The Falcoholic
The Atlanta Falcons had never won in the current Arizona Cardinals stadium. They had been struggling on the road off and on all year. None of that mattered today, as the Falcons picked up their second straight win and beat Arizona on a potent Bijan Robinson game and a late CJ Henderson interception. It was the second straight week where Atlanta’s mistakes, while very visible and obnoxious, were not enough to keep the team from a win against an NFC opponent.
Here’s a full drive-by-drive look at the game you just watched.
The Falcons picked up a penalty on the opening kickoff, which was fun. Trey McBride didn’t reel it in on first down working against Divine Deablo. Michael Carter picked up three yards on second down. A quick pass from Jacoby Brissett on third down went to tight end Elijah Higgins, who was open and wiggled his way to a first down. Brissett then tried a deep shot to Marvin Harrison Jr., who wasn’t able to reel it in working against A.J. Terrell and Xavier Watts. Carter then picked up seven yards. On third down, Brissett’s ball was low under pressure, and Carter couldn’t reel it in as Deablo hit him. The penalty still gave the Cardinals enough room to hit a 50 yard field goal and make it 3-0 Cardinals.
Atlanta got 30 yards on the touchback. Bijan took it nine yards on first down, and then picked up two yards and a first down. Kirk Cousins then threw a pass after play action that was a little slow to arrive and tipped into the air by Arizona. Cousins had a second straight pass tipped, this time by Budda Baker as he pressured Cousins. Then Cousins under pressure found Kyle Pitts for a first down. Drake London was the target the next time, but he dropped the ball as he was hit. A screen to Bijan went for about four yards. With pressure in his face, Cousins threw it away. On a fourth down try, Cousins was picked off and the Cardinals had nice field position off the return.
Emari Demercado was taken down for a loss by Kentavius Street. Carter then got 15 yards before Cobee Bryant got him. Brissett rolled out on first down but had his pass swatted by James Pearce Jr. Carter was stopped after a couple of yards. Brissett then bombed one downfield working against Cobee Bryant, who had tremendous coverage but wasn’t quite able to stop the catch. 10-0 Cardinals.
Robinson picked up four yards. Three more yards followed. A quick pass to London picked up a first. Bijan picked up a couple of yards on first down. Dalvin Tomlinson then nearly killed Cousins, who managed to throw it away. London reeled in a sideline ball for a first down. Tyler Allgeier then rumbled for a first down. Allgeier slipped a little bit on second down for a yard or two. Cousins couldn’t quite hit Sills with pressure getting...
