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Week 8 Game Recap: Atlanta Falcons 14, Philadelphia Eagles 27
What you need to know
| Atlanta Falcons |
QB Matt Ryan played admirably against a very tough Eagles blitzing defense. From the second quarter onwards Ryan was under constant pressure. He continued to have a strong rapport with wide receiver Roddy White. The pair hooked up for a pair of passing touchdowns on the day.
RB Michael Turner was never able to get untracked. The combination of a stout Eagles defense and the Falcons playing from behind led to a modest stat line for the big running back. Of note: he did have a 17 yard carry called backed on a holding penalty.
WR Roddy White had a huge game from a fantasy perspective. He had eight receptions for 113 yards and kept the Eagles secondary very busy.
| Philadelphia Eagles |
QB Donovan McNabb showed some of his old scrambling skills and ability to make plays with his legs. He was successful scampering away from the on-coming Falcons pass rush which helped keep the chains moving for the Eagles. McNabb also scored on a designed QB draw to tie the game late in the second half.
RB Brian Westbrook despite not being 100% healthy was an absolute force in the game. It was apparent that Westbrook was still favoring his sore ankle. However, his stat line shows that even at less then 100% percent Westbrook is still a dangerous running back both on the ground and through the air. The Falcons had no answer for Westbrook.
L.J. Smith was injured after being hit late by Falcons safety Lawyer Milloy, who drew a 15 yard personal foul penalty. Smith is reported to have a concussion and did not return to the game.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Ryan, Pass: 23 - 44 - 277 - 2 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0 |
Ryan had a very good game despite the constant pressure and blitzing. The Falcons did a good job mixing the play calling up with screens and other routes that allowed Ryan to throw on three step drops. Ryan was impressive in leading team back late in the fourth quarter to make a game of it. Ryan and receiver Roddy White continue to work on their comfort level with each other. They obviously had the two touchdowns on the day, but of note, White was the targeted receiver on both of Ryan's interceptions on the day. The second interception was a poor throw by the rookie quarterback as he woefully under threw the fade route in the red zone. It was a costly mistake.
| RB Michael Turner, Rush: 17 - 58 - 0 |
Turner and his stat line was a victim of the score and some decent play from the Eagles front 7. Turner showed some flashes of speed and vision when he ran North and South. He did not enjoy the same type of success on the outside plays. He did receive one carry from inside the Eagle's five yard line but was not able to score.
| RB Jerious Norwood, Rush: 4 - 5 - 0, Rec: 5 - 55 - 0 (6 targets) |
It was obvious that the Falcons coaching staff were trying to get the ball in Norwood's hands on the edges and when matched up against linebackers in the passing game. On the ground, Norwood found no room to run and the speedy Eagles linebackers were all over him. In the passing game, Norwood was able to find some room and beat the single coverage he drew.
| RB Jason Snelling, Rec: 2 - 20 - 0 (3 targets) |
Snelling saw very little action other then a screen pass and a scramble reception. He netted 20 yards on his two receptions.
| RB Ovie Mughelli, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets) |
The big fullback caught a pass for a short gain on a broken play.
| WR Roddy White, Rec: 8 - 113 - 2 (16 targets) |
White had a great stat line. His first touchdown was a well thrown ball from Ryan who fit the ball into a very tight space between three defenders. White did the rest and showed some great after catch ability on his way to a 55 score. Many of White's targets throughout the day were of the variety. The Falcons seemed to be attacking the deep middle and trying to prey on the Eagles desire to shut down stub running back Michael Turner. White also made a great catch at the back of the back the end zone while keeping both feet in bounds for his second score. His route running does need some work as he is not always crisp coming out his breaks. His poor running of a deep in route caused one of the two picks for the Falcons.
| WR Brian Finneran, Rec: 3 - 20 - 0 (5 targets) |
The veteran Finneran was used as a possession type receiver and caught most of his balls on third down. He also was targeted twice in the red zone. Unfortunately, he dropped a sure touchdown late in the fourth quarter just prior to Roddy White scoring his second touchdown of the day.
| WR Michael Jenkins, Rec: 3 - 50 - 0 (6 targets) |
Jenkins had a mixture of drops and receptions for short gains. His longest reception on the day came on well run deep in route.
| WR Harry Douglas, Rush: 2 - 10 - 0 (2 targets) |
Douglas was targeted for a deep ball and also ran an end around for a very short gain.
| WR Adam Jennings (1 targets) |
Jennings dropped his lone target. Also, he appeared to muff a punt late in the fourth quarter that took away any chance of an Atlanta come back. In Jennings defense, it sure looked like he never touched the ball and the Falcons had used all of their timeouts and could not challenge the play.
| TE Justin Peelle, Rec: 1 - 17 - 0 (1 targets) |
Peelle made a catch for a short gain late in the game.
| TE Ben Hartsock (1 targets) |
Was a non factor in this game.
| PK Jason Elam 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Elam was able to convert both of his extra point attempts.
| ATL Rush Defense |
They started off fairly well, however by the mid way point of the second quarter the Falcons were not able to keep Brian Westbrook under wraps. They gave up a total of 192 yards on the ground and three scores. In the second half the Eagles were picking chunks of yards on every rush.
| ATL Pass Defense |
They had some limited success in the first half with playing press coverage on the Eagles smaller receivers. They allowed 240 passing yards and no scores for the game.
| QB Donovan McNabb, Pass: 19 - 34 - 253 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 6 - 25 - 1 |
McNabb struggled early on in this game. He was over throwing his receivers many of them were wide open. The Eagles struggled to get much going until late in the half. What McNabb lacked early on in accuracy he made up his ability to extend plays with his legs. He scrambled a few times and was able to pick up positive yards and a couple of first downs. McNabb scored a rushing touchdown on a designed QB draw up the middle.
| RB Brian Westbrook, Rush: 22 - 167 - 2, Rec: 6 - 42 - 0 (6 targets) |
It was Westbrook's first 100 yard game this year. Like the rest of the team Westbrook started a little slowly. By late in the second quarter Westbrook got things going. The right side of his offensive line opened big holes and on some of his runs he went untouched for 10 yards. Westbrook displayed his typical elusiveness with should fakes and spin moves when needed as well. He also bounced off of a would-be Falcons tackler on his way to score his first touchdown. His second touchdown was a thing of beauty as blew through the line and made a great cut to lose the defense.
| RB Correll Buckhalter, Rush: 4 - 0 - 0, Rec: 2 - 29 - 0 (2 targets) |
Buckhalter was not able to generate much on the ground as he had one sizable gain called back on a penalty. In the air, Buckhalter was quiet as well. His highlight was a catch were he blew past his defender and made a nice catch for a first down.
| WR Kevin Curtis, Rec: 3 - 45 - 0 (6 targets) |
This was his first game of the year after returning from a sports hernia. Curtis the good route runner was astute at finding the soft spots in the Falcons defense. His big play of the game went for 25 yards.
| WR DeSean Jackson, Rec: 3 - 72 - 0 (9 targets) |
Jackson was only able to catch three of his nine targets on the day. He was targeted deep on the majority of his looks. His three receptions all went for over 20 yards and he still appears to be the Eagles biggest threat outside of Westbrook.
| WR Hank Baskett, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Baskett had a short gain on a crossing route and dropped an easy catch earlier in the game.
| WR Greg Lewis (1 targets) |
Lewis was targeted one time and was not a factor.
| WR Jason Avant (1 targets) |
Avant was a non factor in this game
| TE L.J. Smith, Rec: 2 - 29 - 0 (5 targets) |
The biggest Smith news is that he left game with an apparent concussion after a big hit from the Falcons safety Milloy. Earlier in the game McNabb over threw Smith who was wide open and would have had a huge gain and a possible score on the play.
| TE Brent Celek, Rec: 2 - 28 - 0 (2 targets) |
The rarely used Celek was targeted twice and made the most of his limited touches by catching them both for 28 yards. He made a nice catch on a seem route.
| PK David Akers 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Akers was good on his two field goal attempts from 36 and 18 yards respectively. Akers was also able to convert all three of his extra point attempts to give him seven points on the day.
| PHI Rush Defense |
The front seven did an admirable job of holding on of the top runners in the league Michael Turner and the dangerous Jerious Norwood to only 77 yards on the day.
| PHI Pass Defense |
The corners had their hands full with speedy Roddy White. They lost some and won some of those individual battles. The key for the Eagles was being able to generate enough pressure to not allow Matt Ryan the time and comfort to wait for deeper routes to open up. The Eagles secondary was able to nab two interceptions.
