After suffering a devastating loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last week, the Atlanta Falcons needed to bounce back on the road against the Los Angeles Rams. Matt Ryan headed into the Week 14 match-up without his top two receivers. Julio Jones was ruled inactive with a turf toe injury and Mohamed Sanu was out with a groin injury. The Rams ranked inside the top-ten on defense, but it didn’t effect Ryan all that much.
Ryan threw for 237 yards and three touchdowns on 18 of 28 passing and as a team, the Falcons forced five Rams turnovers en route to a 42-14 blowout win. The Falcons continue to control their own destiny at 8-5 atop the NFC South.
Atlanta Falcons Week 14 Takeaways
No Julio, No Sanu, No Problem
There was quite a bit of chatter on social media about how the Rams would beat the Falcons. Not because they are the better team, but because Jones and Sanu were going to miss the game with injuries. But Ryan put an end to that conversation fairly quickly.
Ryan threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Justin Hardy on the first offensive play of the game and never looked back. He hooked up with Tevin Coleman on a six-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 to start the second quarter and launched his third and final touchdown pass to Taylor Gabriel in the third quarter. Ryan didn’t take very many shots down the field, but managed to find Gabriel for a 64-yard touchdown to put them up 28-0. Ryan found eight different receivers on the day and showed everyone in the NFL that he can do just fine without Jones or Sanu.
Vic Beasley Has Put the NFL on Notice
Vic Beasley entered into today’s game with 10.5 sacks, but he left with 13.5 sacks, a league-leading seven forced fumbles, and scored a touchdown. This 13.5 sacks is tied with Von Miller for the league lead as well.
Is Beasley the front-runner to win Defensive Player of the Year? It’s hard to say, but he very well could be. Sure, Miller has been great this year and so has Khalil Mack. But compared to what Beasley did last year in his rookie season to this season, it’s night and day. The main thing the Falcons defense has been missing in the past few seasons was someone that could rush the passer. They have themselves a good one in Beasley. Keep doing your thing.
Turnovers, Turnovers, and More Turnovers
The Falcons defense scored two touchdowns today, one on a pick-six from rookie linebacker Deion Jones, and the second on a strip-sack recovered by Beasley. And with that, the Falcons are now tied with the Kansas City Chiefs with five defensive touchdowns.
And if that wasn’t impressive enough, the Falcons forced three more turnovers to finish with five on the day. Paul Worrilow recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff of the game at the three-yard line, Ricardo Allen intercepted Jared Goff on the Rams’ first possession and Courtney Upshaw forced a fumble and recovered it late in the game.
And on their side of the ball, the Falcons didn’t turn the ball over a single time. Any time you win the turnover battle 5-0, you’re probably going to win the game. And a 42-14 score is no surprise as a result.
Tevin Coleman is Back to Full Strength
Tevin Coleman missed some time midway through the season with a hamstring injury, but he’s back to his old self. Coleman accounted for just 55 yards, but scored two terrific touchdowns, one receiving and one rushing against the Rams. This was Coleman’s first multi-touchdown game since the Falcons defeated the New Orleans Saints 45-32 in Week Three.
And on a day in which Devonta Freeman rushed the ball six times for six yards, having a change-of-pace back like Coleman was huge. He’s a scary player when he has the ball in his hands and he’s heating up at just the right time.
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