The Atlanta Falcons are finally coming home.
After playing three straight road games, four in five weeks, the Falcons will be back home next week against the New Orleans Saints.
But the focus is on the Falcons win over the Seattle Seahawks, 34-18. Atlanta has already secured a playoff spot and will not have another road game in the regular season.
"It's special," wide receiver Roddy White said. "We have a special group around here."
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had three touchdown passes, while Jonathan Babineaux recovered a fumble for a touchdown.
The 12-2 Falcons were lucky a couple of times as far as calls and penalties go, along with some lucky bounces and a shoddy performance by Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck led to Atlanta winning their eighth straight game, their longest winning streak
in over 12 years.
The Falcons really proved that they are the best team in the NFC.
Ryan threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first two quarters of the game, one to Michael Jenkins for 24 yards in the final minute of the first half, and the other less than a minute into the second quarter with a three yard pass to Jason Snelling.
"When we seen him out there, we just go after him," said White, who beat Kennard Cox on a 15-yard third-down catch to keep the drive going. "In this league, you look for mismatches and when you get them, you take advantage of them."
The game started with the Seahawks scoring a touchdown first on an almost perfect drive, ending with Marshawn Lynch scoring on a one yard run. Olindo Mare followed with a successful point-after-touchdown to give Seattle an early lead of 7-0.
Ryan and the Falcons retaliated in the second quarter, with the three yard pass to Snelling for a touchdown and a point after by Matt Bryant. About ten minutes later, Bryant made a successful field goal attempt for 27 yards to put Atlanta up, 10-7.
Seattle’s Mare responded with his own field goal, but for 38 yards, to even the score at 10 points each.
With 19 seconds left in the first half, Ryan threw a 24 yard touchdown to Jenkins to put the Falcons up 17-0.
The third quarter was all about Atlanta. Five minutes in, Babineaux recovered Hasselbeck’s fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, followed by Bryant kicking the point after. Bryant then came through again with a 25 yard field goal, followed by a five yard
touchdown pass from Ryan to White, followed by another successful point after, to put the Falcons ahead by 24, at 34-10.
Seattle tried to make a comeback in the fourth quarter, but managed to get only one touchdown. Charlie Whitehurst replaced Hasselbeck in the third quarter, and then ran one yard in the fourth for a touchdown. Whitehurst then passed to Ben Obomanu for a successful
two-point conversion, making the final score 34-18.
Whitehurst was greeted with chants of “Char-lie!” after making the one yard touchdown run. Hasselbeck finished with 10 completions out of 17 attempts for 71 yards and two interceptions, earning him the second lowest quarterback rating of his career, 28.9.
Whitehurst came through, throwing 8 for 16 for 83 yards with no interceptions.
"Not much is going to change," Whitehurst said. "Everybody goes in and works as hard as they can every week and the coaches make the decisions. So I don't see it changing much."
Atlanta’s Ryan went 20 for 35 for 174 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Babineaux was thrilled about his first touchdown, saying, "It was a great feeling, first career touchdown. The opportunity came for me to fall on the ball. It was such a great feeling."
Coincidentally, Babineaux’s brother, Jordan, plays for the Seahawks and caught Ryan’s only interception.
The Falcons will play against the Saints next week at their home stadium, Georgia Dome.
"It is going to be a great atmosphere in the Dome next week," Ryan said. "I think everybody is looking forward to it."
The Seahawks will be playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week at Raymond James Stadium.
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