Ryan to end the drive.
The Rams would finally start a drive outside of the shadow of their
own end zone at the 26 and it seemed to make a difference as they moved the
ball methodically down the field scoring their first touchdown with six
plays and 74 yards in just 1:50. Givens would shake a tackle and get 20 to
the 46. Pettis tacked on 11 and 18 on two more completions. 17 more to TE
Lance Kendricks had the Rams at the
six. Austin took it in the rest of the way with a goal line catch.
This time, it would the Falcons turn to start with bad field
position at their 13. Ryan hit White for nine to the 22. A penalty nullified
a nice Rodgers run moving it back to the 12, where they would have to punt.
Good fortune went their way as Bosher overcame a bad punt in the end zone
and got off a 63 yard punt that rolled the last 20 yards to the 25.
Pettis made a few spin moves to gain 18 to the Rams' 43. Suddenly,
what looked like a smooth sailing win was looking like a game in jeopardy as
the Rams moved the ball to the Falcons 17 aided by some sloppy tackling and
a nice Bradford run. Austin added five more to the six. Moore had another
effective tackle as he stood the QB up as he was on his way into the end
zone. St. Louis called a time out with a third and goal at the three. It
could be one of the biggest plays of the game. Score and St. Louis is just
down a touchdown with 12 minutes to go. Settle for a field goal and they
would still need two scores. The crowd was on its feet trying to help the
home team defense in its goal line stand. The Rams rose to the occasion and
made it in with a TD catch to Pettis to bring them to within 7.
A sense of urgency was felt in the crowd as a wounded Falcons team took
the field having not scored a touchdown since 8:31 in the second quarter, a
span of over 25 minutes. They would start at their 20. Snelling was free in
space and took a pass for 11 yards to the 31. Ryan decided to hit him again
for five more to the 36. A false start made it second and 10 from the 31.
Julio Jones made his way through traffic for 22 more into Rams territory.
Julio was forced out at the 40 for a third and three. Jones was in a groove
with 18 more to the 22. It would be Gonzalez' turn with a pair of
completions for a first down at the 11. Snelling did his job with a crucial
run to the end zone to get the seven points back. It would be almost 34
minutes between touchdowns, but the timely 9 play, 80 yard drive was worth
the wait.
St. Louis would get the ball at their 20 with only 6:12 remaining
to make up 14 points. A holding penalty on Moore moved the ball to the 25. A
big third and one from the 34 might be the last gasp for St. Louis. But,
Bradford gave a breath with a 10 yarder to Givens. A reception by Austin
gave them another third down at the 50. Again, they converted with Austin
bringing the ball down at the AF 41. Jake McQuaide
for nine bringing up another crucial third down and one at the 31. But the
clock was also a factor at 3:09. After Umenyiora
batted the ball down, St. Louis was forced to
go for it on 4th and one. Atlanta called its first time out. The crowd was
on its feet again as Bradford did it again with a conversion to Cory
Harkey.
He then hit Pettis for 8 to the 18, But the clock was down to 2:32.
Jeff Fisher's team needed a quick
score and an on sides kick to have a shot. But, first they needed to convert
still another 4th down with two needed to save themselves. Atlanta called
another time out to get the right personnel in. An incompletion looked like
it was over. But, an interference call on Trufant resuscitated the Rams with
a first and goal from the 10. Umenyiora knocked another intended pass to the
ground bringing up a second and 10. Finally, the drive turned into a score
with Austin falling into the end zone to make bring the Rams back to within
7. The drive took 16 plays covering 80 yards.
Instead of going for the onsides kick, St. Louis punted, counting
on their defense to stop Atlanta and get the ball back. All the Falcons had
to do was eat up two minutes. The Rams called their second time out with the
two minute warning giving them another. A pass to Jones got the Falcons 8
for a third and one at their 29. Make it and they win, fail and the ball
will go back to St. Louis with plenty of time to tie the game.
Snelling again stepped up with a big play when they needed it as he
took a catch into Rams territory and for intents and purposes ended the St.
Louis hopes with no time outs remaining. All Atlanta had to do was kill
clock. Rodgers carried three
times for another first down and more importantly the rest of the clock. The
Falcons got their "must win." St. Louis played well and looks to have a good
future ahead this season. Both teams ended the day at 1-1 |
