The Falcoholic
Every hit felt fatal. Every mistake felt world-ending. Every big play felt explosive. In a game where most of the scoring came on the legs of Atlanta and Minnesota’s kickers, there were so many moments that felt enormous in this matchup between two would-be NFC contenders, and so many of them early on felt like they’d go against the Falcons. Atlanta does not win these kinds of games, as a rule, when the defense must step up and the offense can’t get it rolling and things are tight deep in a game. That requires discipline, execution, and canny play calling, especially when you’re down your top cornerback.
Yet the Falcons did it. They were bloodied and bruised from throwing sharp rocks around with a Vikings team that made far too many mistakes, but the defense, special teams, and ground game stepped up on a night where the explosives were missing and points were hard to come by. They forced J.J. McCarthy into a ton of mistakes, sacked him six times, and managed two interceptions. They held the Vikings returners in check and scooped up a muffed punt late to seal the game. They ran for 200ish yards on a very good Minnesota defense. For all the sacks Michael Penix Jr. took, for all the missed connections and drops and red zone woes, the Falcons simply outclassed Minnesota in the ways that mattered. They won 22-6, and while it was a close one throughout, it got lopsided at the end.
This was the Falcons team we wanted to see for a long time, the one that could deal with adversity and come away with the victory against a good football team. We’re still waiting to see this passing attack get untracked—it feels like that’s not that far away, but nonetheless—and yet the Falcons nearly got their overtime shot in Week 1 and won this one. We’ve been fooled a million times and I don’t want to be fooled again, but for at least this one shining moment, these Falcons feel different.
On to the drive-by-drive recap of the game you just watched.
The Falcons elected to receive, and took the touchback and got the ball on the 35. Bijan Robinson took the first carry 25 yards to take the Falcons past midfield. He added 16 yards on the next carry, with quality blocking an his own absurd excellence making it happen. Bijan then took it another five yards, but slipped on the second down carry after only a yard. Then the Falcons had to take a timeout after the play clock nearly ran down to zero, with the boisterous Vikings crowd possibly playing a role, and they were then hit with a false start on Bijan. On 3rd and 9, Michael Penix Jr. hit Kyle Pitts for eight yards, falling just short of a first down. Then on fourth and short, the Falcons were hit with a delay of game penalty, forcing Parker Romo on. He just got...
