The Atlanta Falcons hosted the Arizona Cardinals last night knowing that they had to win, too retain their position at the top of the NFC South. It was a night for the strongly criticized defense of the Falcons to remember for all the right reasons, conceding only one offensive touchdown all evening and forcing three turnovers. It was a night however for not only Drew Stanton to forget, but also trash talking cornerback Patrick Peterson who gave up 189 yards and a touchdown to Julio Jones a careers best for the Falcons receiver.
The game started off well for the Falcons with Steven Jackson having a 50 yard rushing attempt on the first drive, setting up a genuine Falcons attack. The Atlanta Falcons found themselves at 4th and goal after just three minutes, a play-action play gave Matt Ryan time and he found tight end Toilolo at the back of the end zone for a one yard touchdown. The tight end who like many Falcons this season has been labeled as a bust, was happy to get on the score sheet with a touchdown against a top pass defense. The Cardinals then went three and out on their very next drive and the ensuing punt saw punt return specialist Devin Hester return the length of the field for a touchdown which should have been allowed, but the end zone official pinged Hester for a facemask offense.
Things seemed to get worse for the Falcons after an interception thrown by Ryan, but the interception was overturned as it was ruled to have hit the turf. Bryant kicked over his first of five field goals here to make the score 10-0. The last Falcons touchdown of the game is thanks to yet another great play by Julio Jones who left Patrick Peterson for dead, with a 32 yard TD into the corner of the end zone. The Falcons led 17-0 after the 1st quarter.
The Cardinals did start some form of comeback in the 2nd quarter, Johnson picking off a Matt Ryan throw for an 88 yard TD. Cardinals wasted no time adding a field goal to the board driving down the field for a 44 yard field goal, to narrow the gap to just 7 despite the early onslaught. But the Cardinals night was summed up with an interception from Lowery setting up a field goal to take the teams to the half at 20-10.
The Falcons added another three field goals without a reply in the second half, forced a fumble and picked off Stanton for the second time of the night. The Cardinals did finally get an offensive touchdown, their one and only of the night with just minutes remaining thanks to a pass from Stanton to Taylor. The two yard conversion was completed following a run from running back Taylor making the final score at the end 29-18 in favor of Atlanta.
The Falcons defense allowed 329 yards and only one offensive touchdown all game, a huge improvement on weeks gone by. The Falcons move to 5-7 on the season and take the NFC South lead again whereas the Cardinals move to 9-3 with Superbowl champions Seattle closing in on them.
Next week the Falcons travel to Green Bay and the Cardinals will host the Chiefs.