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Week 13 Game Recap: Atlanta Falcons 22, San Diego Chargers 16
What you need to know
| Atlanta Falcons |
RB Michael Turner was effective in picking up 120 yards on the ground, but he failed to get into the end zone despite getting three carries from inside the two yard line on one second quarter sequence. He also lost a fumble.
QB Matt Ryan played outstanding, as he picked the San Diego defense apart almost at will from the opening quarter right to the end.
WR Roddy White had his sixth 100 yard game of the year, and went over 1,000 yards for the second straight season. He didn't score, but he was clearly Matt Ryan's go to guy all game long.
| San Diego Chargers |
RB LaDainian Tomlinson scored a touchdown, but otherwise had another very forgettable performance. Fortunately, he picked up 42 yards in the passing game because he had just 24 rushing yards on 14 carries.
QB Philip Rivers did not play well, and it showed in the statistics. He lacked crispness and accuracy at times and was under a lot of pressure from the Atlanta defense.
TE Antonio Gates caught two balls early on, then just one the rest of the game. The announcers speculated that he may have been injured and that he was seen limping around on the field at one point.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Ryan, Pass: 17 - 23 - 207 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - -3 - 0 |
Ryan did an excellent job of taking what the San Diego defense gave to him. He didn't force anything, was never close to turning the ball over, and was given loads of time by his offensive line to pick apart the San Diego secondary at will. About the only blemish on his afternoon was when he missed a wide open Michael Jenkins in the back of the end zone for what should have been an easy score. The ball was overthrown, and incomplete.
On the touchdown passes he did throw, he did a very nice job of reading what was in front of him. The pass to TE Justin Peelle was one of the best passes a quarterback has made this season, as he floated it perfectly over the back line of the defense but just in front of the defensive backs. On the touchdown to Harry Douglas, he was given all day to throw and showed good patience in waiting for Douglas to finish his route and the San Diego defenders to clear out.
| RB Michael Turner, Rush: 31 - 120 - 0 |
After last week's career game, Turner appeared primed for a huge performance against his former team. Prior to kickoff, he opted to not exchange any pleasantries with his former mates, rather kneeling at midfield stoic and focused. He looked really determined to have a big game against them.
While he did gain 120 yards on the ground, he failed to deliver the big plays when Atlanta needed them the most. It took him 31 carries to get to those 120 yards (3.9 YPC), and the Charger defenders made it tough for him to pick up every last yard that he got. San Diego clearly made a conscious effort from very early on to make sure Turner didn't beat them. This much was obvious by the fact that Turner was being bottled up on nearly every run while Atlanta receivers were running free wide open all over the field.
| RB Jerious Norwood, Rush: 4 - 18 - 0, Rec: 2 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Norwood was questionable to even play in the game, and he didn't have a very large share of the offense. He was on the field on a lot of third downs, and took one third down run down to the three yard line. However, once Atlanta got there Michael Turner came back in the game.
| WR Roddy White, Rec: 6 - 112 - 0 (9 targets) |
White's stats look good enough, but they could've been even better. He dropped what could have been a long touchdown, and he was open for another deep ball that Eric Weddle interfered with for a 40 yard penalty. Those two plays alone would've turned White's good performance into an outstanding one. As it stood, he went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season. In doing so, he became the first Atlanta receiver since Terance Mathis in 1998-99 to post back-to-back 1,000 yard campaigns. White, who entered the afternoon questionable to play, was shaken up a bit on a second quarter run by Jerious Norwood, but he didn't seem to be affected by it the rest of the way.
| WR Harry Douglas, Rec: 3 - 13 - 1 (3 targets) |
Douglas had a very up and down performance. After last week's breakout game, a lot of people were interested to see how he'd do now that he was a little more of a known commodity. Early on, it appeared he was trying to do a bit too much on a punt return. He started making a move before securing the ball, and muffed the punt away to the Chargers. That led to a San Diego touchdown. But he made up for that gaffe with a 32 yard punt return with his next opportunity (he fielded the punt return following the fumble and was not replaced for any plays). Later in the game, he capped his afternoon with a wide open touchdown reception on third down from five yards out that put Atlanta up by nine.
| WR Michael Jenkins, Rec: 1 - 22 - 0 (3 targets) |
Jenkins had just one reception in the game, and wasn't thrown to once in the second half. He did, however, sneak away from the defense for what should have been a wide open touchdown early in the first quarter. QB Matt Ryan, however, badly overthrew the football for a harmless incompletion.
| TE Justin Peelle, Rec: 3 - 38 - 1 (4 targets) |
Peelle, like most opposing tight ends this season, had his best game of the season against the Chargers. He entered the contest with just nine receptions and one score for the year, but caught three balls and a touchdown in this game. His touchdown reception was an 18 yard grab down the seam. Peelle went up high to snag the ball out of the air in a lot of traffic, and came down with the score to put Atlanta up 13-7.
| PK Jason Elam 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Elam connected with ease on kicks from 35 and 40 yards out.
| ATL Rush Defense |
Atlanta allowed just 70 yards on the ground, but even that is greatly misleading. They dominated the Chargers in the run game, and it would've been reflected in the stats had it not been for a flukey fake punt. The Chargers punted the ball away, but were whistled for a penalty on the kick. Atlanta opted to have the Chargers re-kick, but rather than kick it they tried a fake punt. RB Jacob Hester took the direct snap 28 yards upfield for the first down. Those 28 yards were more than RB LaDainian Tomlinson had on 14 carries. A large part of the reason the Falcons were able to shut down the San Diego running game is because the Falcons had the ball so much longer. The San Diego defense couldn't get off the field on third down pass plays against Atlanta, and the drives were often continued for several more plays because of it.
The Falcons came close to a safety of Tomlinson midway through the second quarter, missing by a matter of inches. QB Philip Rivers was whistled for intentional grounding in the end zone two plays later anyway, giving Atlanta their safety.
| ATL Pass Defense |
There were a number of occasions that the Falcons could have been taken advantage of, but the Chargers weren't up to the task. For instance, the Chargers' opening drive resulted in a fourth down stop when a pass intended for a wide open Antonio Gates was batted down at the line. Later, Vincent Jackson caught a huge third down conversion along the sideline but was drilled out of bounds by Chris Houston. Later, Jackson appeared to have hauled in a leaping touchdown reception but once again he had been forced out of bounds by a defender. So instead of San Diego taking advantage, it was Atlanta that made all the big plays.
In addition to the aforementioned force-outs, they shut Jackson down the rest of the game and he finished without a single reception. Chris Chambers had just one for a meager two yards. And Antonio Gates had just three, two of which came on the opening drive. The only San Diego receiver who had success of any kind was Malcolm Floyd, and five receptions for 59 yards is hardly a huge performance. In addition to shutting down the receivers, they gave QB Philip Rivers fits. They sacked him three times, and there was a point in the game from the first quarter until the 8:12 mark of the third quarter when he didn't complete a single pass.
CB Domonique Foxworth was the only defender on Atlanta to come close to forcing a turnover, but he had the long pass to Malcolm Floyd go through his hands for an incompletion.
S Erik Coleman was slow to get up after a big collision with Malcolm Floyd on a pass play late in the fourth quarter. Coleman was down for several minutes, but eventually walked off under his own power.
| QB Philip Rivers, Pass: 17 - 30 - 149 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 18 - 0 |
Rivers played poorly, both realistically and statistically. The numbers sort of speak for themselves, but this passing offense was really lost at times. Rivers was under a lot of pressure at times, evidenced by the three sacks. And there were a number of other occasions that he narrowly avoided being brought down. He took a very inopportune sack on what could have been the team's game-winning drive. Facing a second and ten from his own 19 with 2:41 left, he took a nine yard loss to set up an impossible third and 19 situation. Following an incomplete pass, the Chargers punted on fourth down and wouldn't see the ball again.
The numbers bear out how bad he was (5.0 YPA, 0 touchdowns) but he failed to make any plays on a day the team really needed him to do so. RB LaDainian Tomlinson was stifled right from the outset, but Rivers was unable to take advantage. At one point from the end of the first quarter to the middle of the third quarter, Rivers didn't even complete a pass. His longer passes wobbled and were off-target. The only time he came close to a touchdown pass was when Vincent Jackson skied to make a nice play of a ball along the back line of the end zone late in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for both players, Jackson was pushed out and unable to get his feet down and the play was simply an incomplete pass.
| RB LaDainian Tomlinson, Rush: 14 - 24 - 1, Rec: 5 - 42 - 0 (6 targets) |
On a day that Tomlinson hit a couple of noteworthy milestones, it was still a day he'd soon love to forget. His first quarter touchdown was the 136th of his career, tying Marshall Faulk for fifth place all-time. Tomlinson also caught his 500th career reception, making him one of only five players in history with at least 10,000 rushing yards and 500 receptions. Those noteworthy numbers are nice, but they do nothing to erase the sting of averaging just 1.7 yards per carry on the afternoon. Tomlinson looked fine, and didn't appear to be injured in any way. When he got in the open field, he showed nice moves and an ability to turn the corner on the defenders. But far too often, he was met in the backfield by a number of tacklers and stuffed before he could even get anything going. The offensive line failed to open up many holes for him, making it nearly impossible to establish a rhythm.
| RB Jacob Hester, Rush: 1 - 28 - 0, Rec: 3 - 19 - 0 (3 targets) |
Hester has gradually become more involved in the offense as the season has gone on, and in this game he saw four offensive touches. The most important play he made all game was a 28 yard run on a fourth quarter fake punt. The Chargers had actually punted on the previous play, but after a penalty Atlanta opted to have San Diego re-kick. Rather than kick it, Hester took the direct snap up the right side for the big gain. He also showed nice hands on a one-handed diving reception near the sideline in the first quarter.
| RB Darren Sproles |
For the first time all season, Sproles did not receive an offensive touch in the game. Until this week, he had had at least one rush in every game and at least one reception in every game except Week 1. Meanwhile, the team's other backup RB Jacob Hester, had four touches.
| WR Malcom Floyd, Rec: 5 - 59 - 0 (10 targets) |
Floyd's role in the offense early in the season was almost nonexistent, but his performance has made it impossible to faze him out of the action. He led the team in targets, receptions, and yardage, and was Philip Rivers' go to guy on several occasions. With the Chargers facing a desperation third and 19 late in the fourth quarter, Rivers looked Floyd's way. While the pass was incomplete, it showed a trust in Floyd at an absolutely critical point in the game. Floyd was also targeted on two deep balls and once in the end zone, all of which fell incomplete. He was also the target on the two point conversion attempt that would've tied the game at 15, but despite a strong effort he was unable to bring in the fade pass with one arm.
| WR Chris Chambers, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (3 targets) |
The disappearance of Chambers from the San Diego offense has truly been astounding. On a day when de facto number one receiver Vincent Jackson didn't catch a pass and TE Antonio Gates caught just three, all Chambers could muster was a two yard grab along the sideline.
| WR Vincent Jackson (2 targets) |
The best thing that can be said about Jackson's performance is that he almost made two very nice catches. If it was 2007, he would've been credited with a reception on each of them. However, due to the new force-out rule, Jackson finished without a single catch on the day. His first target came late in the second half. He caught the ball about five yards inbounds, but was shoved towards the sideline and couldn't drag his back leg. The second target was in the end zone, and it was a nice leaping grab along the back line -- except it didn't count, because he was again pushed out prior to getting his feet down.
| TE Antonio Gates, Rec: 3 - 27 - 0 (6 targets) |
Gates was active early on, catching two passes on the team's opening possession (though he did also drop a pass on that same drive). He virtually disappeared after that, catching just one ball the rest of the game and only being thrown to once after halftime. The announcers speculated that Gates may have been injured at some point, suggesting that he didn't look to be moving very well and lacking a burst out of his cuts. They also said he was limping around at times.
| PK Nate Kaeding 1 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Kaeding had another forgettable game. He did connect on a kick from 28 yards out, only after he had one blocked from 43. In addition, the Chargers had the opportunity to attempt a 51 yard field goal on their first possession but instead opted to go for it on fourth down (they did not convert).
| SD Rush Defense |
The San Diego run defense is really the only aspect of the team that played well, and they played exceptionally well at times. While they did allow Michael Turner to pick up 120 yards on the ground, it took him 31 carries to get there. And the reason he got so many carries was mostly because the pass defense did such a poor job on third down that it kept drives moving. When drives move, running backs will get touches.
The Chargers were clearly making a conscious effort to try and stop Turner, who was making his first trip to San Diego since leaving as a free agent after last season. And while they allowed early conversions on third and one and then fourth and one, they also turned in a goal line stand that seemed to change the momentum late in the first half. The Falcons had the ball first and goal at the two yard line. San Diego stuffed Turner on first and second down, then stopped FB Ovie Mughelli on third down. On fourth down, Turner appeared to have a seam into the end zone, but LB Brandon Siler (with some help from LB Stephen Cooper) laid a bone-jarring hit on Turner to send him away.
Twice in the fourth quarter, the Chargers came up with huge plays to get the ball back for the offense. The first was when they caused a Michael Turner fumble, a drive that eventually led to a Nate Kaeding field goal. The second was a stop of Turner on third down and one to give the ball back to the offense with just under three minutes remaining down by six points. The offense, however, went three and out.
| SD Pass Defense |
All game long, the Chargers had trouble staying with the Atlanta receivers. Whether the Falcons were attempting short crossing routes, deep balls, or slants, it mattered little because there was almost always someone open on every play. The performance could have been even worse if Matt Ryan hadn't missed a wide open Michael Jenkins in the back of the end zone for a sure touchdown and Roddy White hadn't dropped a long touchdown later.
On that play and many others, the Chargers look to be a defense in disarray. There are far too many players out of position and not knowing their assignments in the defensive backfield. To make matters worse, the front seven got no pressure on Ryan whatsoever. In what has become a far too common trend of this defense, the Chargers came away from this game with zero sacks and zero interceptions. They did create one turnover, but even that one was debatable. WR Brian Finneran appeared to have caught a pass and was cradling it in the crook of his arm. It was difficult to tell if he had possession of the football, though at first look it appeared he never did. Regardless, he was hit and fumbled the football. S Eric Weddle (who had been charged with a 40 yard pass interference penalty moments earlier) picked it up and returned it 86 yards the other way for the touchdown, which cut the lead to 15-13 Atlanta.
Curiously, they have shown very little ability to cover the opposition's tight end. In this game, it was former Charger Justin Peelle who did the damage. Peelle entered the game with nine receptions and one touchdown all season, then caught three balls for 38 yards and a score.
S Clinton Hart was shaken up twice, first with a hand injury and then with a stinger. He returned to play late in the third quarter.