The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
FALCONS AT THEIR BEST IN HUGE WIN
Where have these Falcons been all season? Looking like a playoff contender, the Falcons throttled the upstart Las Vegas Raiders 43-6 before 9,124 fans Sunday at Mercedes-benz Stadium.
Without two key cogs on offense, the Falcons’ defense created five turnovers that led to 23 points, including a 67-yard interception return by Deion Jones. The Falcons were coming off a horrible loss to the Saints, while the Raiders went toe-to-toe with defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City last week.
“As a defense, as a team, we put it all together,” Jones said. “We played well together. We finally put one on film. We’ve got one to look at to grow from.”
Las Vegas, an AFC playoff contender, was no match for the Falcons, who were playing without wide receiver Julio Jones and running back Todd Gurley.
It was the Falcons’ first win over a team with a winning record this season.
“That was the story of the day,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “I thought our defense played extremely well.”
The Falcons improved to 4-7, while the Raiders,
who were favored, dropped to 6-5.
Here are five things we learned from the victory:
1. Quick start
On the Falcons’ second and third possessions of the game, kicker Younghoe Koo made field goals of 38 and 39 yards to take a 6-0 lead.
Linebacker Foye Oluokun added his fourth forced fumble of the season when he knocked the ball off Raiders running back Josh Jacobs. It was recovered by defensive lineman Jacob Tuioti-mariner.
After an exchange of punts, the Raiders appeared set to score the game’s first touchdown. In a battle of rookies, Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs beat Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell on fourthand-3 from the 39-yard line for a 36-yard gain.
From the 3-yard line, the Raiders committed two penalties, a holding on left tackle Kolton Miller and an illegal hands to the face call on right tackle Brandon Parker. The Raiders settled for a Daniel Carlson 29-yard field goal to make it 6-3.
After an exchange of punts, the Falcons cobbled together a 13-play touchdown drive, which was aided by two more penalties against the Raiders.
The Raiders appeared to stop the drive with an interception, but cornerback Nevin Lawson was called for a facemask penalty that gave the Falcons a first down.
The Falcons stalled and Koo came on to attempt a 40-yard field goal. Koo missed, but the Raiders’ Dallin Leavitt was called for roughing the kicker and the Falcons got a first-and-10 at the 11. On fourth-and-3 from the 4, Ryan found Calvin Ridley in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
2. Finding a pass rush
The Falcons kept after Carr and finished with five sacks and five quarterback hits. It was the first time the Falcons had five sacks and five takeaways in a game since Week 12 of the 2002 season.
Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett forced a holding call on Miller with his penetration.
The Falcons, blitzing at times, kept harassing Carr and in the second quarter Tuioti-mariner got a sack, forced fumble and recovery that led to a field goal right before the half.
The Falcons added a 30-yard field goal to take a 16-3 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, with defensive tackle John Cominsky in his face, Carr threw an interception to Deion Jones, whose return for a touchdown made it 23-3.
“We had a great rush which made him throw a bad ball,” Jones said. “It was behind the running back. I secured it. Once I got in the clear and put the ball up, I knew it was going home.”
Jones now has five career pick-sixes, the most by a defensive player since 2016, when he entered the NFL, and the most by a linebacker since 2006.
Oluokun, Tuioti-mariner, Cominsky and Steven Means had one sack each. Jaylinn Hawkins and Tyeler Davison each had a half sack.
3. Stopping the run
Raiders came into the game averaging 134.2 yards rushing per game, which ranked seventh in the league. The Falcons held them to 39 yards on 25 carries.
Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs was held to 27 yards on seven carries.
“We got some big bodies in there today and they were able to use their hands, shed blocks, come off and make tackles,” Morris said. “That running back, Jacobs, is very tough to tackle.”
4. Receivers’ group effort
With Julio Jones out with a hamstring injury, Ridley led the way with six catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. Four other receivers also caught passes and Brandon Powell caught a 4-yard touchdown pass.
Wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, who nearly caught a touchdown pass, left the game with a foot injury and did not return.
5. Turnover city
The Falcons won the turnover battle 5-1 and converted those turnovers into three field goals and two touchdowns.
“That was just us hunting the ball,” Deion Jones said. “We hadn’t had a ball in a couple of weeks. Guys were hungry for it this week. We talked about it and it came to life.”
In the third quarter with the Falcons up 30-6, linebacker Laroy Reynolds snatched the ball off Jacobs. Falcons safety Keanu Neal recovered at the Raiders’ 27-yard line. The Falcons added another Koo field goal to make it 33-6.
Reynolds recovered another fumble in the fourth quarter after Means forced Carr to lose the ball.
Following the last turnover, running back Ito Smith added an 8-yard touchdown run.