The Atlanta Falcons justifiably took a stable full of manure for their loss against the Carolina Panthers. They were disorganized, discouraged, and disinclined to score, which led to a terrible 30-0 loss that
cast the entire season into doubt. The way they responded to that was going to tell us a lot about whether they were capable of recovering and trying to make a playoff push this season.
We need to acknowledge that Washington was down multiple starters, including Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin, but every team does deal with injuries. Down A.J. Terrell, the Falcons defense scuffled at times against this Washington offense, but the Falcons offense found life, Parker Romo returned to form, and Atlanta overcame some bewildering special teams mishaps to beat Washington. It wasn’t the complete game we hoped for, but it was enough to earn the win against a talented Commanders team, and that’s all we really wanted to see.
Atlanta’s offense was much sharper minus an ugly interception from Michael Penix Jr.—who put together a career day otherwise—and the defense came up with a couple of key stops, including a Xavier Watts interception. The Falcons are now 2-2, and suddenly the deep despair we felt in Week 3 has largely returned to a cautious hope after Week 4. If Atlanta can actually put together this kind of day on offense more regularly, this team might do something.
On to the drive-by-drive recap.
1st Quarter
Atlanta won the toss and decided to receive, and with a touchback, got it at the 35. Bijan Robinson took it for five yards on first down. A quick screen pass was dropped by Ray-Ray McCloud, but Michael Penix Jr. found Kyle Pitts downfield for 26 yards. Robinson then picked up three yards on first down, and then picked up eight on second down. On first down, he then picked up nine yards, but on the next play the ball was punched out by Daron Payne and rolled backwards for a six yard loss, with Penix recovering. On third down, Penix rolled away from pressure but couldn’t get it to Robinson. Parker Romo hit the 38 yard field goal to make it 3-0 Falcons.
Luke McCaffrey returned it and took it out to the 32 yard line. The Falcons run defense swarmed Deebo Samuel and he lost four yards. Marcus Mariota felt the pressure, stumbled, and was pushed to the ground by Zach Harrison. Mariota then badly missed McCaffrey downfield. Punt, and Jamal Agnew called for the fair catch at the 27.
Bijan got some nice blocking on a toss and picked up nine yards again, and then got the first down and a couple of yards. Penix hit Drake London on the sideline for another nine yards. Bijan then took it four yards and a first down again. Then Penix found London over the middle of the field for 15 yards and a first down. Tyler Allgeier picked up a couple of yards, and then Allgeier powered through contact to pick up another six yards. But on third down, Allgeier was swallowed up and lost a yard. Allgeier got his fourth straight carry on fourth down and powered through for a first down. The Falcons tried to do a reverse with a fake handoff to Bijan Robinson and then a handoff to Ray-Ray McCloud, which lost seven yards. Then Penix hit London for 14 yards, and found Bijan with pressure coming in to get the first down. Bijan then took it four yards. Then Penix hit London in the end zone for a touchdown. 10-0 Falcons.
The opening handoff went to Chris Rodriguez Jr. for three yards. Then Rodriguez got loose and ran it 49 yards, with Billy Bowman Jr. blessedly catching him from behind.
2nd Quarter
The Commanders were able to get nine yards on three plays—my Internet cut out, sorry—and decided to go for it on 4th and 1 from the 11. Mariota then found Samuel for a first down working against Dee Alford. Jeremy McNichols then took it for one yard on a Wildcat, with a tackle from Divine Deablo. Mariota then hit McCaffrey at the back of the end zone for a touchdown. 10-7, Falcons.
Natrone Brooks took it to the 45 on the return, but was injured, taking a scary helmet-to-helmet hit that had him down on the field for a few minutes before he was able to walk off. Illegal formation meant the kickoff was a re-do with a five yard penalty. Ray-Ray McCloud took it to the 37 yard line on another nice return. Frankie Luvu then sacked Penix for a loss of six yards. Penix then aired it out to London, working against Marshon Lattimore, and he caught it in stride and picked up 45 yards. Bijan then stumbled for two yards, and a false start on McCloud was up next. Penix then found Mooney for 15 yards and a first down. Bijan then powered and spun through contact to run it in for a touchdown. 17-7 Falcons.
McCaffrey took it past midfield on the return, with Feleipe Franks getting the tackle on the play. Mike Ford was injured, but was able to walk off. A low Mariota throw picked up seven yards, and then the Commanders got a first down on the Bill Croskey-Merritt carry, with a flag picked up. Mariota had to throw it away on first down because he couldn’t find an open man because of pressure from James Pearce Jr., and the Commanders were penalized twice, with the intentional grounding sticking and making it 2nd and 20. On a chaotic second down, Mariota was almost brought down but survived, hit Deebo Samuel, and then he fumbled and was able to chase it down for a gain of about three yards. Samuel then caught it again to make it 4th and 6. Matt Gay made the 43 yard attempt to make it 17-10 Falcons.
The Falcons got 29 yards on the McCloud return, and then Allgeier lost two yards on first down. Penix then hit Pitts for 12 yards. Allgeier then lost two yards again. Penix was moving under pressure and nailed Mooney, but Mooney couldn’t bring him in as he was hit and the defender got his hand in. Fortunately, a defensive holding call gave the Falcons a first down. Penix then tried a deep ball to Casey Washington, but it was too far. He got London on the next play, and he curled around and dove to make it 3rd and very short. Bijan was stopped for a loss by Eddie Goldman on the very next play, resulting in a loss of two. The Falcons tried to get the Commanders to jump and took a delay of game instead. Punt, with Jaylin Lane dropping the fair catch but recovering inside the 10 yard line.
On first down, a short Mariota pass picked up a couple of yards. Mariota then found Ertz for 14 yards, and then Divine Deablo came agonizingly close to picking off Mariota on a one-handed grab, but settled for a deflection. Jeremy McNichols then took it two yards. Then Leonard Floyd and Kaden Elliss split a sack of Mariota, resulting in a six yard loss. The Falcons took a timeout before the punt, and nearly had a disaster as DeAngelo Malone kicked the ball on the ground, with Atlanta lucky to recover.
Penix just missed London on first down. Penix then hit Pitts for three yards, and Pitts got out of bounds. Penix then tried and couldn’t connect with Washington on third down. There was a big hit on the punt, but the Falcons went into the half up 17-10.
3rd Quarter
Washington returned it to the 29, but Xavier Watts was injured on the field as Falcons kneeled around him. Bill Croskey-Merritt took it for a first down and then some on first down, picking up 16 yards. Then Marcus Mariota hit Jaylin Lane for a big gain, but a holding call made it 1st and 20. Mariota then hit Luke McCaffrey for nine yards, but an offensive pass interference cost Washington ten yards again. McCaffrey then got about 16 yards on first down. Kaden Elliss came in on the blitz, crushed Mariota, and he threw it away for an incomplete. Mariota then scrambled for a first down. Croskey-Merritt gained two yards. A screen pass to Croskey-Merritt then got another six yards. A false start then backed Washington up five yards. Chris Moore couldn’t win his battle against Mike Hughes on third down, however. Gay hit the 52 yarder to make it 17-13, Falcons.
Jamal Agnew’s return went to the 24 yard line. Then Michael Penix Jr. found Bijan Robinson on a quick pass, Robinson left one defender in the dust, and he took it 69 yards before he was tackled. Then Penix hit Kyle Pitts, who threw a stiff arm and got into the end zone to make it 24-13 Falcons.
McCaffrey was tripped up just past the 31. Samuel took it five yards. Then Mariota threw a dart to Samuel, who picked up the first down working against Jessie Bates. Rodriguez then took it another five yards. A reverse that ultimately went to Samuel picked up another first down. Xavier Watts then picked the end zone deep ball from Mariota, giving Atlanta the ball back.
Bijan took it two yards. Penix then found Robinson for a first down. Penix then threw a terrible interception, and it was a turnover.
Mariota had to run away from pressure thanks to Jalon Walker and threw it away out of bounds. Rodriguez then got two yards. Mariota then threw it way too high to Zach Ertz on third down. Gay hit a 41 yard field goal try to make it 24-16, Falcons.
Agnew took a big hit and kept going, making it to about the 28 yard line. Tyler Allgeier took it two yards, and then Penix saw an open Casey Washington and was able to get 20 yards on the sideline. Bijan then got three yards, and a dart to Drake London got six yards. Then Penix found Bijan for a quick pass that Robinson took for 17 yards. Robinson then took it 10 yards, and then Allgeier put together a classic counter run where he rumbled through contact for over 20 yards to score a touchdown. 31-16 Falcons.
McCaffrey had another nice return to the 34 yard line, but a holding call on Washington backed them up 10 yards. A pass to Croskey-Merritt got five yards.
4th Quarter
Croskey-Merritt then got the first down on the delayed handoff. A shot to Chris Moore was dropped after Mike Hughes punched it out. Mariota got away from pressure, scrambled, and then threw it away, but a defensive holding call on Billy Bowman Jr. gave Washington a first down. Then Kaden Elliss got in there and got the sack. Mariota then found Tay Martin for a first down. A screen pass to Moore then went for a first down. Croskey-Merritt then took it eight yards for a first down. On the next play, under pressure Mariota spun out and threw to Crosky-Merritt for a first down, and offsetting penalties ensured Washington was back on 1st and 10. Croskey-Merritt then took it six yards. Croskey-Merritt broke his first tackle and picked up three more yards. Croskey-Merritt was then eaten alive on third down by David Onyemata and Brandon Dorlus for a loss of a yard. Then Mariota hit Deebo Samuel for a touchdown on fourth down. Mariota was then able to connect on a two point conversion after stalling a bit, making it 31-24 Falcons.
Agnew’s return got out to the 23 yard line. Robinson took it five yards on first down, and then took a yard, setting up a Michael Penix scramble for a first down. Allgeier then took it three yards. Allgeier then had to fight for a yard. On third down, a sideline ball to Kyle Pitts picked up a first down and then some, and Washington even had a penalty on the play. Allgeier then got around contact to pick up three yards, and followed that up with maybe a yard. Drake London then made an insane third down grab to pick up the first. Allgeier then ripped through the line for close to 15 yards. Allgeier then got another yard, following that up with three yards. He got nothing on third down, losing a yard, but the Falcons hit the two minute warning. Parker Romo hit the 26 yard field goal try to make it 34-24 Falcons.
Mariota had to throw it away under pressure with Leonard Floyd screaming in. On second down, Alford got hit with a defensive pass interference, leading to a 25 yard gain. Mariota then hit Samuel for a first down and then some, followed by a spike. Washington then decided to try the field goal on 2nd and 10. Gay’s field goal try was good to make it 34-27 Falcons.
They tried the onside kick, but Kyle Pitts grabbed the hopping ball and fell down to ensure the victory.
