Falcons nickel back Robert McClain had been having a rough day.
On several third down situations, the Falcons left McClain in one-on-one coverage against slot receiver Stevie Johnson, one of Buffalo’s top playmakers.
McClain lost his share of match-ups. Johnson caught five passes for 55 yards. But McClain won big on the Bills’ final play in regulation. The Falcons went on to pull out a 34-31 victory in overtime on Sunday.
With the game tied 31-31, Johnson caught a pass on shallow crossing route with McClain giving chase. Johnson had already moved to within field goal range and was cruising down the right side when McClain took a wild chop with his right hand and knocked the ball loose.
Safety William Moore was on the spot to recover the fumble at the Falcons’ 28-yard line with 20 seconds left.
“He ran the same route again,” McClain said. “I should have been (using) more inside leverage, but I made up a lot of ground with it.”
Most importantly, McClain stayed on task after Johnson caught the ball.
“Knowing the clock and the situation, he had to stay in bounds to keep the clock running, so they could run some clock, kick a field goal and win the game,” McClain said. “I saw him cut back in and I figured I’d punch it and hope my hand gets there and knocks the ball out.”
It was a successful move and a lesson in perseverance.
“I never think the game is over at any time,” McClain said. “I’ve seen crazier things happen in football.”
After one of the Bills’ early conversions, Falcons coach Mike Smith went over to chat with McClain.
“He had some tough downs,” Smith said. “We put him in some one-on-one situations there in the slot with (Johnson). He told me there in the first quarter coming off, ‘It’s just the first quarter, Coach.’ We were having a conversation about a couple of the completions. It was just the first quarter and we needed all four of them and the fifth one.”
Moore's wallet: Moore, who recovered a critical fumble and forced another one in overtime, will be getting some mail from NFL office again.
Moore led with his helmet while tackling Buffalo wide receiver Robert Woods early in the fourth quarter and drew a penalty. Moore has been fined $75,550 by the league this season for dangerous tackles.
He said that he plans to appeal new fine.
Moore, the team’s leading tackler with 81, was fined $22,050 for a hit on Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate three weeks ago, when he was flagged for hitting a defenseless receiver.
He was also fined for tackles against New Orleans ($21,000), New England ($15,750) and Arizona ($15,750). The New Orleans and Arizona fines were for using the crown of his helmet.
On Sunday’s play, Woods found a hole in the Falcons’ zone defense and caught a pass behind cornerback Desmond Trufant and in front of Moore.
Moore leveled the rookie wide receiver to end a 33-yard gain.
“William was an active player in the game today,” Smith said. “When he gets around the ball, he can be very disruptive and I thought he did some nice things. Of course, I’ll know more when I watch the tape.”
Jackson on the loose: Falcons running back Steven Jackson rushed for a season-high 84 yards on 23 carries and scored two touchdowns. His previous high as a Falcon was 77 yards in the opener against the Saints.
He flashed his speed on his 27-yard touchdown run that made it 14-7 in the first quarter.
“I was kind of surprised how open it was,” Jackson said. “It was a third-and-short situation and we knew that they were going to load up the box expecting run. (Fullback Patrick) DiMarco did a good job of clearing the path for me and it opened up like the Red Sea.”
White's big day: Falcon wide receiver Roddy White, who has struggled all season with injuries, had a break-out performance, catching 10 passes for 143 yards.
“Roddy hasn’t been healthy all year,” Smith said. “He’s not healthy right now. (He was listed on this week’s injury report with a sore ankle). He’s fighting through it, but I think he’s getting better and he’s getting back into the swing of things.”
Run defense weak: The Bills became the ninth straight team to rush for more than 100 yards against the Falcons, picking up 195 yards on 31 carries.
During the five-game losing streak, opponents had rushed for an average of 166.4 yards per game against the Falcons.
Arizona (201 yards), Carolina (131), Seattle (211), Tampa Bay (186) and New Orleans (103) have all gained more than 100 rushing yards against Atlanta.
They have not held a team under 100 yards since the third game of the season, when they limited Miami to 90 yards rushing on 15 carries.
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