Falcons 41 Steelers 38 OT

It was one of the most exciting, entertaining, back-and-forth games I've witnessed. Changes in momentum were so frequent that once the Falcons won in overtime, I was drained. I can only imagine how the players felt.

The game did not look good early for the Falcons. They benefited from an early fumble by Pittsburgh returnman Santonio Holmes. On the very next play, Michael Vick hooked up with Alge Crumpler to jump the Falcons out to a 7-0 lead. The Steelers then dominated over their next three drives, scoring 17 points and taking a 17-7 lead. During that timespan, the Falcons couldn't do anything on offense. But, after Atlanta punted the ball, the whole complexion of the game changed. The snap from center to Ben Roethlisberger was mishandled and Atlanta recovered. Vick hooked up with Crumpler again to close the gap to 17-14. On the ensuing kickoff, Atlanta caught the Steelers by surprise by kicking an onside kick. It was recovered by Atlanta tailback Jerious Norwood and Vick hooked up with Michael Jenkins for his third touchdown pass in the game and to give the Falcons a 21-17 lead. Unfortunately, Atlanta's secondary were sleepwalking throughout and gave the lead right back up to the Steelers, 24-21. Allen Rossum then took the kickoff back into Pitt territory and the Falcons appeared to be in a position to setup Morten Andersen for a game-tying field goal going into the half, but Michael Vick dumped a screen pass off to Warrick Dunn, which was dropped by Dunn, and picked off by the Steelers.

Atlanta wasn't effective running the football in the first half, but with Vick's three touchdowns through the air, they were able to spread the defense out a little bit more and garner more yards on the ground. Warrick Dunn ran for 69 yards, Jerious Norwood for over 60, and Vick added 40. Dunn was the first to score in the second half, on a one yard plunge in the end zone to put the Falcons ahead 28-24. The Steelers answered to take a 31-28 lead, before Vick hooked up with Crumpler for the third time in the game and his fourth touchdown pass to put Atlanta ahead 35-31. The Falcons drove again, but played it too conservative and settled on a field goal to take a touchdown lead at 38-31. Of course, that bit Atlanta in the backside, and Pitt scored to tie the game at 38. Atlanta drove the ball down far enough that head coach Jim Mora was comfortable sending Michael Koenen out for a 56-yard field goal attempt. Koenen made the long field goal, but Steelers' head coach Bill Cowher called a timeout just before the snap, so Koenen had to kick again. This time, he missed, but was run into by Troy Polamalu and that shortened the field goal to 51 yards. For some reason, More sent out elder kicker Morten Andersen in for the 51-yard attempt. Andersen has stated that he's good inside 50. After this kick, his assessment is pretty darn accurate, because the attempt would've been good from 49-yards, but not at 51, unfortunately. Pitt backup quarterback Charlie Batch connected with Hines Ward and hurried the offense to the line-of-scrimmage to spike the ball with eight seconds left, but Nate Washington was flagged for a false start. In the NFL, inside a minute, that penalty automatically deducts ten seconds off the clock, so regulation was over and they would go to overtime.

In overtime, the Falcons won the toss, received, and never allowed the Pitt offense to see the ball from anywhere but the sideline. The play of the drive was on a 3rd down near midfield when Vick scrambled to his left, past a diving Troy Polamalu and floated a nice 26-yard pass to Crumpler. The Falcons then ran the ball, centered it for Andersen and he made the game-winning attempt.

There are things I witnessed in the game that I have to cringe about, but there are other things that I was happy to see. First off, most importantly, they found a way to win the game. They were down 17-7 and looking at 24-7 in the eyes, but found a way to win the game. That showed the character of this team. Many critics liked to doubt that this club could come back in any game, especially if they had to throw the football. Atlanta was down 10-7, 17-7, 17-14, 24-21, and 31-28 and they won. The pass protection on Vick was much improved over the 7 sacks they allowed in the New York Giants game. Vick was sacked once and that was a coverage sack. Dropped passes continue to be a problem, but there were fewer dropped passes in this game than in others. Roddy White dropped a ball (go figure), Warrick Dunn dropped one that was picked off due to the drop, and Ashley Lelie dropped a ball. Compared to previous games, three drops is like nothing.

I have given offensive coordinator Greg Knapp a hard time in the past on his playcalling, but have to tip my hat to the guy for Sunday's performance. He allowed Vick, the line, and the receivers to get into a rhythm with one another, something that hadn't happened this season prior to that game. It's very difficult for a quarterback, his line, and receivers to click if an offense is running the ball 2 of every 3 snaps. Knapp gelled them in the first half and the running game fed off that. Atlanta still ran for 173 yards in the game. Dunn wasn't effective early and Vick didn't run much in the first half, but due to the passing efficiency, Dunn, Vick, and also Norwood were able to run the ball more effectively in the second half and in the overtime session. I really hope that Knapp continues to call games like he did against Pittsburgh on a more consistent basis. If he doesn't allow Vick, the line, and the receivers to find a rhythm, then they're not going to be able to come back late in the game. But, if they find that rhythm early on, they'll be more likely to come from behind late in games through the passing game. The running game will only be stronger if Knapp allows Vick and his receivers to find a rhythm. Offensively, it was the best game I've seen from the Falcons this season. I truly hope Knapp doesn't go back to the philosophy of the first five games.

Defensively is where I have to cringe. Atlanta's front seven stopped the running game, which they couldn't do against Tiki Barber of the Giants. But, the secondary has not played very well in either game. They couldn't stop Eli Manning and couldn't stop Ben Roethlisberger/Charlie Batch. DeAngelo Hall is their top cornerback, but he even got burned a couple times by the veteran receiver Hines Ward. Jason Webster gets burned every week it seems like. I only hope that rookie corner Jimmy Williams can learn and mature quickly enough to take over the starting position opposite Hall. Another problem with the Falcons defense is a lack of pressure they're getting on the opposing quarterbacks. Their talented D-Line has been banged up all year. Patrick Kerney has been out of the lineup. Rod Coleman was out against Pittsburgh. John Abraham has played in only two games. What Atlanta needs to do is blitz more. When they blitzed Eli two weeks ago, Manning was uncomfortable and threw an interception. Ed Donatell doesn't like to blitz, but with John Abraham out of the lineup and Rod Coleman questionable for next week's game against Cincinnati, Donatell has to blitz to confuse the quarterbacks and create potential turnover situations. If three of the four original starters play on the line, Atlanta should be in decent shape. With Kerney, Coleman, Jackson, and Davis, Atlanta should be solid against the run and decent at pressuring quarterbacks, but if only half the original line is playing, then Donatell really needs to emphasize the blitz and put pressure on the quarterbacks. Regardless of how good the secondary says they are, they haven't been showing that these past couple games and unlike the front seven who has the injury excuse to fall back on, the secondary is fully healthy.