5 things we learned from Falcons’ win over Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS — The Falcons had to overcome stalling four times in the red zone and the raucous U.S. Bank Stadium crowd.
But they settled down, took the field goals and then closed out the game with a bone-rattling, 12-play, 83-yard touchdown drive to move to 1-1 on the season.
“I think we just kept it really simple,” Falcons All-Pro right guard Chris Lindstrom said. “We really overemphasized the communication of things. Just kind of really tied back into our basic fundamentals.”
The Falcons identified who they were supposed to block and then executed.
“Just finishing and straining to make a 3-yard run a 5-yard run,” Lindstrom said. “The backs did a great job with that.”
Here are the five things we learned from Sunday’s 22-6 victory over the Vikings:
1. Rushing attack is not dead: Most were stunned when the Buccaneers held the Falcons to 69 yards rushing a week earlier in the season opener.
The Falcons put that notion to rest Sunday by rushing 39 times for 218 yards and one touchdown.
“This is what we do when they give us a task.,” running back Bijan Robinson said. “(Coach) Raheem (Morris) gave us a task so that we can get the win. That’s what we do. My hats off to all six of those guys — Charlie (Woerner), Kyle (Pitts), Teagan (Quitoriano). All of those guys and the receivers were blocking.”
Robinson rushed 22 times for 143 yards for a robust 6.5 yards per carry. Tyler Allgeier rushed 16 times for 76 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry and played some fullback in short-yardage situations.
“That’s my dog,” Robinson said of Allgeier. “People think we (are) trying to beef about touchdowns. Nah, man. I try to be the first one down there when he scores and that’s vice versa. I love my dude scoring. He works so hard to get those opportunities.”
2. A.J. Terrell’s injury: A.J. Terrell was in the locker room postgame walking under his own power. He suffered an injury late in the second quarter and did not return.
The Falcons likely will take it easy with his injury. He played 27 of the 47 defensive snaps (57%).
Dee Alford came on in relief and told the AJC he’s ready to go if he’s needed.
“Yes, sir, I’m ready,” Alford said when asked if he could step in if needed. “I feel like this defensive back group as a whole, everyone is ready for their opportunity. We are all hungry. We feel like we deserve to be here. We are going to continue to compete.”
3. Return game: Alford already was filling for return man Jamal Agnew, who was out with a groin injury. Alford was back on punt and kickoff returns.
“Just shoot your shot at the right pitch,” Alford said of his return philosophy. “Don’t try to force anything. Let it come to you.”
Alford had one fair catch on a punt. Natrone Brooks had three fair catches. Alford had one kickoff return for 21 yards.
“We had a few opportunities, but they’ve got a great gunner over there with (Tai) Felton, a speed guy,” Alford said. “He was able to kind of impact things a little bit from the return standpoint. We were prepared. We had great return calls. We are going to continue to get better as a special-teams unit.”
4. Pass rush dominated: The Falcons converted their pressure into sacks against the Vikings. They had pressure on Baker Mayfield in the season opener, but the veteran was able to escape.
J.J. McCarthy, making his second NFL start, was not as lucky. He was dropped six times. The Falcons had pressure on 16 dropbacks, which generated a pressure rate of 53.3%, according to Next Gen Stats. That was the highest rate by the Falcons since Week 15 of the 2018 season.
“I felt like we got home today,” outside linebacker Jalon Walker said. “We rushed together as one.”
Walker played some inside over the guard as a stand-up defensive tackle and was a part of some of the stunts.
The secondary enjoyed getting a big pass rush.
“It allows us on the back end to have confidence in our coverage,” safety Jessie Bates III said. “When we are in tight coverage, it gives us a boost of confidence that a guy can’t go back there and hold the ball and jack the ball up all day.”
5. Ball hawks: Billy Bowman Jr. gave up a couple of passes early, but rebounded nicely. He nearly had two interceptions. Xavier Watts wrapped up the game with a late interception.
“It’s awesome,” Watts said. “It’s a crazy moment. First NFL win. So, I’m just excited about it.”
Watts was elated that the rookies made major contributions.
“We are just a whole bunch of dogs,” Watts said. “We’re all hungry. We all want to make plays. We all want to contribute. We all have roles. We’re on a pace to do some good things.”
Bowman won the battle in training camp to start at nickel back battle over Alford and Mike Ford.
“They kept running that same type of motion with that same type of stem with the receiver,” Bowman said. “So, it was only certain amount of things I could get. I knew they were going to keep coming back to it. I was anticipating the break. I just broke out and got my eyes back around.”
Bowman nearly had a second interception, but the ball hit the ground.
“We were in a little zone coverage,” Bowman said. “I just had to squeeze back and I broke on the ball. Initially, I was going for the PBU (pass breakup), and I just dove and it landed in my hands.
“I honestly didn’t know if it touched the ground or not. With these NFL rules now, you can get up if nobody touches you. You can keep running. I got up and tried to do what I know. I was trying to make something happen with the ball.”
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
