First-place fever that was sweeping the city is over.
Without star wide receiver Julio Jones, the Falcons’ explosive play-maker, the team didn’t figure to have much of a chance against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
The offense’s inconsistency and inability to score touchdowns in the redzone led to a 27-20 defeat at the Georgia Dome on Sunday before a crowd of 71,161 fans, which included a heavy dose of those from Pennsylvania waving yellow terrible towels.
The defeat coupled with Carolina’s victory over Tampa Bay dropped the Falcons out of a first place in the NFC South, but didn’t extinguish their playoff hopes.
The Saints, who play the Bears on ‘Monday Night Football’ remain in first place alone at 5-8 for the time being. Carolina, at 5-8-1, would move into sole possession of first place if the Bears beat the Saints. The Saints are favored by three points over the Bears.
Tampa Bay (2-12) was eliminated from the playoff picture in Week 14. The Steelers improved to 9-5 and are in the hunt for the AFC North title. The Falcons went 0-4 against the AFC Nouth, with losses to Cincinnati, Cleveland, Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
Over their last 30 games, the Falcons have beaten a team with a winning record just once.
If the Falcons can figure out a way to win-out against the Saints and at home against Carolina on Dec. 28, they can still claim the NFC South title with a 7-9 record.
“Win two games, we are in,” said wide receiver Roddy White, who became the franchise’s all-time leading touchdown scorer with 62 on a 4-yard touchdown grab in the fourth-quarter. “Lose them and we are not.”
He passed running back Michael Turner, who had 61 touchdowns.
The Falcons were never in control of this game even though the defense did a credible job on Pittsburgh’s dazzling running back Le’Veon Bell. He was held to 47 yards rushing on 20 carries. But quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 27 of 35 passes for 360 yards and finished with a passer rating of 109.2.
The Falcons actually outgained the Steelers 407-398.
“Well, we didn’t start fast on offense,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “We were hit (or) miss throughout the day, and we were not making plays early in the game. We were off a little bit.”
Smith didn’t want to attribute the bumpy start to Jones’ absence from the lineup. He’d caught 21 passes for 448 yards and two touchdowns in his two previous games before leaving in the fourth quarter against Green Bay with the hip injury.
“We had a plan, and we had some opportunities to make some plays in the first half of the game there in the first quarter,” Smith said. “We just didn’t make them.”
The Falcons fell behind 20-7 and then tried to rally, but were unsuccessful. In the end, the difference was an interception of a Matt Ryan pass that was returned 52-yards for a touchdown by Pittsburgh cornerback William Gay in the second quarter.
Also, the offense scored just two touchdowns on four trips to the redzone.
“There is nothing the coaching staff can do,” White said. “It’s the 53 guys, you’ve got to go out there and execute the game plan they give us and win. (Head coach Mike Smith) has been giving us speeches week-in and week-out about what we need to do.
“We are not carrying it onto the field. As far as that goes, we the 53 people in the locker room have to figure that out. There is no coach that come in here and tell us. No motivational speech. We don’t need that. We need 53 players to play up to their potential and win a football game.”
If the Falcons don’t, their playoffs hope will be dashed against their arch-rivals.
“The playoffs start for us right away,” Falcons running back Steven Jackson said.
The defense held Pittsburgh to two field goals after long drives in the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Gay stepped in front of a Ryan pass that was intended for wide receiver Harry Douglas and returned it for a 52-yard touchdown. Shaun Suisham’s kick made it 13-0.
After an exchange of punts, the Falcons countered with a touchdown drive, which was culminated by Devin Hester catching a 17-yard pass, followed by a dance with the team trailing in the game.
Pittsburgh had the ball with 4:19 left before halftime and drove down for 1-yard touchdown run by Bell with under a minute to play.
“What was disappointing was that touchdown right before the half,” Falcons linebacker Paul Worrilow said. “That drive is something that we consistently have to do better on. Throughout the season, that’s been the story on situation things at the end of the half or end of the game.”
The big play in the drive was 28-yard pass to Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown down to the 1-yard line that was originally ruled incomplete and reversed by replay. Brown, a sixth-round pick out of Central Michigan in the 201o draft, finsihed with 10 catches for 123 yards.
The Falcons added two field goals in the third quarter, but the Steelers answered with a touchdown, a Bell run from 13 yards out. It was the 19th rushing touchdown scored against the Falcons this season, a league-high.
The Falcons added White’s record-breaking touchdown, but after an exchange of punts they couldn’t move the ball and the Steelers ran out the clock.
The Falcons were pointing toward the Saints’ game afterwards.
“It’s going to be a tough one on the road, but we’ll be ready for it,” Jackson said.
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