Sims, whom Winston calls “the most underrated back in the league”, juked Falcons safety Kemel Ismail out of his cleats, broke tackle attempts by Jonathan Babineaux and left safety Ricardo Allen with an armful of air at the goal line on his way to a 23-yard touchdown. On a day when their offensive line delivered the mildest of surges, they chose a toss-sweep. Wow.
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In the second half, however, Winston exploited the fact that Falcons head coach Dan Quinn probably got into his players’ ears at halftime about giving up those shorts passes. Quinn defended not going to it more in the fourth quarter on Sunday, saying, “We didn’t feel it was necessary at the time”. We’re not going to settle.
“I understand your point on it, but we felt like we were in a good spot with the plays that we had against them”.
Falcons strongside linebacker and defensive end Vic Bealsey played 39 snaps against Tampa Bay, but did not record a tackle.
Vice President Joe Biden joined 120 9/11 first responders on the sidelines during the national anthem before the Philadelphia Eagles game.
Running back Devonta Freeman rushed 11 times for 20 yards and Tevin Coleman rushed eight times for 22. The No. 2 overall draft pick threw a touchdown pass on the opening drive against the Cleveland Browns.
“We always talk about how love is a reason to fight, and I love this game so much”, Winston said, always with passion in his voice. If we were going to win that game, we had to do what we did best. Ryan had the highest average per carry at 3.3 yards on three scrambles for 10 yards. The two have been friends since Freeman’s days at Florida State. Swinney decided it was better to give him the extra time to heal. “You have a long season”. There was one in particular that could’ve possibly changed the outcome of the game. “Every game has situations”.
“It’s good”, Jones said. “There were holes. We had a game plan and they had a game plan, too”. This last gasp generated one first down and then four incompletions, the last being a tipped pass that fluttered to the turf some 65 yards from the end zone. It was technically a pass play. He even finished with more yardage than Julio Jones, who is obviously Matt Ryan’s favorite target.
Three plays later, with the offense in danger of stalling, Winston attacked cornerback Desmond Trufant, who had intercepted him earlier. He also should continue to get much better support from a talented young defense under Mike Smith.
“I don’t look at it as us being in a hole”, said Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, who was limited to 66 receiving yards on four catches Sunday.
When we woke up this morning, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were sitting alone atop the NFC South standings for the first time since December 31, 2007. It’s the same injury he dealt with in the preseason, but said he’s not anxious about it lingering.
The four passing touchdowns all went to different guys-wide receiver Mike Evans, running back Charles Sims and tight ends Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Brandon Myers.
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Quarterback Matt Ryan said he was feeling extremely confident about the offense heading into year two of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s scheme. I give the Oakland Raiders the slight edge because of the home field advantage, but this game could honestly go either way. “There’s nothing to worry about”.
