Falcons’ A.J. Terrell returns to lineup, locks down Bills’ top receiver
Bills quarterback Josh Allen tested Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell early in the game.
Terrell had the Bills’ top receiver, Keon Coleman, on a route up the left sideline. Terrell came around and knocked the ball to the ground and started celebrating. After missing two games because of a hamstring injury, Terrell returned to the lineup and helped the Falcons defeat the Bills 24-14 on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“It felt good,” Terrell told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Just having the downtime, seeing the guys the past three weeks has been tough for me. I was just excited to be out there. I had a lot of energy coming into the game. (I just wanted to) be ready to go out there and make an impact.”
With the Falcons up 14-7 on the first play of the second quarter, Allen tried to hit a long-gainer deep up the left side of the field. Terrell was ready.
“That was just the passion behind football,” Terrell said of his celebration. “I’ve got passion any time that I make a play on the ball. Getting the ball thrown your way, you always want to make a play. When you do, you want to celebrate.”
Terrell took away Coleman, who caught three of six targets for 11 yards.
After Bills receiver Joshua Palmer got loose for 45 yards on the Bills’ first play of the game, the Falcons’ secondary held Allen to 135 yards passing. Entering the game, there were rumblings in Buffalo about Coleman not getting enough separation and Palmer being a wasted free-agency signing.
The Bills were without tight end Dalton Kincaid, who was their leader in receiving yards (287) and touchdowns (three).
“Offense is always going to change throughout the series of the game, but most likely they are always going to get back to their bread-and-butter,” Terrell said. “For us, it was more so just playing our style of defense and just making the plays that were there for us.”
With his receivers on lockdown, Allen did not have enough weapons to challenge the Falcons. The Bills were averaging 30.6 points per game before facing the Falcons’ revamped defense.
“We were just playing our style of defense for real,” Terrell said. “Just knowing Josh, we definitely watched him throughout the week and saw how he was being Josh Allen, making plays with his legs and with his arm down the field.”
The Falcons wanted to have a controlled rush, and they kept a spy on Allen for most of the day.
“For us, we just wanted to make sure that we understood (Allen’s playmaking ability) going into the game,” Terrell said. “We wanted to put pressure on him and get him off the spot. But also know to keep a spy on him and try to make him beat us with his arm.”
The Falcons sent pressure on 56% of the Bills’ offensive snaps, according to NextGenStats. The Falcons had four sacks and six quarterback hits and hurried several other pass attempts.
Allen completed 15 of 26 passes for 180 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, finishing with a passer rating of 72.6.
Cornerback Dee Alford, who took over at nickel back for Billy Bowman Jr., had an interception late in the second quarter. Linebacker DeAngelo Malone had an interception in the final minute to close out the game.
“Any time you get a turnover, it’s huge,” Terrell said. “Just a confidence boost for everybody. A momentum change for the offense. Just a whole momentum change for everybody. It’s big.”
Alford took over for Terrell when he was injured in the second quarter of the game against Minnesota on Sept. 14. Alford started against the Panthers on Sept. 21 and Commanders on Sept. 28 while Terrell was out.
“It was great to see Dee come in for Billy and make a play,” Terrell said. “Then also for De-Lo (Malone) to come in clutch in the fourth quarter to close the game out.”
The Falcons have come together quickly under new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. Through Week 6 (five games) of the season, the Falcons’ defense is ranked No. 1 in yards allowed (253.4 per game) and passing yards allowed (139.4). The defense is tied for 17th in rushing yards allowed (114 yards per game) and tied for eighth with 20 points allowed per game.
“We were just playing our style of defense,” Terrell said. “We feel like if we take what we did throughout the week from our preparation and go out there and apply it like we did (against Buffalo), we could be one of the best defenses in the league.”
After stopping the reigning NFL MVP, the Falcons are ready for more challenges.
“Whether it was Josh Allen or anybody, the way that we came out (Monday), honing in on our details and our challenges throughout the week, coming through for our offense and our team in general, was big for us.”
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.
