Written by Adrian Beecher
Atlanta, GA- Of the Falcons 425 yards of total offense on Sunday afternoon against Arizona, 215 of that came on the ground. The most rushing yards for the season for Atlanta, something head coach Dan Quinn was quick to compliment both Tevin Coleman and the O-Line on after the 40-14 win.
““I thought Tevin [Coleman], his ability to get on edge was going to be an important factor in this game where we could find some space to circle the defense. They have got an aggressive group, safeties, linebackers, the way we play, so we knew we would have to try to get the ball outside on the perimeter, and I thought Ito [Smith] provided some tough yards inside, as well.”
Tevin was the star of the show though, totaling a career-high 145 yards on 11 carries and his TD score. Two of those carries caw him run for over 40 yards and faster than 20 mph, (Speeds According to Next Gen Stats; 65-yd run: 20.41 mph, & 43-yd run: 20.29 mph).
The 65-yard run came with the Falcons facing 1st and 10 from the 28-yard line with the game tied up at 7 and 2:52 left on the clock. Colemans run to set up a 1st and goal at the seven-yard line. Atlanta would settle for a 22-yard field goal.
Then his 43-yard TD run came on a 2nd a 13 from the AZ 43 yard line and made it 33-7 late in the 3rd quarter, really icing any of the Cardinals remaining hopes.
“We were working that play in practice, and it looked just like it did in practice. It was a really good play, a real good block by the offense.” said Coleman.
Coleman later continued to compliment the offensive line, “It was just a lot of energy out there. The guys came out with energy, I came out with energy, and they got on their blocks and were able to make holes for me.”
It marks Colemans 3rd career 100-yard game, it also marked him eclipsing his previous best single-season rushing totals with 702 this season. His previous best was in 2017 with 628 yards.
Others adding to the rushing totals Sunday included Itto Smith, Mohamed Sanu Jr., and Brian Hill, those three combined for 13 carries for 52 yards.
Quarterback Matt Ryan even got in on the action with 3 carries for 18 yards, including a 1 yard TD run and a 15-yard scamper. Ryan was very complimentary of the offensive line and the offense as a whole in regards to the run game.
“That was impressive, the way we ran the football today. I think when you go against an aggressive defense like Arizona’s, if you can hold up in the front seven and put your backs in space on their secondary, you have some opportunities for explosive run plays and our backs and offensive line and wide receivers did a great job of creating those lanes against some tough looks, but when you get those looks, you get big, big chunks, and we were able to do that today.”
