Turner regrets the one that got away

Glendale, Ariz. — Michael Turner got his hands on the football 19 times Saturday, but the one that got only as far as his elbow made the difference.

When Turner and quarterback Matt Ryan were unable to complete a handoff in the face of Darnell Dockett’s pressure, the ball popped loose and Antrel Rolle turned it into a 21-yard touchdown. Two plays into the second half of Arizona’s 30-24 NFC playoff win and the Cardinals had a lead they never relinquished.

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Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Michael Turner had 15 touches for 42 yards in the first half, but had zero yards on three carries in the second half against a stingy Cardinals defense.

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“That is a big, big play in a football game,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said.

The Cardinals were in a five-man defensive front, and Dockett appeared to jump the snap count, making into the backfield as Ryan was attempting to deliver the ball. Turner seemed to hesitate moving forward with Dockett in his path and never had possession.

“He disrupted that play,” Turner said. “He forced a bad exchange.

“It happened so fast, I didn’t have time to put my arm up and get the ball. I think the ball hit my elbow. When you disrupt the play, you disrupt the rhythm and everything else. Me and Matt have a rhythm. When the rhythm is broken, small things like that can turn into big plays.”

So, just like that, after a dominant 17-point second quarter gave the Falcons a 17-14 lead, they lost the advantage 52 seconds into the third quarter. The Cardinals scored the next nine points, too, to balloon their lead to 30-17.

“It wasn’t a clean play for us,” Smith said. “We had come out and taken the lead right before halftime and had an opportunity to have possession for the first series in the second half.”

The Falcons were not certain Dockett’s play was legal, however, believing that he was offside to get a step on right guard Harvey Dahl.

“I saw it. I’m not going to say he was early, but he was early,” offensive tackle Todd Weiner said. “It just makes it tough. It wasn’t a penalty because they didn’t call it.”

“For him to be that deep, it seemed like he had to be [offside] to get there,” Turner said. “You have to play to the whistle, and there was no whistle.”

Dahl said the Falcons were prepared for the five-man defensive front, but “he just got a good jump on the ball and made a good play.”

It was the first defensive touchdown in Cardinals’ playoff history.

“I just hit everybody. … I didn’t even know it was a fumble,” Dockett said. “I was hitting the running back, the fullback, everybody. I was happy Antrel capitalized on that play, because it was big. We needed a spark in the second half.”

Turner, who had 42 yards rushing on 18 carries and had one pass reception for seven yards, said he did not believe the sudden exchange was as big a turning point as the Cardinals made it out to be.

“We were down earlier and came back,” he said of the Falcons’ comeback from 14-3 deficit. “We weren’t sweating it. It was still early in the second half.”