Wild Card Cap Off: Atlanta vs LA

ATLANTA FALCONS vs LOS ANGELES RAMS

On Saturday, we wrapped up the 1^st segment of the wild card games with my hometown Falcons vs Rams game. I previously picked the Chiefs over the Titans and I lost; Closely/Barely, but as I always say, a loss is a loss. Of course without a doubt, I picked my hometown to take the W against a young and talented Rams team.

The Rams had the 1^st turnover on special teams. The ball touched on of the Rams players and Atlanta recovered the ball. One thing that caught my attention was on second down in the red zone, I don't understand how Matt Ryan missed Julio Jones. I think you should have taken a chance at trying to force towards the sideline when Julio was running his route and I'm certain he could have made the grab and scored. Unfortunately on this possession we had to settle for a field goal.

Jared Goff showed that he had grown up and he can play this game. NFC West opponents need to be aware of this guy next season, and don’t take him likely. His final stats doesn’t show his good decision making in the game, but I thought for a first timer, he did a great job. Todd Gurley is a force to be reckoned with, and he had 58 yards in the 4^th quarter alone. Robert Woods was amazing. The focus for me would have been Watkins, in which Atlanta did a good job at not letting him get going. Cooper Kupp showed up and again Woods was impressive.

I've never been a big fan of our secondary. We've got a lot of work to do and these guys have to shape up or we will be out. A lot of big plays were made by the Rams receivers (Woods and Kupp), though in the Redzone in 4^th, we came up with the key TD knock down (courtesy of Deion Jones against Sammy Watkins).

Bradford had some good pass deflections; however, the secondary again, is still too inconsistent.  

Deion Jones looked sharp out there. Going into the 4th quarter, he did a great job keeping Todd Gurley in check. By the end of the third quarter, he only had 43 yards. Entering the 4^th quarter, we saw Todd Gurley make a couple of big runs on the first drive of the fourth quarter, but the Falcons managed to regain control of the pace and hold the Rams to a field goal.

The Falcons offense got it together on the following possession. Sanu gets the ball on screen and has a great catch and run for 52 yards, and Jones caps it off with the 8yd TD reception to finish of the drive.

The key touchdown to Julio Jones still made me wonder about Ryan’s decision making. I felt the ball floated and he could have led Jones with a quicker strike. In the end, WE scored, and for now I want complain about it (just pointing it out).

The Rams made another attempt, but failed short on their drive giving Atlanta the ball to take a couple of knees to run out the clock. Next Game on the list is Philadelphia.

Unfortunately Philly fans, I’m even more confident in the upset next week. Foles is a proven winner; however, he’s only played 7 games, 3 of which he started (2-1 record). From my view point, he’s still in the process of finding his rhythm with his team, and unfortunately, I don’t think he will be ready for the Falcons line and Deion Jones. 

TEAMS	Scoring by Quarter				Final Score
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Atlanta Falcons	6	7	6	7	26
Los Angeles Rams	0	10	0	3	13

                                             ATLANTA

Key Stats:

               #2 Ryan 21/30 218yds TD

               #24 Freeman 18 carries 66yds TD   1 reception 3yds

               #26 Coleman 14carries 40yds  3 receptions 28yds

               #11 Jones 9 receptions 94yds TD

               #12 Sanu 4 receptions 75yds (big 52 yard screen in the 4^th to put set up Jones TD to put this one away)

               #45 Jones 10 Total Tackles

               #98 McKinley 3 Total Tackles 1 sack

               #44 Beasley 3 Total Tackles 1 sack

               #92 3 Total Tackled 1 sack           

               #59 Campbell 2 Tackles 1 sack

                                             RAMS

Key Stats:

               #16 Goff    24/45 259yds 1TD

               #30 Gurley   14 carries 101yds 4 receptions 10yds

               #17 Woods   9 receptions 142yds              

               #18 Kupp  8 receptions 69yds TD

               #20 Joyner   11 Total Tackles

               #26 Barron  10 Total Tackles

               #32 Hill 6 Total Tackles

               #43 Johnson 6 Total Tackles

               #99 Donald 5 Total Tackles  and a ½ sack

               #97 Fox 5 Total Tackles and a ½ sack

               #94 Quin 3 Tackles 1 sack

               #98 Barwin 3 Total Tackles and a ½ sack

               #90 Brockers 1 assisted tackle and a ½ sack