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Jones Catches 2 TDs, Falcons Beat Panthers 31-23

He found it against the Carolina Panthers.

Jones hauled in fourth-quarter touchdown passes of 17 and 75 yards from Matt Ryan and the Falcons overcame a 16-point deficit to beat the Panthers 31-23 Sunday.

Jones bounced back after a rough outing against Houston last week in which he had two drops, including one of Atlanta’s final plays, and two costly penalties in a 17-10 loss to the Texans.

“He’s had some plays I’m sure he’d like to have done better, but that’s him maturing, and understanding what the NFL is all about,” Ryan said. “Sometimes, you’re not going to make the plays you want to make, but it’s all about how you respond to those situations. He did a great job for us today, but it doesn’t surprise me, because that’s been his deal the whole year.

“He’s worked real hard, and has been into it, and has done everything you could ask for from a rookie.”

Ryan finished with 320 yards passing and his four TDs matched a career high. As important, Ryan kept the Falcons (8-5) in playoff position in the wild-card race with three games left.

“We approached it as the first of four legs,” Ryan said. “We’ve knocked the first leg out and now we’ve got to move on and keep going.”

Atlanta closes the season with Jacksonville at home, at New Orleans and at home against Tampa Bay.

Ryan’s comeback shouldn’t surprise anyone — he seems to have Carolina’s number.

The first time the teams met, the Falcons trailed by three points in the fourth quarter but rallied for a 31-17 win on Oct. 16.

Down 16 points at the half, Ryan earned his “Matty Ice” nickname.

He came out of the locker room poised and calm but firing on all cylinders in the second half, throwing for 232 yards and three scores.

Jones, who finished with 104 yards receiving, was quiet for most of the game but caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Ryan to give the Falcons a 24-23 lead early in the fourth quarter. After Olindo Mare missed a field goal that would have put the Panthers up by two, Ryan found Jones across this middle for a 75-yard, catch-and-run touchdown with 4:17 left in the game.

Carolina’s final drive ended with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-5 from the Atlanta 27.

“He just kept his poise,” Jones said of Ryan. “He kept it positive on the sideline, encouraged us to keep it going, keep it going. Eventually, we did, and we came up with a W at the end.”

Looking to push the tempo, the Falcons went to a no-huddle offense quite a bit in the second half and tried to take advantage of a matchup with reserve cornerback Darius Butler on Jones.

“We got a look where we felt we’d had a pretty good matchup on the backside with Julio (Jones),” Ryan said.

Both of Jones’ touchdown catches came against Butler.

“You know, they were coming at me a few times with Julio,” Butler said. “They like that matchup. I made some plays early and he made some big plays late. You’ve got to hold up. That’s the name of the game. You got to finish it out.”

For the Panthers (4-9), it was more of the same, marking the sixth time this season they’ve lost after being ahead or tied in the fourth quarter.

Cam Newton started strong, completing 9 of 14 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as the Panthers built a 23-7 lead. But Newton was intercepted twice in the second half, including once on a poor decision when he tried a shovel pass to running back Jonathan Stewart with his non-throwing left hand as he was falling to the ground. The result was a gift interception for Falcons linebacker Mike Peterson.

Ryan cashed in two plays later as running back Marquizz Rodgers beat linebacker James Anderson for a 31-yard touchdown.

A glum Newton called his decision “terrible.”

“I tried to get the ball to Stew and tried to avoid the sack,” he said. “I should have just ate the ball and taken the sack. Both interceptions were my fault. If you expect to win games you have to protect the football and I did a poor job of that today.”

Despite their struggles in the second half, the Panthers looked poised to regain the lead midway through the fourth quarter, but Newton couldn’t hook up with Greg Olsen in the back of the end zone and the Panthers settled for a 36-yard field goal attempt. But Mare, just as he’d done with a chance to tie the game late at home against Minnesota, pushed a very makeable go-ahead field goal wide left.

Coach Ron Rivera said he plans to sit down with Mare to talk about what’s wrong.

“It’s the second one he’s hooked left, pretty much from almost the same area (on the field),” Rivera said of Mare, who was given a four-year, $12 million contract this offseason.

The Falcons seized the momentum.

Two plays later, on second-and-11, Jones caught a pass over the middle and broke through a tackle by Butler and Sherrod Martin and raced 75 yards to the end zone.

The Falcons outscored the Panthers 24-0 in the second half.

“We just brought a different attitude out there in the second half,” safety Thomas DeCoud said. “They caught us off guard early with a couple of things they didn’t show us on film. In the second half, we bit down and did what we needed to get done.”

Notes: The Falcons are 21-0 when Ryan has a quarterback rating of 100 or more. … Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith became the 35th player in NFL history to reach 10,000 yards receiving for his career on a 16-yard reception in the second quarter.

Texans Beat Falcons for Sixth Straight Win, 17-10

He was right.

Yates threw a touchdown pass in his first NFL start, Arian Foster rushed for 111 yards and Houston overcame another injury to Andre Johnson to beat Atlanta 17-10 on Sunday.

The Texans (9-3) have won a franchise-record six straight games, a remarkable feat considering they’re down to their third-string quarterback and have played many of their games without their star receiver.

The Falcons (7-5) sputtered offensively most of the game in losing for the second time in seven games. Houston’s top-ranked defense knocked down two passes by Matt Ryan in the end zone in the closing seconds.

Kubiak couldn’t bear to watch the final play, turning his back and walking down the sideline. When the ball hit the turf and the crowd cheered, general manager Rick Smith told Kubiak what happened and patted him on the back.

“It’s a great win,” Kubiak said, “because of everything this team has been through.”

Yates went 12-for-25 for 188 yards without an interception, an impressively poised performance after a dizzying week.

“I test my guys the night before every game,” Kubiak said, “and when I tested him, I was so impressed. I went in there and told the whole team, ‘I wish you could have been in there. He is ready to play.'”

The fifth-round pick was thrust into his pro debut last week in Jacksonville when Matt Leinart broke his collarbone. Leinart was starting in place of Matt Schaub, who broke a Lisfranc joint in his right foot in Houston’s previous game.

The 24-year-old Yates went 8-for-15 for 70 yards in his earlier-than-expected debut against the Jaguars. He was sacked three times by the Falcons, but never looked overwhelmed.

“I was extremely comfortable out there,” Yates said. “Coach Kubiak, throughout the week, we had a lot of talks and he instilled a lot of confidence in me.”

Offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp worked day and night preparing Yates for the Falcons’ ninth-ranked defense. When Kubiak quizzed Yates at the end of the week, he knew the rookie was ready.

“The job they did with that kid in the quarterback room was tremendous,” Kubiak said. “It’s been a heck of a challenge. T.J. held up his end of the bargain well.”

Johnson looked like he’d be Yates’ go-to guy early, making leaping catches on the quarterback’s first two completions. The All-Pro receiver also atoned for an earlier drop by pulling in a perfect 50-yard pass from Yates to the Atlanta 5 in the second quarter.

Yates then snapped a quick pass to tight end Joel Dreessen for his first career TD, and chants of “T.J.! T.J.!” emerged from the capacity crowd.

“I was studying my butt off all week long,” Yates said, “and it paid off.”

Naturally, the Texans couldn’t make it through a game without more adversity.

Johnson left in the third quarter after hurting his left hamstring. He injured his right hamstring in Week 4, underwent minor surgery and sat out six games.

Kubiak said after the game that he was told the injury was not severe, but he couldn’t be certain until Johnson underwent tests on Monday.

“I don’t think you ever know about the hamstrings until the next day,” Kubiak said.

After Johnson went down, Foster ably took over the offensive load, carrying 10 times on Houston’s decisive drive. Foster scored on a 1-yard run with 6:05 left, and then it was up to the Texans’ defense to finish.

Atlanta got the ball back with 59 seconds left, and Ryan threw a deep pass to Julio Jones to the Texans 25. But Ryan overthrew Roddy White in one corner of the end zone and Kareem Jackson swatted away a pass to Jones in the other corner as time expired.

“I had the opportunity to make that play and I just had to come up with the catch at the end,” Jones said.

Ryan completed 20 of 46 passes for 267 yards with two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions. The Texans have intercepted a pass in 11 consecutive games.

“We played in spurts,” Atlanta coach Mike Smith said. “We didn’t do the things we wanted to accomplish. We had way too many dropped footballs, way too many things that we normally don’t do.”

After Johnson went down, Foster kept Houston on track, converting a fourth-and-1 with a 7-yard run to the Atlanta 2. The Texans took more than 10 minutes off the clock with the decisive, 19-play drive, which tied a team record.

Notes: Atlanta allowed a 100-yard rusher for the first time in 15 games. … Gonzalez has a catch in 175 consecutive games, the league’s longest active streak. Gonzalez also reached 60 receptions for the 13th consecutive season, an NFL record. … The Texans had a positive turnover ratio (plus-1) for the eighth time in 12 games. … Houston has already matched its highest single-season win total (9-7 in 2009).

Ryan Throws 3 TDs, Falcons Hold Off Vikings 24-14

“We make it exciting enough for you?” the Atlanta coach said, managing a smile.

Then he took a swig of water and breathed a sigh of relief. His team held on in a game it absolutely couldn’t afford to lose.

Matt Ryan tossed three touchdown passes and the Falcons came through with a goal-line stand after Percy Harvin’s 104-yard kickoff return, preserving a 24-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Atlanta (7-4) had to beat the lowly Vikings to maintain its spot in a tight NFC playoff race. Minnesota (2-9) didn’t appear much of a threat without star running back Adrian Peterson, who was sidelined by a sprained left ankle. To make matter worse for the visiting team, three more players went down to injuries in the first half.

The game started according to plan for the Falcons, who raced to a 17-0 lead by halftime. Ryan hooked up with Harry Douglas on a 27-yard touchdown and Roddy White on a 6-yarder. The Vikings had only two first downs and 38 yards until their final possession of the first half, when they padded their numbers a bit against the prevent defense. Even then, Minnesota went to the locker room with five first downs and 97 yards.

Instead of putting the Vikings away, the Falcons let them back in the game.

“We know we’re a lot better than that,” tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “Sooner or later we’re going to hit our stride.”

Toby Gerhart, filling in for Peterson, scored on a 1-yard run late in the third quarter. Then, after Dominique Franks inadvertently touched a punt the Falcons were trying to run away from, allowing the Vikings to recover, Christian Ponder went to Harvin for a 39-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-13 to make it 17-14.

Ryan responded with two long completions to White before hitting backup tight end Michael Palmer with a 3-yard touchdown that extended the lead with 6:40 remaining.

Still, the Vikings wouldn’t go away.

Harvin took the ensuing kickoff 7 yards deep in the end zone, found a wall of blockers to the right and took off right in front of the Falcons bench. Christopher Owens made a diving tackle at the 3, and that might’ve saved the Falcons.

“That was the most pivotal play of the game,” Smith said. “We were able to put our defense out there and live to play another play.”

The Vikings got it to the 1 and decided to go for the touchdown on fourth down. But Sean Weatherspoon burst into the backfield and stuffed Gerhart right after he took the handoff, throwing him for a 2-yard loss. The Falcons ran out the clock.

“When the guy comes screaming off the edge like that, you have no chance,” Gerhart said.

The game was a near repeat of Atlanta’s performance the previous week against Tennessee, and doesn’t bode well for this team — considered a contender before the season — making a long run in the playoffs even if they do get in.

The Falcons built a 20-point lead on the Titans but staggered to the finish, barely preserving a 23-17 win.

Now, another close call.

“At the end of the day, we had more points than they did,” Smith said. “That’s the most important stat.”

Vikings rookie coach Leslie Frazier admitted it was mistake to go for a touchdown on fourth down, instead of kicking a chip-shot field goal that would’ve made it a one-score game.

“That’s purely on me,” he said. “I let my emotions get the best of me.”

The Vikings looked a lot better over the final two quarters than they did in the first two, though they were still outgained 335-226 in total yards.

“The first half was ugly,” Gerhart said. “There’s no rhythm. We came back after halftime and wanted to get the ball back and wanted to get a little momentum. Unfortunately, they stopped that momentum at the end of the game.”

Ryan completed 27 of 34 for 262 yards and had his best efficiency rating of the season. White, showing signs of turning around a disappointing season, had his second straight big game with 10 catches for 120 yards.

“It’s kind of the nature of NFL. Teams execute at a high level and things are going exactly as planned. Then there are times where you don’t execute as well as you would like,” Ryan said. “The most important thing is how we responded to that and played in the fourth quarter. We did a great job when we needed to score.”

Ponder was 17 of 25 for 186 yards but was sacked four times and had to scramble away from pressure several more times. Gerhart managed only 44 yards rushing, while Harvin had eight catches for 95 yards to go along with his big play on the kickoff, which was the longest non-scoring return in NFL history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

NOTES: Falcons CB Brent Grimes (right knee) went out in the first half and didn’t return. … The Vikings lost S Tyrell Johnson (hamstring), CB Asher Allen (shoulder) and deep snapper Cullen Loeffler (back). DE Jared Allen took over the snapping duties from Loeffler. … Harvin took advantage when the Falcons dropped linebacker Curtis Lofton into coverage on the fourth-and-13. He had no chance of keeping up with the speedy receiver. “We’ll take that matchup every day,” Ponder said.

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