Running back Michael Turner set the tone for the Falcons with his physical runs in Sunday's 23-17 victory over Tennessee.
He plowed over Tennessee safety Michael Griffin in the first quarter and ran him over again on his way to a 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
“I got a couple of guys today, not just him,” Turner said. “I was just out there running hard and playing hard for my team. We needed the win. We needed to bounce back from last week.”
Turner was effective out of a single-back formation with three receivers. The Falcons operated exclusively out of their no-huddle offense for the first three quarters.
“We just tried to set the tempo early and be more up-tempo from the start of the game,” Turner said. “We were doing a great job of executing out there so the coaches stayed with it.”
It was Turner's 24th 100-yard game with the Falcons, tying a team record held by Gerald Riggs that was set in 1982-88.
Quarterback Matt Ryan draws inspiration when Turner plows over defenders.
“It fires me up,” Ryan said. “It’s fun to hand it off and turn and run when he’s running guys over. Mike did a great job. Our offensive line played really well today.”
The line likes the notion of sticking with the no-huddle and believed it helped the run blocking.
"Right off the bat, we were having some success early," left guard Jason Blalock said.
Smith not satisfied
Falcons coach Mike Smith was not happy with how his team let Tennessee creep back into the ball game, the red-zone defense and the defense's third-down efficiency.
“We probably made it a little harder than it needed to be,” Smith said. “We have a number of things we need to address and get fixed. Whether if you’ve won by a large amount or you win by one, you always have things that you have to get fixed.”
The Falcons scored on just two of six trips to the red zone. They did not score on three trips to the red zone in the loss to New Orleans.
“We’ve got to be more efficient in the red zone,” Smith said. “You’ve got to score touchdowns when you’re down in the red zone. It’s very important in this league to score touchdowns and not kick field goals. We were not very efficient down there in the red zone. You can’t turn the ball over in the red zone either.”
The Titans converted on 8 of 14 third-down situations.
“You can’t give up fourth-down-and-16s, obviously, at the end of the ballgame to keep a drive going,” Smith said. “Those are a couple of things we need to address.”
Douglas replaces Jones
Wide receiver Harry Douglas started for Julio Jones, who was inactive with a hamstring injury. After having the best day of his NFL career with eight catches for 133 yards against the Saints last week, Douglas caught four passes for 51 yards.
“It just goes to me doing what I do normally,” Douglas said. “I don’t change the way I practice. I always practice hard. I practice in every spot so that if someone goes down, I can step in. It’s not any pressure of me. I just go out there and perform.”
Gonzalez milestone check
Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez caught his 95th career touchdown on Sunday. Gonzalez has collected 19 touchdowns with the Falcons and ranks third on the team's all-time list for tight ends behind Alge Crumpler (35, 2001 and 2007) and Jim Mitchell (28, 1969 to 1979).
Gonzalez also went over 13,000 career yards receiving on Sunday. He’s the 13th player in league history to eclipse that mark.
“To me, out of all those milestones, I won’t be able to really enjoy until the season is over and really until I retire,” Gonzalez said. “That’s when I will be able to look back and really take a hard look at it. I still want to keep going. I can’t start looking back. I have to look forward. I want to keep going out there and seeing how far I can take this thing.”
Etc.
Cornerback Dunta Robinson came up with his first interception of the season in the first quarter. The Falcons converted the turnover into a 19-yard field goal by Matt Bosher to make it 10-0. ... Tennessee now holds a 7-6 lead in the series that dates back to 1972. ... Under Smith, the Falcons are 11-3 against AFC teams. ... The Falcons' offense churned out 432 yards of total offense, which ties the second-highest total produced by the club this season. Atlanta also posted 432 total yards against the Colts on Nov. 6.
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