DETROIT -- Defensive tackle Corey Peters flicked his left hand in the air and tipped the ball, his pass deflection helping the Falcons preserve a 23-16 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Ford Field in a ruthless game.
“We knew we were in for a 60-minute battle as soon as we got off the plane,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said.
With Detroit driving for a potential game-tying touchdown, safety Thomas DeCoud was called for pass interference. The Lions were ready to get the ball first-and-10 at the Atlanta 20 with 1:38 to play. However, Peters' heads-up play, intervened. The replay official saw the tackle had tipped the pass, which negated the ruling on the field.
The Lions were left with fourth-and-10 from Atlanta’s 41, and Matthew Stafford’s pass to tight end Brandon Pettigrew fell incomplete. After the Falcons picked up a first down, quarterback Matt Ryan dropped to a knee and the victory was complete.
The Falcons improved to 4-3, while Detroit fell to 5-2.
“This is a big win,” wide receiver Roddy White said. “We marked this on the calendar. After getting back to .500 last week, we felt that this was a critical point in our season.”
The Falcons, the defending NFC South champions, were powered by the runs of Michael Turner, who finished with 122 yards on 27 carries. Three Atlanta receivers had more than 50 yards receiving, including tight Tony Gonzalez, who moved into second place on the league’s all-time receptions list with his fourth catch of the game late in the second quarter.
Gonzalez finished with five catches, giving him 1,104 in his career, second only to Jerry Rice, who has a seemingly uncatchable 1,549 receptions.
Also, kicker Matt Bryant, who made all three of his field-goal attempts, went into the team record book with 27 consecutive successful kicks. His clutch 47-yarder put the Falcons up 20-9 in the third quarter.
On Detroit’s next series, however, Calvin Johnson, formerly of Georgia Tech, got loose for a 57-yard touchdown catch to pull the Lions within 20-16.
Bryant added a 40-yard field goal with 8:41 left in the game. After an exchange of punts, the Lions went on their last drive that was ultimately halted by Peters’ big tip.
Since Peters’ play came under two minutes, it went to a booth replay.
“The officials did a nice job of handling it,” Smith said. “They did not allow them to go up there and snap the ball.”
Peters, who blocked a Stafford pass earlier in the game, was prepared for the quarterback's arm angle.
“I knew I tipped it,” Peters said. “I was just hoping they could see it on the replay. ... He does throw the ball out sidearm sometimes. He’ll get it out any way he can, so we wanted to get our hands up.”
The feistiness of the game began well before kickoff, when the Falcons came out of the tunnel and onto the field. The Lions were standing in the way, and linebacker Mike Peterson told them to get out of the way in not so polite terms and a near riot ensued.
There were thunderous hits and injuries to several players, including Ryan. The quarterback went down with a left knee injury after tripping over left tackle Will Svitek.
Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh called Ryan names and asked in derogatory fashion for a "cart" to come out on the field to fetch the downed quarterback.
“It was NFL Europe-ish,” right tackle Tyson Clabo said, suggesting the Lions' actions were minor league in nature. “Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt or celebrate somebody get hurt.”
Ryan went to the locker room for an examination and a tape job, and was booed when he came charging out of the tunnel. He returned to the game and promptly tossed a 49-yard pass to Harry Douglas.
“[Suh’s] young and he’ll grow up,” Clabo said.
The Atlanta defense was up to the challenge for most of the day. Johnson’s touchdown was the lone blemish on what some Falcons dubbed their best game of the season.
The Falcons entered the game ranked last in the league on third-down efficiency after opponents collectively had converted 49 percent of those downs. of
Detroit converted on just 1 of 12 third downs. The Lions didn't pick up a third-down conversion until late in the third quarter, on their eighth try.
“[I was] very pleased with the way that we played on third downs and how we made it hectic and chaotic for the quarterback,” Smith said. “That was the thing that we wanted to do.”
Falcons middle linebacker Curtis Lofton had one word for the drastic change on third downs.
“Attitude,” Lofton said.
About the Author
