All the Falcons needed was a muffed punt and a “butt fumble” to get their season-high in takeaways.
The Falcons forced seven turnovers against the Redskins in a 27-26 victory Sunday at the Georgia Dome. Or, more accurately, the Falcons forced five turnovers and got some fortuitous breaks for the other two.
Atlanta got one takeaway when Alfred Morris lost a fumble after teammate Tom Compton’s backside dislodged the ball.
Another came on a muffed punt in which it appeared Falcons gunner Drew Davis tripped Redskins return man Santana Moss.
It was that kind of game: Two bumbling teams, playing for little more than determining the draft order, taking turns giving the ball away. Washington matched a franchise record with five lost fumbles.
“Our defense did a good job getting the ball out,” Falcons running back Steven Jackson said. “The game was all over the place. Not a good display of ball security. But these are the wins you’ve got to pull off.”
The defense gave up its typical handful of big plays. The seven turnovers forced allowed the Falcons to win, anyway, even with the offense failing to take full advantage of the extra possessions and prime field position.
One of the many reasons the Falcons are bad this season is their inability to create turnovers. Only two teams have forced fewer turnovers than Atlanta’s 12 through the first 13 games.
But the Falcons have 11 takeaways in their last three games after manging only eight over the first 11 games.
“We’ve certainly made an emphasis on creating turnovers,” Falcons defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. “We made it a point to help the offense as much as possible by creating extra possessions to help the team.”
Umenyiora got the turnover barrage started in the first quarter when he stripped Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins and teammate Jonathan Babineaux recovered. The Falcons kicked a field goal after they recovered Moss’ muffed punt in the second quarter.
Atlanta forced three key turnovers in the second half.
In the third quarter, Moore picked off Cousins immediately after the Falcons had failed to score on fourth-and-goal at the Redskins’ one-yard line. Moore credited defensive coordinator Mike Nolan with calling a blitz that got pressure on Cousins and forced him to rush the throw.
“It was a big-time play,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “They were taking a shot, and William was in the right place.”
In the final period, the defense forced two game-saving turnovers.
Falcons linebacker Stephen Nicholas poked the ball away from Morris to halt a Washington drive at Atlanta’s 13-yard line. Then cornerback Desmond Trufant intercepted Cousins to set up a field goal that put Atlanta up 27-20 with 3:31 left.
In the first half, Washington had two touchdowns and two field goals on seven possessions. In seven possessions after halftime, the Redskins had three punts, two interceptions, a fumble and a touchdown.
“They didn’t score much in the second half,” Trufant said. “We bent a little bit but we didn’t break.”
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