Atlanta Falcons beat Baltimore Ravens - Part Two
After a slow first quarter, Atlanta Falcons scored the first touchdown of the game in the first drive of second quarter. Jason Snelling scored the 28 yard touchdown for Falcons to put them in a lead that they wouldn’t give up until the 4th quarter.
In the first quarter, Ravens’ offense had been unable to make waves. Ravens had possession of the ball twice until this point of the game and in those two drives had accumulated a total of 51 yards. They hadn’t crossed over to Atlanta’s side and they wouldn’t
be able to do that this time either.
After Snellings’ 28 yard touchdown, Ravens started the offence on their 20 yard line. They had tried to pass the ball in their previous drives and that hadn’t worked out for them so this time they started with the rush. Baltimore’s rush is somewhat stronger
than their pass. Unfortunately for the Ravens, Atlanta’s defence fares much better on the ground than in the air.
Baltimore were still able to get some success with running backs, Willis McGahee and Donte’ Stallworth. In two plays, the duo covered 19 yards for Baltimore. Quarterback Joe Flacco supported the drive with an 8 yard pass but couldn’t make the down.
Falcons too faced stiff resistance from the defence. After Ravens’ punt, Atlanta started the drive from 7 yard line. The drive stalled on the 23 yard line. On the 1st and 10, Ryan was able to complete the pass but wide receiver Michael Jenkins
couldn’t make any gain. Then after an incomplete pass, Ryan threw a 4 yard pass to Jason Snelling but Falcons were still 6 yards short of the yellow line. On the 27 yard line, Atlanta punted the ball.
Lardarius Webb caught the ball for Baltimore and carried it 7 yard to the 42 yard line. Webb rushed past Falcons’ wide receiver Brian Finneran avoiding being pulled down but Finneran was able to get his hand on the ball just enough to force it out of Webb’s
hands. While the ball came loose, penalty flags started flying on the field for an illegal block. In the commotion, linebacker Coy Wire recovered the ball on the 43 yard line giving Atlanta a whole new set of downs to work with.
The fumble gave the offense another chance to score but Ravens wouldn’t just roll over. It took 11 plays for Atlanta to get from the 43 yard line to the 10 yard line where they were 3rd and 6. Ryan wasn’t going to risk the drive even though they
had gotten so close to the end zone. Falcons attempted the field goal and it was good. With the field goal, Baltimore fell ten points behind Atlanta. Flacco needed to get his act together but before things got better for the Ravens, they would get a lot worse.
Flacco kneeled when Ravens got possession back with 14 seconds remaining in the drive and continued from the 20 yard line in the third quarter. Flacco was sacked on the first play for 8 yards by defensive end John Abraham. Raven’s running back Ray Rice tried
to rush through but was taken down for just a 3 yard gain by John Abraham again. At 3rd and 15, Ravens were on the 15 yard line when Flacco got back into the offence and tried to look for a deep receiver. The intended target for the pass was T.J
Houshmandzadeh but the ball was intercepted Brent Grimes.
Houshmandzadeh ran right on the edge of the field with Grimes on his left running alongside. Flacco didn’t throw the ball far enough ahead and it ended up falling straight into Grimes’ hands. Grimes was taken down for no gain by Houshmandzadeh, who had absolutely
no chance of catching the ball.
Atlanta’s offense came back on the field on the 39 yard line but couldn’t make gains. Ryan tried to pass to Michael Palmer and Roddy White but failed on both plays. On 3rd and 10, Ryan connected with a 6 yard pass to Palmer. Matt Bryant salvaged
the drive with a field goal attempt. Bryant’s 51 yard field goal attempt was good.
The Atlanta Falcons led 13-0.
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