The Atlanta Falcons dropped to 1-6 on the season after a 23-22 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday. It was a low-scoring contest that came down to a game-winning touchdown pass from Matt Stafford on the final play.
On the previous drive, Falcons RB Todd Gurley’s second TD gave Atlanta a 22-16 lead. Let’s take a look at the how the Falcons’ offense, defense and special teams units performed on Sunday.
OFFENSE
On offense, the Falcons got off to a slow start as the Lions’ front seven was too much for Atlanta’s offensive line at times. The team struggled to run the ball, but was able to adapt and utilize Julio Jones, Hayden Hurst and Calvin Ridley as the game wore on.
Ridley caught his sixth touchdown of the year in the second quarter to give Atlanta a 14-7 lead at halftime. Running back Todd Gurley didn’t have much running room for most of the game but ran for two touchdowns, including a potential go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.
Matt Ryan threw for 338 yards and a touchdown pass, while completing 73 percent of his passes.
DEFENSE
The defense started slowly, but a big fourth-down stop in the red zone by Dante Fowler got the Falcons back in the game. Linebacker Deion Jones blitzed Matthew Stafford up the gut and blasted the Lions quarterback to end a promising drive in the second quarter.
Safety Keanu Neal has looked better the past two weeks. Against the Lions, Neal was all over the place, playing with speed and his trademark physicality. Rookie A.J. Terrell made a nice open field tackle of Stafford that was flagged for unnecessary roughness, aka “tackling a quarterback.”
Overall, the defense bent but didn’t break for much of the game, until the very last play. With two seconds left, the defense flushed Matt Stafford to his left where he found TE T.J. Hockenson for a game-sealing touchdown pass.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Special teams for the Falcons wasn’t overly good or bad. Both coaches opted to go for it on fourth down in field goal position. Younghoe Koo went 2-for-2 on extra points.
Brandon Powell could not find much room in the return game. He returned four kicks for a 19.5-yard average, with a long of 23 yards. Rookie punter Sterling Hofrichter averaged an impressive 45 yards on his four punts.
.jpg?w=600)
