Falcons deliver a beatdown to 49ers

The 49ers, playing under excitable Singletary, were just one lucky pass away from being undefeated and were being lauded league-wide for their marauding and hard-hitting brand of football.

"We knew we had to bring our A-game," center Todd McClure said.

Singletary, who interviewed for the Falcons job when it went to Bobby Petrino in 2007, tried to rally his troops by calling them all together at 6:39 of the first quarter, when they fell behind 14-0. But his motivational skills could not stop the Falcons from slapping his team around.

"We were mad," running back Michael Turner said. "We were coming off a loss to a tough New England team. We played them down to the wire. We had a bad taste in our mouths for two weeks."

Falcons coach Mike Smith was in a jovial mood after the game. He couldn't even get upset at Roddy White's celebration penalty after his 90-yard touchdown catch-and run.

White did a flip in the end zone but didn't have a smooth landing.

"If he hits the landing, it's not a 15-yard penalty," Smith quipped. "If he's going to do it, it needs to be Olga Korbut. He looked at me. He doesn't know who Olga Korbut is.

"Then I told him, maybe Mary Lou Retton. Then I figured, that's [1984]. He doesn’t know who Mary Lou Retton is. It went right over his head and my head. But Roddy was excited. If he's going to celebrate, he's got to hit the four-point landing."

The Falcons led the league by scoring 114 first-quarter points last season and finally got off to a good start. They scored on their second and third possessions of the game.

But they blew the game open with a dazzling 21-point barrage in the second quarter which was highlighted by White's electrifying touchdown and then ensuing fumble caused by Tony Gilbert on the following kickoff.

The Falcons offense had shown signs of being explosive during the preseason. But it had gotten off to a slow start over the first three games.

Both White and Turner erupted with big games against the 49ers and quarterback Matt Ryan tossed in his third 300-yard game passing, a career-high 329-yard effort.

White had a career and franchise record 210 yards receiving. Turner ran for 98 yards and three rushing touchdowns.

"When you are out there and you're in that rhythm, sometimes it feels like whatever (offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey) calls is going to work," Ryan said. "We had some of that today."

The Falcons had been waiting for the offense to come together as a unit.

"We have a lot of weapons on offense," Turner said. "We just weren't clicking like we wanted to, like we expected it to and like it was during the offseason and preseason. But we finally got it done. Hopefully, we can keep it going."

The Falcons needed the victory to keep from falling two games behind the New Orleans Saints (4-0) in the NFC South. The Saints, who had a bye this week, face the 4-0 New York Giants next week.

The Falcons, improved to 3-1, and will host the Chicago Bears. The 49ers dropped to 3-2.

"It was important," Ryan said. "New Orleans has been playing very well so far this year. We are not trying to keep pace with them. We are focusing on what we do. But at the same time you've got to keep pace with the guys in your division."

A must-win game in Week 4?The Falcons thought so.

"Our back was against the wall," linebacker Mike Peterson said. "We didn't play as well the last time out. We felt we had a lot to prove. We were ready to play some football."