The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SECRET WEAPON COLEMAN UNLEASHED
Coleman’s strikes defuse rally
The Falcons’ backs were against their goal line.
After Carolina had cut their lead to 10 points, the Falcons found themselves in a thirdand-21 from their 14 in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Matt Ryan looked for All-Pro wide receiver Julio Jones, but he was taken away. He found running back Tevin Coleman up the left sideline for a 31-yard gain.
“It felt really good to get that conversion to help my team with a score,” Coleman said.
On the next play, Coleman broke loose around right end for a 55-yard touchdown run to beat back the Panthers’ rally in a 33-16 victory on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.
“It was definitely like boom, boom,” an animated Coleman said. “The offensive line made great blocks and (fullback Patrick) DiMarco made a great block for me to explode through the hole.”
Coleman and Devonta Freeman entered the game as the most prolific scoring running back tandem in the league with 17 rushing touchdowns. Coleman’s score was their 18th.
“It’s amazing and it feels real good because me and Devonta work real hard to do things like that,” Coleman said. “This defense is an amazing defense to run the ball against. We are real excited that we got some yards on the ground against them.”
Going into this week’s games, the Falcons’ tandem was sixth in the league with combined rushing yards of 1,316 and combined total yardage of 2,023 on 368 touches and 21 touchdowns, including receptions.
Tennessee’s duo of DeMarco Murray (1,224) and Derrick Henry (412) were the top running backs tandem in the league with 1,636 rushing yards, but had 13 touchdowns.
Freeman and Coleman finished with 221 total yards last week against the 49ers. They combined for 223 yards against the Panthers.
Low tackling handles Stewart
The Falcons’ defense wanted to treat Carolina running back Jonathan Stewart as public enemy No. 1.
They watched Stewart run for 132 yards on 25 carries against the Redskins last weekend. They knew they had to make the Panthers one dimensional and take Stewart away from the offense.
The Falcons swarmed to Stewart, who was held to 50 yards on 11 carries in Saturday’s victory.
“Definitely, we had a game plan after watching film that if you hit him up high he was going to keep on moving,” defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux said. “So, today we had to get him in the lower body and make sure that we wrapped up and got him to the ground.”
Middle linebacker Deion Jones led the way with 13 tackles.
“We did well,” Babineaux said. “We gave up a few explosive plays, but we didn’t give up too many.”
Stewart’s longest run was a 20-yard gain.
“He’s short and compact, so it’s definitely tough to bring him down,” Falcons linebacker Vic Beasley Jr. said.
The Falcons knew if Stewart was slowed that Carolina quarterback Cam Newton would have to be accurate in the passing game. Newton completed just 18 of 43 passes for 198 yards for one touchdown and two interceptions.
Cornerbacks Brian Poole and Jalen Collins had interceptions off Newton, who was erratic and sometimes threw off his back foot and was high and wide on a variety of throws.
“The ball is everything,” Collins said. “That’s what we try to do. (Robert Alford) almost had one, too. Deion could have had one.”
Perkins, Tialavea step up at tight end
The Falcons went deep into their bench at the tight end position and came up with a few plays.
Joshua Perkins and D.J. Tialavea, who were the team’s fourth and fifth tight ends at the start of the season, came up with touchdown catches against the Panthers.
Perkins made a nice 26-yard touchdown grab between two defenders and Tialavea later added a 1-yard scoring grab.
The Falcons have been hit hard at the tight end position by rash of injuries. Jacob Tamme was lost for the season with shoulder injury and Austin Hooper missed this game with a knee injury.
Perkins, who made the team as an undrafted free agent from Washington, ran a nice route and caught the ball between cornerback James Bradberry and linebacker Thomas Davis for the score.
“(Matt Ryan) gave me an opportunity to go get the ball and I just wanted to take full advantage of it,” Perkins said.
“I just wanted to build trust with Matt, go up and get the ball for him.”
Tialavea, who has been on the practice squad, was activated to the 53-man roster on Thursday. He caught a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
“It wasn’t the prettiest play,” said Tialavea, who’s family took a flight in for the game. “(Matt Ryan) made it happen and I just tried to do my job.”
Tialavea, who had spent a year out of football, was elated after the grab.
“All that I know is that every play that I got in, I would try to give 100 percent and leave it all on the field,” he said.
“You never know if this is the only game you’ll ever play, so I wanted to go play hard with no regrets.”
Tight end Levine Toilolo also had a catch for 10 yards.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn said he hopes to have Hooper back for the regular-season finale against the Saints on Jan. 1 at the Georgia Dome. The team also worked out former Alabama tight end Brian Vogler on Thursday.
“We just have to be able to pick up where everybody else left off,” Perkins said.