Atlanta Falcons still perfect at home with win over Baltimore Ravens
Matt Ryan may never want to leave the Georgia Dome the way he and the Atlanta Falcons are playing. Ryan improved his career record at home to 18-1, while the Falcons improved to 7-2 after defeating the
Baltimore Ravens 26-21 on Thursday Night Football.
The Falcons extended their winning streak to three games, as Ryan casually guided Atlanta to a near flawless first half. He opened the scoring on a 28-yard pass to Jason Snelling in the second quarter
capping a 14-play, 91-yard drive.
Atlanta added a field goal and led by 10 at the half. The Falcons wound up kicking another field goal that made it 13-0 after Joe Flacco was intercepted by Brent Grimes through the third quarter.
Baltimore quickly responded on the ensuing drive as receiver Anquan Boldin scored from five yards out to narrow the gap to 13-7.
The Falcons increased their lead once again after Ryan connected with receiver Roddy White on a 4-yard pass for the major. The duo hooked up again with 20 seconds remaining on the clock to win the game
in dramatic fashion.
"We've been in these situations before," said Ryan, who threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns."We were confident. Nobody blinked. We just went out there and executed. We only needed three, but we got
six."
Atlanta dominated the time of possession with close to 35 minutes compared to Baltimore’s 24. As a result, Flacco watched most of the game from the sidelines and tossed just 215 yards. He never really
got in a groove until late in the game.
Much like the Falcons shut down Flacco, the Ravens’ defence made sure that Atlanta’s running-back Michael Turner would not be a factor. Turner came into week 10 with a full head of steam, but Ed Reed and
his 10th-ranked run defence stopped him in his tracks. Turner ran for only 39 yards on 17 carries.
But that Ravens’ defence was unable to duplicate their success against the Falcons’ potent passing attack.
Roddy White was a big part of the offence, catching 12 passes for 138 yards and two scores and Jason Snelling had six catches for 56 yards and a touchdown.
"That might have been the most the intense game I've ever been involved with at any level of football," said Falcons coach Mike Smith.
With Atlanta’s defence playing solid and the offence scoring in the 20s in consecutive weeks, the Falcons are heating up at the right time and clearly playing they way they should be down the stretch.
Atlanta currently sits atop of the NFC South. Now comes the hard part- staying there. The Falcons next three games are against Saint-Louis, Green Bay and a rematch against Tampa
Bay.
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