John Abraham has been waiting for a game like most of the season.
Finally healthy, the Falcons defensive end was a disruptive force with three and a half sacks and two forced fumbles in Thursday’s 41-14 victory over the Jaguars.
Abraham nearly matched his season sack total. He entered the game with five sacks – and two of those came in the season opener against the Bears. Abraham hurt his groin in the second game of the season against the Eagles and has been fighting the injury ever since.
“It’s all about feeling healthy,” said Abraham, who missed the Packers game. “I feel a lot better than I did in the middle of the year. I was kind of going through the motions. … Now I feel like I can pretty much be myself out there and I think it showed.”
Both of Abraham’s sacks and forced fumbles of Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert led to Falcons points.
Just before the end of the first half, Abraham stripped Gabbert and the ball was recovered by linebacker Curtis Lofton. Four plays later, Matt Bryant kicked a 31-yard field goal as time expired to give the Falcons a 27-0 lead at the intermission.
Abraham struck again three plays into the second half. He brought down Gabbert on the Jaguars’ first possession and the loose ball bounced right to defensive tackle Corey Peters, who scooped it up and trotted 13 yards into the end zone.
Abraham said he started to feel healthy two weeks ago against the Texans. Last week, he didn’t have a sack against the Panthers, but he came close enough to know it was just a matter of time.
“This is a game I felt like I could do something,” Abraham said. “Last week missing three sacks against [Panthers quarterback] Cam [Newton], if that was a regular quarterback those would have been sacks. He did a great job of breaking tackles and getting away. I said this week, if I get that opportunity, I’m getting the guy down.”
The Falcons, especially Abraham, abused Jaguars’ rookie right tackle Cameron Bradfield, out of Grand Valley State. The finished with five sacks.
“He felt comfortable going into this game with the matchup,” coach Mike Smith said.
Abraham now has 111 career sacks and moved past Greg Townsend into 16th place on the NFL’s all-time list. He trails only Jason Taylor among active players.
“I try to reflect on that after the season, not during the season,” Abraham said. “The more I move up the better. Now, I’m just trying to keep my team winning. I’m trying to show my team I’ve still got it.”
He does, judging by the reaction of his teammates following the victory. Before he was ready to face the media, fellow defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux straightened Abraham’s tie before declaring him ready to answer questions.
“I had to play through it while I was trying to heal,” Abraham said. “Now, I’m done with treatment, feeling good, feeling 100 percent. I’m able to practice like I want to. I able to play like I want to, not feeling scared out there to do something else to it. I think it shows up now.”
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