Ok, so it took until Game 14 for the Birds to put together an end-to-end total un-flawed performance against any team, let alone the world champs. But dominate they did. Offense. Defense. Special Teams. The whole package. Hallelujah. We knew it was in them. What a pleasure to watch it unfold.
The domination began on the 2nd play of the game, when Asante Samuel jumped a route and picked Eli Manning's first pass of the game. Four plays later, Michael Turner rumbles in for a TD. All of a sudden, you could hear a hush come over the sea of blue jerseys that seemed to be everywhere in the Dome. We didn't know it then, but the rout was on. The Falcons never looked back.
- Time of possession: Falcons 39 min; Giants 21 min
- Total passing yards: Falcons 265; Giants 159
- Third down efficiency: Falcons 69%; Giants 40%
- Interceptions: Falcons 2; Giants 0
- QB rating: Ryan 142; Manning 38
The Falcons defense particularly came to play today. Asante's game opener was a harbinger of things to come. The D line kept Eli on his heels all day. The secondary picked Eli twice. And on 3 different occasions, the Giants went for it on 4th and short, and the D-Line said "We don't think so!" Talk about Rise Up! Game ball goes to the entire defense, as does the shutout itself.
Click here for the video highlights.
All in all, a very satisfying win for all of us. I expect that this performance should kill off all the national media hater's talk about the Falcons being soft, and unable to perform against formidable competition. It should kill it off, but it likely won't. The haters will continue to jabber until we win in January. Fair enough.
But today's convincing end-to-end victory proves to me that the January win is on its way. How about you?
Stay tuned...
The haters definitely won't disappear. But...that's what keeps this team on their toes. Keep the hating and they'll keep playing with a chip on their shoulder. Falcons play well when they have something to prove. We lost to the Panthers because...well it didn't matter.
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