Written by Erik Slaby
Tampa, FL – It wasn’t pretty and was downright bad at some points. There were some ups and some downs, but in the end, the Atlanta Falcons managed to pull off the 34-32 victory over their NFC South division rival, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a game-winning field goal from kicker Matt Bryant. The Falcons cap off a disappointing season in an entertaining fashion to finish the 2018 NFL season with a 7-9 record. Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn spoke after the game about the win.
“A clear example of the fight of the team, and being down 17-0,” said Quinn. “That part at the end of a regular season on the road down 17-0, that’s not a spot you want to be in. But I think at the same time, it says a lot about the men inside the locker room. Scoring at the half, I thought was a real critical piece to try and get back in, and then we knew had the possession, to come back out for the second half. It gets to 17-14, and you’re ready to get rolling again. So at the end of the day, I just thought that the last drive showed so much grit and toughness at the end.”
The first half was a rough affair for the Falcons. They seemed to be lifeless and dis-interested in playing at times. Their first five possession ended in punts and they were plagued by poor throws from quarterback Matt Ryan, drops and penalties throughout the first half. All were self-inflicted mistakes. The Buccaneers took advantage of the Falcons mistakes and took a 17-0 lead at one point. However, the Falcons showed some signs of life before the end of the first half with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Ryan to wide receiver Julio Jones.
While the majority of the first half couldn’t have gone worse for the Falcons, the second half was completely different. The first five possessions of the second half for the Falcons went about as well as they could’ve gone, as the Falcons scored on every single one of them. The Falcons went on a 31-3 run across the second, third and fourth quarters before the Buccaneers scored a touchdown. The Buccaneers managed to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and they attempted two-point conversions, but failed to convert both of them. At that point, they led 32-31 before the Falcons marched down the field and milked the final 5:10 off the clock and Bryant drilled the field goal as time expired.
In hindsight, it may have been better if the Buccaneers had just kicked the extra-points, which would’ve made the score 34-31 before the Falcons got the ball. In all likelihood though, given how much time was left, the Falcons probably would’ve been able to score a touchdown to take an even larger lead. Those will be two decisions from Buccaneers head coach Dirk Kotter that Buccaneers fans will likely second guess after this loss.
The Falcons were led by Ryan as he completed 31-44 passes for 378 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Jones led the way for the receivers with nine catches for 138 yards and a touchdown. Rookie wide receiver Calvin Ridley also caught a touchdown, which gave him 10 touchdown catches on the season, breaking the Falcons’ rookie franchise record for touchdown catches in a season.
The highlight of the game though came on the Falcons’ first possession of the third quarter when Atlanta wide receiver Mohamed Sanu took a pitch and threw the ball to Ryan in the end zone for a touchdown. Ryan made a nice over the shoulder catch to haul in the touchdown. It was Ryan’s first career catch and touchdown catch in the NFL. That play seemed to energize the Falcons and give them some momentum. Ryan spoke after the game about his catch.
“Great play call by Sark (Falcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian), good design,” said Ryan with a smile. “During the week, it felt like we could get the job done if we did it, and it was cool to catch my first NFL pass and first NFL touchdown. Took me 11 years, but it’s pretty cool, pretty fun. It was a good play and fun to be a part of it.”
Though the 2018 NFL season is now over, the Falcons have shown to be a resilient bunch, even when there isn’t a spot in the playoff to look forward to. The Falcons had some ups and downs this season, with many of their losses happening because of their own self-inflicted mistakes. Hopefully this offseason, Quinn and his staff will be able to correct these issues and with numerous injured players returning next season, the Falcons have the ability to be right back in the thick of the Super Bowl chase.
