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Falcons Rally for 28-24 Win Over Buccaneers

TAMPA, Fla.. Down 10 points with just over 10 minutes to go, the streaking Atlanta Falcons didn’t flinch.

With Matt Ryan on their side, it’s easy to understand why.

Eric Weems scored on a 102-yard kickoff return and Ryan finished yet another fourth-quarter comeback with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins that gave the Falcons a 28-24 victory over the on Sunday.

The third-year pro has led 13 winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime during his career, six this season.

Atlanta (10-2) retained sole possession of first place in the NFC South over second-place New Orleans (9-3).

The Falcons won despite Ryan throwing two interceptions — the team’s first turnovers in five games — and being outgained 325 yards to 290.

Ryan also led a winning field goal drive in the final minute last week in a three-point win over .

He rejects the notion, though, that Atlanta is playing like a team of destiny.

“I don’t think anybody buys into that too much. We know that in this league, there is a lot of talent on each football team and anything can happen any given Sunday,” Ryan said. “We’re a confident team for sure, and we believe in ourselves, but we always know we’re going to face tough opponents, regardless of who we’re playing against, especially when you’re on the road.”

Matty Ice, as Ryan has come to be known, kept the winning march alive with a 25-yard completion to Roddy White on third-and-20. The Falcons also benefited from a third-down pass-interference call and another costly penalty on the Bucs for a horsecollar tackle.

“The mindset was the same. We felt like we could go down the field and score,” Ryan said. “We’re confident in that situation. We’ve been in those situations a number of times this year. … Nobody panicked because we understand that we can make plays when we need to.”

Rookie LeGarrette Blount rushed for 103 yards and fullback Earnest Graham threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to John Gilmore for Tampa Bay (7-5), which is 7-0 against teams with winning records and 0-5 against opponents with winning marks.

“We felt like we really outplayed them for most of the game, but it’s the NFL,” Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman said. “You have to find a way to win in the fourth quarter nearly every week, and today we weren’t able to do that.”

Ryan completed 18 of 36 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns. The pair of interceptions were his first since a 39-32 win over Cincinnati on Oct. 24.

Atlanta built an early 14-7 lead with Michael Turner scoring on a 5-yard run and Ryan throwing a 17-yard TD pass to Ovie Mughelli.

Tampa Bay turned Sean Jones’ interception into a touchdown to pull even in the closing seconds of the first half. Ryan’s second turnover led to another TD — fullback Earnest Graham’s 2-yard pass to John Gilmore — that put the Bucs up 24-14.

Twenty-one seconds later, the Falcons were back in the game.

Weems took the ensuing kickoff 2 yards deep in his own end zone, slipped past two diving tacklers as he made his way to the sideline at about 25, then somehow stayed in bounds as he headed up the sideline in front of the Atlanta bench and ran into the clear.

“That was huge. An unbelievable change of momentum,” Ryan said.

“We played all four quarters,” Weems added. “It’s never over with us.”

Freeman was 19 of 38 for 181 yards and one touchdown for the third-place Bucs, who fell three games behind Atlanta in the division.

Tampa Bay coach Raheem Morris didn’t take solace in the NFL’s youngest team playing the Falcons tough for the second time in a month.

“I think a good or great team, they go out and finish games,” Morris said. “We’re not going to wait until we become a veteran team to go out and try to finish games. We’ve got to do it the next four weeks.”

NOTES: The Bucs wore orange throwback jerseys from their expansion days in the late 1970’s, and the team’s first coach, John McKay, was inducted into the franchise’s Ring of Honor at halftime. McKay’s son, Rich, is the Falcons president and was Tampa Bay’s general manager when the club won its only title eight years ago. … Atlanta won an earlier meeting this season, 27-21.

Falcons Keep Low Profile Despite NFC-Leading Mark

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga.. The Atlanta Falcons are at their best when playing takeaway.

The NFC-leading Falcons (8-2) have outscored opponents 73-30 in the fourth quarter. Coach Mike Smith attributes much of the late success to a turnover margin that ranks second in the league.

When winning the turnover battle, Atlanta is 17-1 in three years under Smith. This season, the Falcons have a plus-10 margin in takeaways, which trails only Philadelphia.

Coming off a 34-17 victory at St. Louis, the Falcons have a four-game winning streak and lead New Orleans and Tampa Bay by one game in the NFC South heading into Sunday’s big contest against another division leader, the .

Like every coach, Smith recites a familiar mantra to his players every spring when they report for mini-camp: Win the turnover battle, and you win games.

The team has clearly taken the message to heart. Atlanta is 7-0 this season when it has fewer turnovers than the opponent.

“We’re plus-one this week, so we’re now plus-10,” Smith said Monday. “We’re second in the league, and when you get the turnovers and don’t turn the ball over and you’re on the plus side, you’re basically stealing possessions.”

Not that it’s been easy. The Falcons have needed fourth-quarter magic to beat St. Louis, Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Cincinnati.

Safety William Moore was the latest hero, picking off Sam Bradford’s shuttle pass at the Atlanta 1 before Michael Turner’s 39-yard touchdown run one possession later sealed the win.

“We just got away for a minute in the end there,” Turner said, “but it was pretty tight throughout the whole game.”

The Falcons aren’t just satisfied with multiple takeaways and minimal giveaways. Ranking second in time of possession, second in third-down offensive efficiency and seventh in rushing, Atlanta has found a strong formula for winning.

Defense creates turnovers. Offense scores points.

But it also helps that quarterback Matt Ryan is becoming a master at making the correct pre-snap reads, calling plays from no-huddle formations and making use of several targets.

Ryan benefits from having three elite playmakers in Turner, NFL receiving leader Roddy White and tight end Tony Gonzalez, but he also gets starting wideout Michael Jenkins and several reserves involved in the passing game.

Against the , a four-man tandem of reserves — tight end Justin Peelle, running back Jason Snelling and receivers Brian Finneran and Eric Weems — combined to catch seven passes for 70 yards, two touchdowns and three third-down conversions.

If there was one complaint about Sunday’s win, the Falcons scored just two touchdowns in five red-zone opportunities. But Ryan was still pleased to put up points on four straight first-half possessions as he changed the offensive tempo, switching out of the no-huddle.

“We had some quick snaps, but we also used some clock and also some dummy cadences to kind of get a look from them,” Ryan said. “I think we were more effective in our no-huddle, but we also had great field position.”

It was enough for the Falcons to return home with their 11th victory in 13 games dating to Week 15 last season.

Maybe the national buzz hasn’t swept up the Falcons. They don’t mind a bit.

“It was a good win for us, but again we’ve got another tough opponent this week,” Ryan said. “We’re going to need to get back to work and prepare the way we have all year.”

Notes: Smith said the decision to rest team sacks leader (groin) was easy. It was the first game Abraham has missed under Smith. “We believed it was in our best interests to hold him out, knowing that we’ve got a long, hard part of our season coming up, especially now with three of the next four games on the road,” the coach said.

Saints Miss Short Kick, and Falcons Make Them Pay

But somehow Hartley, who set a record with three field goals longer than 40 yards, hooked it wide left. Minutes later, the ’ charmed run ended and Falcons players stormed the Superdome field in celebration after Matt Bryant drilled a 46-yard field goal with 1 minute 55 seconds left in the extra period to lift Atlanta to a 27-24 victory Sunday.

“I missed basically an extra point,” Hartley said.

Atlanta would have won in regulation if not for Hartley’s tying 32-yard field goal with four seconds left.

After the Falcons won the coin toss to start overtime but failed to score, drove the Saints to the Atlanta 11. Resigned to defeat as he watched from the sideline, Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez took off his receivers’ gloves — “I thought for sure the game was over” — and even the longtime public-address announcer Jerry Romig let his typical “It’s good!” refrain slip out just as the officials began waving their arms to signal that the kick had sailed wide.

and Win

Tony Romo threw two touchdown passes to Roy Williams and the Cowboys got their first win by beating the , 27-13, in Houston. The owner feared the prospect of a humiliating 0-3 start and having an extra week to stew over it before his team hosts Tennessee on Oct. 10. “We were going to really be in bad trouble had we lost this ballgame,” Jones said. Now Dallas heads into its bye with a victory to build on rather than concerns about what changes Jones might make. The Texans (2-1) had hoped to go 3-0 for the first time.

¶With again struggling to move the ball through the air, Adrian Peterson rushed for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Vikings to a 24-10 victory over the . Peterson bounced off Lions tacklers all day and had an 80-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that put the game out of reach. “There was definitely a sense of urgency,” Peterson said. “Starting 0-2 was not the plan.” After showing feistiness in losses to Chicago and Philadelphia, the Lions (0-3) lost their 22nd straight road game — the third longest streak in league history — and their 13th in a row at the Metrodome.

Brady and Flacco Rebound

caught two of ’s three touchdown passes as the bounced back from a disappointing loss to with a 38-30 victory over the visiting , New England’s 14th straight win against Buffalo. C. J. Spiller, Buffalo’s first-round pick this year, scored his first touchdowns, on a 5-yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick and a 95-yard kickoff return.

¶Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin, and the survived an off-day by their esteemed defense in a 24-17 victory over the Browns. Baltimore (2-1) allowed its first touchdowns of the season and failed to force a turnover, but it did not matter because of Flacco, who had come under fire after throwing four interceptions a week ago in a loss at Cincinnati. “Obviously, I’m happier this week than I was last week,” he said.

Surprises at 3-0

Charlie Batch, making his first start in nearly three years, helped the remain unbeaten with a 38-13 rout of the Buccaneers. Batch, 35, started only because was suspended and his replacement, Dennis Dixon, was hurt. “Everybody knows Ben’s the starter,” Batch said. “One thing I didn’t want to do was be that weak link.”

¶Dominating in every phase, the got three touchdown passes from Matt Cassel and sacked Alex Smith five times in a 31-10 victory over the visiting . The Chiefs are 3-0 for the first time since 2003. “Each win, we’re getting more and more confident,” linebacker Derrick Johnson said. The 49ers (0-3), who rolled up 417 yards Monday night against New Orleans, managed only a field goal until the final play from scrimmage.

Bitter Loss for

passed for three touchdowns without the injured Anthony Gonzalez and Pierre Garcon and the visiting beat the Broncos, 27-13. Kyle Orton threw for a career-best 476 yards on 37-of-57 passing and the Broncos (1-2) outgained the Colts (2-1) by more than 100 yards. But Denver failed to get into the end zone on five trips inside the 20In Other Games

threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score in the Eagles’ 28-3 win over the Jaguars. Vick completed 17 of 31 passes for 291 yards, mostly staying in the pocket and picking apart host Jacksonville’s beleaguered secondary. One of the few times he did run, he broke a tackle, juked a defender and scored from 17 yards. The (2-1) improved to 2-0 with Vick as their starter.

¶Leon Washington returned two second-half kickoffs for touchdowns of 101 and 99 yards, and the held off Philip Rivers and the , 27-20. Rivers passed for a career-high 455 yards.

¶ shook off two interceptions to throw a clinching touchdown pass to Cedric Benson in the fourth quarter of the ’ ugly 20-7 victory over the , who started the rookie Jimmy Clausen but found he was unable to jump-start their turnover-prone offense. Benson also had a 1-yard touchdown run for the visiting Bengals (2-1), who won last week without scoring a touchdown. “This isn’t the B.C.S.,” cornerback Leon Hall said. “We just need to win.”

¶The backup running back Kenneth Darby scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, helping the overcome an injury to Steven Jackson and end a 14-game home losing streak with a 30-16 victory over the . The Rams (1-2) won for only the second time in 29 games over all, but lost Jackson to a groin-muscle injury in the first half.

¶Sebastian Janikowski missed a 32-yard field goal as the game ended to allow the Cardinals to escape with a 24-23 victory over the in Arizona’s home opener, a game littered with mistakes on both sides from start to finish. The kick, after a pass interference call against Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, was wide left. Janikowski missed two others, a 41-yarder and a 58-yarder, that were wide right.