DEL.ICIO.USWhite stole the show early
For the Journal-Constitution
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Green Bay, Wis. — Roddy White had seen enough of the turtle-like road starts. So the Falcons’ blossoming wide receiver decided to take matters into his own hands Sunday in Green Bay.
White and his teammates had been outscored, 31-12, in the first half of their first two road games this season. Not surprisingly, the Falcons had been blistered in those away contests.
Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Falcons wide receiver Roddy White caught eight passes for 132 yards and this 22-yard touchdown.
White stole the show early against the Packers, catching eight first-half passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. White’s performance helped the Falcons build a 10-point halftime lead and they held on for a 27-24 win.
“It was a real big lift, going out there and making plays early in the game,” White said. “In our other two road games, we didn’t get off to good starts and that was our thing all week: ‘Get off to a good start. Get off to a good start.’
“We did that today and got off to the kind of start we wanted. And the game just kind of came a little bit slower from there. The last couple of games on the road have been confusion and everybody not doing what they’re supposed to do. Today, I felt everybody did their job.”
No one did it better than White early on. And even though White didn’t have a second-half catch, his dominating first half set the tone and gave the Falcons confidence they could win away from the Georgia Dome.
“Yeah, he hurt us,” Packers cornerback Tramon Williams said of White. “We knew about him coming in, but he just kind of got loose, I guess.”
He sure did. On the Falcons’ opening score, White had three catches and accounted for 64 of the Falcons’ 81 total yards.
On the game’s opening play, White beat Charles Woodson off the line of scrimmage and hauled in a 37-yard pass from quarterback Matt Ryan. Three plays later, with the Falcons operating out of the shotgun and employing four receivers, White schooled rookie cornerback Pat Lee and made a 19-yard reception.
White later made an 8-yard catch against Williams on a drive that ended with Ryan hitting tight end Justin Peelle for a 1-yard touchdown.
“First drive, for him to get three catches and help us get seven [points] right away on the road, that was huge for us,” wideout Michael Jenkins said of White. “It just really got us going in the right direction.”
Atlanta led, 10-7, midway through the second quarter when it embarked on a 90-yard scoring drive. White again was at the forefront, accounting for 68 of those yards, including a 22-yard touchdown.
White drew a 20-yard pass interference penalty against Lee on a third-and-9 to keep the drive going. “I thought it was going to be Charles [Woodson] covering me, but when [Blackmon] came out there, I was like, ‘Oh, boy!’ ” White said on the touchdown. “Matt [Ryan] looked over and I knew he was going to throw the ball deep.”
Green Bay shadowed White with Woodson, its top corner, much of the second half. And while that took White out of the spotlight, it opened up plenty for his teammates.
“I just wanted to compete and show my stuff,” said White, who now has 26 catches for 454 yards. “I feel like I can be an elite receiver in this league and that’s something I want to show every week.”
It’s something he certainly accomplished Sunday.
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