by Dave Weinthal
posted November 9, 2009
The Washington Redskins were just what an ailing Atlanta Falcons team needed Sunday after dropping two straight for the first time during the Mike Smith era. The Falcons scored early and often and with an aggressive defense soundly defeated the Redskins 31-17 at the Georgia Dome in front of a crowd looking for a fight.
And speaking of fight they got one – literally before halftime. Surprise, surprise, former Falcon top draft pick and two-time Pro Bowler DeAngelo Hall came back to Georgia flapping his gums and getting in the middle of a melee.
Hall was vocal all week about being unhappy the way the Falcons treated him and trading him after the 2007 season to the Oakland Raiders. Late in the first half Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan scrambled for a first down along the Falcons’ sideline when he was hit after running out of bounds by LaRon Landry. Flags flew. Then tempers flew. A shoving match ensued. And in the middle of it was Hall.
“I saw the commotion, and I had a feeling that he (DeAngelo Hall) might have had something to do with it,” said Roddy White.
A number or Redskins players joined the shoving match as both sides exchanged words. “I ran over there to help my guy, and next thing I know, one of their strength and conditioning coaches started grabbing at me, putting his hands on me. Then other guys put their hands on me. The whole time I’m trying to get them off me. After that, Coach (Mike) Smith came over to me, talking (trash) to me, saying they were going to kick my a--,” said Hall. “I stay in Atlanta during the off-season, so if Mike Smith wants to see me, he can definitely find me. That’s some bull right there. But he can save that for another day.”
Hall later said he was going to call the commissioner’s office about the incident. “Those sidelines are very, very hectic during a game. Our quarterback was hit late and there was a squeamish over there. All I was trying to do was restore order to the sideline and did not want to get into a situation where any of our guys were injured. That was my view of it. Again, it happened so very, very quickly,” said Falcons coach Mike Smith.
He added, “There were a bunch of guys on that sideline. Some of them were wearing black helmets and some of them were wearing maroon helmets. I can’t tell you anything more about it. It was very, very hectic on that sideline. There were a lot of things going on and my main goal was for the safety of our football team and restoring order,” he added.
Besides the skirmish there was a football game played at the Georgia Dome. Atlanta took the opening kickoff and marched downfield. They scored at the 9:18 mark when Ryan rolled left and hit Tony Gonzalez in the end zone from two yards out.
Atlanta’s defense was ferocious in the first half as they sacked Redskin quarterback Jason Campbell five times and knocked him out of the game twice.
“It was an extremely tough first half. Those guys were doing a great job of bringing the heat. Offensively, we just weren’t answering the bell. Those guys were more physical than we were in the first half. In the second half we had to come in, regroup and understand that it doesn’t matter if backups play in the game or not. We are all NFL players and we have to fight, that’s what we get paid to do. In the second half we played with a much higher tempo and we were more physical,” said Campbell.
Tye Hill, signed by coach Smith prior to the beginning of the season to sure up a shaky secondary picked off Campbell and returned the interception 62 yards to make the score 14-0.
The brutal Falcon defense not only rattled Campbell but knocked Clinton Portis out of the game midway through the second quarter with an apparent concussion.
“There was some great pressure by the defensive line, the defensive backs and the linebackers. I think we did a great job of containing him and keeping him in the pocket. We let him get out of the pocket a few times, and he got a few yards on us, but all in all, we did a good job in the first half,” said Falcons defensive end John Abraham
Michael Turner returned to form for the second week in a row. He ran for 166 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns. His touchdown runs were of 30 and 58 yards. The second touchdown he literally slid off Hall’s attempted shoulder tackle and ran almost untouched the rest of the way for the touchdown. Turner’s second score clinched the game midway through the fourth quarter as he ran down the left sideline literally almost untouched once turning the corner.
Turner, who was second in the league in rushing last season with 1,699 yards. This season he was only averaging less than 80 yards a game. In the past two games he has run for 317 yards of the 720 yards he has gained this season.
He said, "I was trying to get some explosiveness and spark the team a little bit. We just go out there and make big plays. It was just happening out there. I really can’t explain it.”
Falcons center Todd McClure said, “When you’ve got a guy that can get the running game going, you bring that extra safety down to stop the run. Then it opens up some things in the passing game. That’s something in this league that you have to do: be able to run the football, and run in effectively; to make teams respect it.”
The Falcons went into the locker room with a 24-3 lead. When they came out of the locker they were met by a totally different Redskin team. Washington took the second half kickoff and marched 80 yards on 13 plays. Ladell Betts finished the drive on a one-yard plunge. Betts, filling in for Portis had 70 yards on 15 carries.
Campbell, behind an offensive line that protected him unlike the first half drove the Redskins back down for another score completing a pass to a diving Todd Yoder in the back of the end zone to make the score 24-17. Campbell was 15-of-22 for 156 yards on the day, also running for 40 yards.
“A lot of things were said from coaches and players. A lot of it was about fighting and not giving up and giving each other a chance to make plays. At halftime, whatever it was, we played like a totally different offense,” said Campbell.
Atlanta mounted a drive that ended with Turner’s 58-yard score to make the final margin of victory 14 points.
“We knew coming in that Michael Turner is a heck of a running back. We didn’t tackle him successfully. He was able to bounce off tackles and make plays,” said Hall.
Ryan played a pretty low-key game Sunday. He was 17-of-25 for a career low 135 yards one touchdown and one interception. The interception was his eighth in the past four games. He threw only 11 all of last season.
Despite the low numbers and one interception Ryan helped direct the Falcons defense utilizing the run game, even running the ball himself to move the chains twice. His completions helped keep drives going as he hit Gonzalez four times and White three times for their lowest yardage output this season. But the game was well managed by the second year signal caller as the Falcons improve to 5-3 at the midway point of the season.
“The important thing is that we’re in the mix,” Ryan said about the team’s 5-3 record. “Now it is going to come down to how we play in November and December. These last two months are crucially important to our football team and we’re excited to take the challenge head on. Our goal is to make sure we win as many games as possible down the stretch.”
The Falcons are on the road again next week. They face divisional rival Carolina. Kickoff is 1 p.m., and it will be televised on Fox.
Dave Weinthal
eggman@vol.com
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