Week 9 Game Recap: Atlanta Falcons 14, Detroit Lions 30

What you need to know

Atlanta Falcons

After a pair of impressive wins against AFC North opponents, Michael Vick and the Falcons found going onto the road against Detroit to be much more difficult. The quarterback who seemed to have put it together in previous weeks struggled all afternoon, completed 17 of 32 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown, but turned the ball over three times, twice on costly interceptions and once on a fumble early to set the tone of the game. Alge Crumpler was the leading Falcons’ receiver with four catches and 47 yards, including a touchdown. Fellow tight end Dwayne Blakley kicked in twenty five yards on three receptions on the final drive of the game, while the wide receivers in the Falcons’ offense struggled again. Michael Jenkins led the receiving corps with three catches for twenty six yards, with Ashley Lelie pitching in thirty five yards while catching two balls. Roddy White was targeted twice in this game, but did not officially catch a pass. Out of the backfield, Warrick Dunn added three receptions for twenty yards, with Jerious Norwood and Justin Griffith each adding one catch for five yards.

The impressive ground attack of the Falcons averaged 6.3 yards per carry against the Lions, but trailing much of the game, was not as heavily utilized as one might imagined. Michael Vick mixed in a number of designed runs and scrambles to gain eighty yards on ten carries for the bulk of the yardage. Warrick Dunn found the end zone at the end of the first half to pad his numbers, though finished with just eleven attempts on the day for 51 yards. Rookie Jerious Norwood was not utilized much of the afternoon, though looked impressive on a fourth quarter drive before suffering a knee injury on his final carry when he came down awkwardly. Norwood finished with thirty four yards rushing on five carries.

Detroit Lions

With an extra week to prepare, the Lions finally put together all facets of the game in a decisive victory over the Falcons. Jon Kitna led the Lions with 321 yards passing while completing 20 of 32 passes, highlighted by a sixty yard touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter to wide receiver Roy Williams. In addition to the touchdown, Williams finished with six receptions for 138 yards. With significant attention being paid to Williams, Mike Furrey flourished with four receptions for 72 yards. Kevin Jones was active out of the backfield against an aggressive Falcons defense, catching four balls for thirty yards. All of the Lions’ tight ends pitched in against the Falcons with Casey Fitzsimmons leading the group with two catches for 35 yards. Dan Campbell added two receptions for 27 yards, while Marcus Pollard caught one ball for twelve yards and Scott McHugh added a seven yard catch.

The Lions’ ground game focused exclusively on Kevin Jones who surpassed the century mark by carrying the ball 26 times for 110 yards with two touchdowns. Jones looked especially impressive in the first half; taking advantage of Falcons’ turnovers to find the end zone on runs for 35 and two yards out, though barely missed out on a pair of other touchdowns which may have made it an even bigger day for Jones.

What you ought to know

QB Michael Vick, Pass: 17 - 32 - 163 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 10 - 80 - 0

Vick completed 53 percent of his passes for an average of 5.1 yards per passing attempt en route to a passer rating of 52.0. This may have been better had not his receivers been able to hang onto the ball, with notable drops in the game from his best receivers in Crumpler, Jenkins and Lelie. While Vick had shown a soft touch in recent weeks, he found himself trying to force the ball into his receivers especially once they fell behind. This did however work early on when he threaded a pass to Alge Crumpler on a nineteen yard touchdown pass. While the Lions made an effort to close down Vick’s running lanes, he still averaged eight yards per carry, and nearly found the end zone on a thirty three yard scamper at the end of the first half which subsequently led to Warrick Dunn’s touchdown. In trying to make too much happen though, Vick turned the ball over three times, including throwing an interception out of his end zone.

RB Warrick Dunn, Rush: 11 - 51 - 1, Rec: 3 - 20 - 0 (3 targets)

Dunn averaged 4.6 yards per carry with a long of thirty yards against the Lions, though only received three carries in the second half. Dunn’s best run came around the right end in the second quarter and helped set up the Crumpler touchdown which reduced the deficit to a 10-7 score.

RB Jerious Norwood, Rush: 5 - 34 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets)

Norwood saw his most extensive action of the afternoon on a fourth quarter drive, only to go down awkwardly on his knee and be forced out of the game. He remained on the sidelines during the game, though the severity of the injury was unknown and should be monitored.

WR Michael Jenkins, Rec: 3 - 26 - 0 (8 targets)

Jenkins was Vick’s favorite target, but dropped at least one pass late in this game and had a long reception of just thirteen yards, occurring on the final drive of the game. As they fell behind, the Falcons tried to go to Jenkins on the deep ball on numerous occasions.

WR Ashley Lelie, Rec: 2 - 35 - 0 (5 targets)

Lelie caught a higher percentage of passes than did the other receivers, but was also guilty of a late drop in this game. Lelie lined up primarily on the right side of the field, and as a result is less likely to be involved on designed rollouts with Vick naturally going to his left most of the time.

WR Roddy White (2 targets)

White failed to catch a pass, but was targeted on a deep ball which coach Jim Mora Jr. threw the challenge flag upon, but saw the incomplete pass upheld.

TE Alge Crumpler, Rec: 4 - 47 - 1 (7 targets)

Crumpler found the end zone on a nice nineteen yard catch in the first quarter, but following this touchdown catch, went two quarters without a catch, a prime reason the Falcons fell behind in this game.

PK Morten Andersen 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points

Andersen successfully converted on both extra point attempts. Michael Koenen did not attempt any field goals in this game, but was used in his traditional role on kickoffs and punts.

ATL Rush Defense

The Falcons struggled to slow down Kevin Jones on the afternoon, allowing 127 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Lions.

ATL Pass Defense

The Falcons' secondary played a decent first half, allowing only 121 yards through the air without a touchdown, but were picked apart in the second half of the game, giving up another 200 yards and a long touchdown. The unit did come up with one interception and three sacks but had an unimpressive performance as a whole.

QB Jon Kitna, Pass: 20 - 32 - 321 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 17 - 0

Kitna continued his streak of throwing for at least 225 yards in each game, and found the end zone for the sixth straight game. By completing 63% of his passes for an average of just over ten yards per attempt, Kitna finished with a passer rating of 93.4. Kitna made good decisions, and benefited from the playmaking skills of Roy Williams and ability of Mike Furrey to get open and make the tough catch.

RB Kevin Jones, Rush: 26 - 110 - 2, Rec: 4 - 30 - 0 (7 targets)

Jones was utilized frequently both through the air and on the ground, and found the end zone twice, though this potentially could have been a much bigger game. Facing a fourth and a goal from the one yard line in the second quarter, the Lions went for it, but failed to convert on a passing play which Jones lost two yards upon. This did set up an interception out of his own end zone for Michael Vick, which Jones quickly converted upon for his second touchdown, but nearly had gained this honor one drive earlier. At the beginning of the third quarter, the Lions gave Jones three tries from inside the four yard line before settling for a nineteen yard field goal from Jason Hanson.

WR Roy Williams, Rec: 6 - 138 - 1 (10 targets)

After a relatively quiet first half which he caught just two balls for 27 yards, Williams turned in an impressive second half, and went over the 130 yard mark for the fourth time this season, the first wide receiver to do so. His big catch on the afternoon was a deep ball down the right sideline which he pulled in, then darted across the field to take it in for a sixty yard score. Williams was utilized all over the field in this game, both on short and deep routes, across the middle, and on both sidelines. Williams showed he is truly a special talent, and is being utilized well this year in Mike Martz’s system.

WR Mike Furrey, Rec: 4 - 72 - 0 (7 targets)

Furrey benefited early from double coverage Roy Williams was drawing, and was targeted on three successive plays on the first drive, catching balls of 26 and 16 yards. Furrey had a fifteen yard catch called back due to an illegal formation penalty for which he was responsible in the third quarter.

TE Casey Fitzsimmons, Rec: 2 - 35 - 0 (3 targets)

Fitzsimmons led the Lions tight ends, though none played an especially prominent role in the game. The formation to open the game featured H-back Scott McHugh split out, but it was apparent that Martz and the Lions did not intend on featuring any one specific tight end, as in addition to Fitzsimmons and McHugh, Dan Campbell and Marcus Pollard also caught balls.

PK Jason Hanson 3 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 12 points

Hanson successfully converted on field goals from 19, 28 and 36 yards, with three extra point attempts. The Lions elected to go for it on fourth and a goal from the one yard line in the second quarter which may have prevented Hanson from having an even bigger day.

DET Rush Defense

While they gave up 165 yards as a unit for an average of 6.3 yards per carry, the Lions did not allow any player in particular, including Michael Vick to beat them on the ground. In jumping out to an early lead and maintaining it, the Lions only allowed the Falcons to carry the ball 26 times on the afternoon.

DET Pass Defense

The Lions’ secondary forced two interceptions by Vick, while the defensive line came up with one fumble recovery and two sacks. Together, they allowed just 163 yards through the air, and gave up just one touchdown.