DEL.ICIO.USTurner sets new Falcons TD record
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Being the power back that he is, Michael Turner doesn’t have the wide-ranging repertoire of moves some NFL running backs do, but he works this one to perfection:
The one where he disappears into a pile — a mass of bodies, helmets, arms, legs, black jerseys — and then somehow comes out the other side, unscathed, still leaning forward, still churning out yards.
Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Michael Turner’s 15th rushing touchdown of the season broke the mark of 14 that was set by Jamal Anderson in 1998.
He did it time after time Sunday against the Tampa Bay on his way to 152 yards rushing on 32 carries. It was the most rushing yards Turner had in a game since he burst onto the Atlanta scene with 220 against Detroit in the season-opener.
But what made Sunday’s total so impressive is that it came after he and the Falcons run game had disappeared in the haze of the Buccaneer defense on Sept. 14 in Tampa. Turner was limited to a season-low 42 yards on 14 carries in that game. On Sunday, he emerged on the other side with his seventh 100-yard rushing game of the season.
“[That] was only the second game of the season and the second game for us as an offense,” Turner said of the Week 2 loss. “I was happy to get a second crack at it and a better chance, with a better game plan. …
“This week we wanted to bounce back and see what we really had against them.”
They took a few hints from Carolina which rolled up 299 yards on the Tampa defense last week on Monday Night Football.
“Carolina just ran the same play a bunch of times,” Falcons tackle Tyson Clabo said. “They didn’t do a lot of shifts, lot of motions, just lined up and said ‘Here we come, stop us.’ There’s something to be said for that. That was the attitude we wanted to take into this game: here it comes see what you can do with it.”
It also didn’t hurt that the Falcons took a 10-0 first-quarter lead, despite two Matt Ryan interceptions — both in Buccaneer territory. In Tampa, Ryan threw two interceptions in Falcons territory, which helped the Bucs take a 17-0 lead. That made it hard to justify trying to establish the run.
Sunday, the Falcons were in position to use to the run to their advantage and did. Turner’s 17-yard run in overtime set up Jason Elam’s game-winning 34-yard field goal.
That run showed off another of Turner’s moves, finding daylight between the tackles, then bull-dozing some defensive back charged with trying to track him down. In that case, it was Bucs safety Sabby Piscitelli.
“The line had a great push,” Turner said. “It just parted like the Red Sea up in there. I just exploded through it.”
Sometimes the Bucs tried to get Turner with an arm — which didn’t work — or as Ronde Barber did once in the third quarter, by the shoe. Turner had runs of 18, 15, 10, 22 and 17 yards.
He’s used all those extra yards to move past former Falcon Warrick Dunn, now with the Bucs, into fifth on the Falcons list for rushing yards in a season.
At 1,421 yards on the season, Turner is 425 shy of Jamal Anderson’s record of 1,846 yards. That’s probably out of reach with only two regular season games left.
But Turner topped Anderson’s record for touchdowns in a season with 15 when he bulled through the line for a 1-yarder in the first quarter Sunday for the Falcon’s only touchdown.
Turner also caught a pair of short passes, which he turned into first downs on gains of 18 and 12 yards.
“I didn’t plan all this to happen, breaking records,” Turner said. “I just wanted to do my part and help this team win. I’m just thankful that added up to a record.”
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