The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WHAT ISSUES SURFACED FOR FALCONS IN VICTORY
CHICAGO — Austin Hooper was so wide open this could have been just another drill, like the ones he and Matt Ryan ran this offseason in SoCal.
But this was September, on a Southern California-type day transplanted on the shore of Lake Michigan. And this was a real game against a real defense that was supposed to know better.
With the Falcons holding a tenuous lead all afternoon Sunday, their second-year tight end decided to make the fourth quarter his own. The season-opener for the defending NFC champions would come to be known as the Austin Hooper-Stiff-Arm-of-Thor game.
First, with a dozen minutes to play and the Falcons backed up, third down on their own 12, Hooper drifted to middle of the field. There, the only thing Chicago near him was the oldschool “C” painted in the grass, the one that has symbolized the Bears forever.
While Ryan resisted the urge to stumble, as he stepped up into the clutter of the Bears rush, about to be sandwiched, Hooper began waving his arms like a man hailing a cab on an empty sidewalk.
“For one play they got nosy,” Hooper said, referring to a Chicago secondary that had lurched forward and left him completely unchaperoned. “And a veteran quarterback made them pay.”
Ryan launched. Hooper, not allowing his solitude to distract him, caught. And then began his dutiful rumble upfield.
Apparently the word on the street around Flowery Branch is that this Hooper fellow is not the fleetest. “Some questioned his speed — I heard there was some talk of that — and he put it to rest,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.
Actually, Bears safety Quintin Demps did pull even with Hooper around the Chicago 30-yard line but now may wish he hadn’t. For Hooper thrust out a vintage stiff-arm and planted the defender like seed. From ground level, Demps viewed Hooper finish off an 88-yard touchdown reception that put the Falcons up 20-10.
“I was uncovered. Matt threw it to me, and I scored. I caught the ball, stiff-armed a dude and scored. That was it,” said Hooper, the minimalist.
The Falco n s would require one more Hooper catch-and-embarrass-a-Bear moment to win Sunday, 23-17. He wasn’t quite done.
“The story of the fourth quarter had to be Austin Hooper, the plays he made on the scoring play and extending the drive,” Quinn said.
For on another thirddown moment with the Falcons’ next possession, Hooper converted a short pass from Ryan into a 25-yard gain that set up one last important field goal. It was one more stiff-arm that freed him to make the most of the catch.
“I hadn’t seen that from him before,” said Ryan of the physical flourish. “But I like it.”
Ah, there can be nothing quite so satisfying as a wellplaced stiff-arm.
“It feels good. I’ll leave it at that,” Hooper said.
“The stiff-arm was cool. I like the score more.”
So here was an immediate payoff for the extra work he and Ryan invested in the offseason. As a rookie rising from the third round of the draft, Hooper showed
all kinds of promise (19 catches, 271 yards, three TDs). He even added a Super Bowl touchdown catch to his dossier.
Sunday’s season-opener verified every optimistic
projection about Hooper, as he departed with 128 receiving yards on two catches, more yardage than wide receivers Julio Jones and Mohammed Sanu com- bined. It was his turn to
be the jewel of the Falcons I just tried to go with it,” offense. Hooper said.
“(Quinn) always asks, OK, the stiff-arm he’s got ‘Who’s going to set it off ?’ down. It’s almost a trademark In that instance it was my after Sunday. But Hooper opportunity, my respon- wanted to leave the scene of sibility to make a play. So his best game as a Falcon with
this thought: “There’s a lot I got to work on. I made two good plays. Other than that, I made a lot of plays I’m not proud of. So I got to fix the ones I’m not proud of and become more consistent.”