“If you look good, you feel good, If you feel good, you play good.”
Donning their throwback red helmets, the Falcons embodied the words of ‘Prime Time’ Deion Sanders Sunday at Mercedes Benz Stadium in their convincing 28-14 win over the San Fransisco 49ers.
The Falcons have made a habit of playing close games in 2022, but with Arthur Smith’s offense controlling the pace on the ground and Dean Pees’ defense forcing three turnovers and making San Fransisco earn every yard, today’s victory feels like the squad’s most complete effort as Atlanta improves to 3-3 on the season.
Right out of the gate with an 11-play drive capped by a MyCole Pruitt touchdown reception, the Falcons proved they weren’t going to be intimidated by the 49ers' top-ranked defense. While Atlanta was out-gained on the day 366 to 289, the game plan from Smith was clear and it was executed to near perfection by Marcus Mariota with his best, and more importantly, his most efficient performance of the season.
The stats won’t blow anyone away, but Mariota finished the day 13 of 14 for 129 yards through the air and two touchdowns with his first incompletion coming in the 4th quarter. His second touchdown pass of the day was hauled in by Kyle Pitts for his first career touchdown on US soil; extending the lead to 28-14 in the 3rd quarter. Olamide Zaccheaus led the way with 4 catches and 59 yards on the day.
Mariota’s legs served as a weapon once again with 50 rushing yards and another score—a 2-yard rush to put Atlanta back on top 21-14 in the 2nd quarter after picking up 15 yards earlier on the drive to keep it alive on a 3rd down scramble. Caleb Huntley ran well with 16 carries for 59 yards with Tyler Allgeier adding another 51 yards. As a unit, the Falcons rushed for 168 yards on 40 carries against a 49ers defense that was missing several key pieces including DE Nick Bosa. Missing their star pass-rusher, the 28 points put up by Atlanta are the most allowed by SF all season.
The Falcons’ defense matched the intensity at the start with a unique scoop and score in the 1st quarter with A.J. Terrell recovering a Jeff Wilson fumble and nearly taking it all the way before fumbling the ball into the end zone where it was then recovered by Jaylinn Hawkins. While Jimmy Garoppolo would connect with Brandon Aiyuk for a pair of scores on San Fransisco’s next two drives, that would be all they’d muster the rest of the way.
When injuries began to pile up for Atlanta with Terrell and Casey Hayward exiting, the defense had a 'next man up' mentality and never allowed the 49ers to climb back in the ballgame. A Hawkins 4th quarter interception allowed the Falcons to flip field position after a beauty of a punt from Bradley Pinion pinned the 49ers at the 1-yard line. Plenty of time ticked off the clock as Garoppolo led the 49ers down the field on a 16-play drive, but the defense stood tall in the red zone and forced a turnover on downs that sealed the victory for Atlanta. Forced to throw playing from behind, Garoppolo finished with a stat line of 29/41 for 296 yards and 2 touchdowns and 2 picks. The Falcons' front stuffed the 49ers’ rushing attack, holding them to just 50 yards.
After blowing a lead to the Saints in week one, Arthur Smith dared pundits to write the Falcons’ obituary. Five weeks later, it’s clear that anyone who wrote the Falcons off did so prematurely. With an established identity as a physical football team, Atlanta is quickly proving to be a much more formidable outfit than anyone gave them credit for entering the season. The Bucs fell to the Steelers and sit at 3-3, and while Tampa currently holds the tiebreaker after last Sunday’s controversial win, Atlanta is tied atop the NFC South.
Next up for Atlanta is a trip to Cincinnati for a meeting with the reigning AFC champion Bengals (3-3) with kickoff on 92.9 The Game at 1:00 p.m.
