Roddy White’s climb up the Falcons’ receiving chart has not been quiet.
The Falcons wide receiver is rarely silent.
White caught 10 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns in Thursday night’s 41-14 blowout of the Jaguars. The spotlight of a nationally televised game doesn’t hurt.
White went over 1,000 yards for the fifth consecutive season, becoming the first receiver in Falcons history to accomplish the feat. He became only the eighth player in NFL history to do so, joining Tim Brown (1993-99), Cris Carter (1993-97), Marvin Harrison (1999-06), Torry Holt (2000-07), Chad Ochocinco (2003-07), Jerry Rice (1989-96) and Reggie Wayne (2005-10).
“It means a lot,” White said. “It means I’ve been coming to work and being consistent. That’s what I want to do, show up every week and be consistent in what I do and try to get better.”
White has touchdown receptions in four straight games.
White was nearly unstoppable in the first half as he had seven catches for 90 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown catch, as the Falcons built an insurmountable 27-0 lead. He caught a 29-yard touchdown in the third quarter as the Falcons built a 41-0 lead. The points completed a 65-0 run by the team over the past two games. The streak was snapped later in the quarter when the Jaguars finally scored by blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown.
“Any time we pushed the tempo, we know we are going to get balls on the outside,” White said. “We decided to go into our [no-huddle] package early and push the tempo and see what the defense was going to give us. When we got the good looks we wanted we took advantage of them.”
White said the Falcons were also helped by the early success of the running game. Michael Turner had a 15-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. The Jaguars brought their safeties up to help against the run.
The Falcons offense is starting to click with its wideouts. In Sunday’s win over the Panthers, rookie Julio Jones had the 100-yard, two-touchdown game. On Thursday, it was White’s turn.
“If he makes plays out there, they are going to rotate the coverage to him,” White said. “If I make plays they are going to rotate the coverage to me. You can’t do that and be successful because we will figure it out. Once we do, we will get the ball to the guy who has one-on-one coverage.”
White was the hero the last time the Falcons played on Thursday night. He caught a touchdown in the final minute of last season’s 26-21 win over the Ravens on Nov. 11.
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