2012 Week 5: Falcon's Goal-line stand proves to be a winner!

The Washington Redskins welcomed the Atlanta Falcons to DC in one of the more exciting matchups in Week 5. Both teams showcased impressive talent and needed to limit mistakes in order to come away with a win. At 1-3, the Falcons looked to win one on the road. Matt Ryan certainly had his hands full as the Redskins looked to get back into winning form after last week’s loss to Tampa Bay.

The game certainly went as advertised. The Falcons jumped out to an early 10-0 lead before giving up a 82 yard bomb to newly acquired free agent, fresh out of prison, Plaxico Burress. That made the score 10 – 7. On the next passion the Falcons drove the length of the field and was stopped in the Red Zone and had to settle for a 43 yard field goal. The Redskins next possession would prove to be one of their best drives of the game.

Ryan Helu broke a 28 yard run on 3rd and short. The run by Helu was exactly the jump-start the Redskins needed as Robert Griffin III methodically drove down the field dishing out passes to four different receivers. The drive was completed by a 28 yard TD strike to Josh Morgan with 54 seconds left in the half. The following drive for the Falcons fell short and they had to attempt a long 56 yard field goal with 4 seconds left in the half. The field goal went wide right.

The Falcons went into the half leading the Redskins 20-17.
Defense was the story of the second half for both squads. With the only score coming from David Buehler’s third field goal of the day. With less than two minutes left in the game RG III started what looked like a game winning drive. After driving the entire length of the field and down to the 3 yard line it was 4th and inches. The Skins went for it and got the first down on the 1 yard line.

With 38 seconds left and 3 timeouts remaining, the Redskins ran three consecutive runs which were stuffed at the line. On 4th and goal the skins tried to run the ball in again from the 1 inch line and were declined for the 4th time in a row.

After the game the defensive star of the game John Abraham, was asked about the goal line stand. “First of all I want to give the Lord Jesus Christ, all the honor and glory goes to Him. Without him none of this would be possible… This was one of the most amazing goal line stands I have ever been part of. I have ever seen.. It was unbelievable, it was tough and we showed everyone how physical we are. It was a team effort and without all of us working together it would have not been possible. I have to give credit to our entire defensive unit.”

This is a huge win on the road for the Falcons as they now improve to 2-3 as they look to prepare for next week’s matchup with the 4-0 possibly 5-0 Raiders.

• Quick note – This is the first game this season the Falcons did not have a turnover.

• Matt Ryan tore apart the Redskins with an almost-perfect passer rating of 151.0 and picked up a win.

2012 Week 5: Falcon's Goal-line stand proves to be a winner! Falcon10

2012 Week 5: Falcon's Goal-line stand proves to be a winner!

2012 Week 5: Falcon's Goal-line stand proves to be a winner!

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