White catches nine balls, piece of history

ST. LOUIS -- By the numbers, Sunday's game against the Rams was just an average day for Roddy White.

The Falcons’ standout wide receiver caught nine balls for 83 yards. Yet with those nine catches, White moved into third place on Atlanta’s all-time receptions list and became the fastest to 1,000 yards receiving in a season.

White had no idea of the historic accomplishments until being told about them by a reporter after the game. Still, he made a point to show he was more concerned about another set of statistics -- Atlanta’s 34-17 win over St. Louis.

“I’m just going ahead and trying to win games and just trying to go out here and play as hard as I can,” White said. “Hopefully, good things happen. It’s good to get road wins in the league. They are hard to get. When you get some, you know it’s good for us.”

White moved ahead of Andre Rison with a 26-yard catch in the first quarter. White now has 5,706 receiving yards; Rison had 5,633. Terance Mathis (7,349) remains the team’s all-time leading receiver, followed by Alfred Jenkins (6,267).

White surpassed the 1,000 mark in the second half. He was the first Falcons player to hit that receiving mark in just 10 games.

If White wasn't impressed with his accomplishments, Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan was.

“He's continued to win and make big plays for us,” Ryan said. “I think it's incredibly impressive that he's at 1,000 yards, quickest in the organization's history. I think it speaks to the kind of player that he is. He's an explosive guy for us and was that again for us today.”

White’s day got off to an unmemorable start after he was called for a 15-yard personal foul penalty during the Falcons’ first drive. White drew the flag after getting into a confrontation with Rams’ cornerback Ron Bartell.

“He tackled me and then he got up kind of hyped and was talking noise and stuff,” White said. “I was actually kind of walking away from the guy and trying to get way from him. He just kept rumbling and rumbling and I kind of threw my elbow and the referees threw the flag. It was kind of dumb on me. I know better than that.”

White made up for the early miscue. His 26-yard catch led to Atlanta’s first field goal, a 10-yard catch led to Atlanta’s first touchdown and a 20-yard catch led to another field goal.

Perhaps White’s biggest catches came during Atlanta’s first drive of the fourth quarter, when he made back-to-back 7- and 8-yard catches in a drive the led to another Matt Bryant field goal that gave Atlanta a two-possession lead at 26-17.