This just in from the “Did that Just Happen?” department…
The Falcons took a 24-3 lead into the locker room at halftime of Sunday’s matchup against the Redskins but not before fisticuffs nearly erupted on the home sideline.
With 1:37 left in the opening half, quarterback Matt Ryan scrambled for a first down and stepped out of bounds in front of his bench. Redskins safety LaRon Landry made the stop and pushed Ryan down out of bounds. A flag was thrown for a late hit and, quicker than a slant pattern, Falcons players found themselves in the midst of a pushing and yelling match with former Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall.
Head Coach Mike Smith was in the midst of the scuffle, which took about two minutes to break up. His facial expression and passion was reminiscent of a similar play in 2008, when he and Tampa Bay wideout Antonio Bryant exchanged words.
During the chaos, defensive tackle defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth was also flagged for unnecessary roughness.
Atlanta went on to finish the drive with a field goal.
The event was a physical manifestation of emotion that built throughout the first half. The Falcons sacked Washington quarterback Jason Campbell five times, tying a team record. The Redskins defense also kept pressure on Ryan, sacking him three times and forcing an interception.
Other Atlanta scores came off an interception return by Tye Hill, a touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez and a 30-yard Michael Turner run.
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5 Comments
Great game Atlanta, great recovery from the Monday night thumping too.
Deangelo Hall’s behavior yesterday should be reinforcement of why the Falcons got rid of his punk a__!
I know im suppose to praise the winning team on monday morning so…there you have it. But by god why are we so sloppy versus sloppy teams? The score shoulda been 40smthg-3. OFFENSE: The reason we didnt score more points because Jenkins is such a great run blocker in the open field. Which is fine and dandy, but where is his receiver stats? They may be stuck in San Fran, where he was last seen active and involved. The size advantage should have come in to play with him versus the skins. IF THE LINE DOESNT GROOVE THE BALL DONT MOVE. These big hogs are good but theyre mentally tired. Not enough rotation. Turner’s played to the best of his ability as of late, but this guy…DONT RUN TO OPEN GREEN, HE RUNS TO THE SCENE. Where erybdy all bounded n the middle of the play and starts tap dancing. We need more plays with him to the outside, but he’s not Thaaat fast, he’s a breakaway burner AND I NEED MORE YARDAGE ON FIRST AND SECOND DOWN. I applaud the front office for goin to get stecker who’s a lil smaller but a lot faster believe it or not. And verron haynes who’s tough between the tackles as well. We gotta go deep with our RB rotation. I know we’re a lil banged up wit norwood and snelling but we got tighten up and go with what we got. Lastly, Matty Ice. Truly this is a Monday morning tape studyhead. Something you cant teach yourself is how to get out there and step up take another look and get the heck out of the pocket and get ur bsball slide on. Its like b4 he threw that INT he had jenkins and white goin deep on a foot race. Instead he caught the happy feet and tried to force it to Tony. He’s a big target and becoming Ryans number one, defenders know that. NO HARRY DOUGLAS- GIVE ME TROY BERGERON FROM THE PRACTICE SQUAD. MOVING ALONG…DEFENSE: DISCIPLINE is key in keeping your defense on the hunt. Theyve gotten tougher since those road losses but we’re still laying down at times. Thats not a good trait to carry late in this season where the games are not gettin easy
@carolina(although we got em once)
@ny giants(tough one)
@home vs phi(defend the dome)
@home vs NO(hurricane katrina payback)
@ny jets(theyre suspect-we gotta want it more)
I need more abraham, he’s gotten content with a tackle or two/ “Ill take biermann to go”
And what about the d hall replacer…Chris houston. He’s dancing and celebrating on plays that should be second nature to a good db. He needs to motivate himself i guess… It pisses me off bcz when he makes a mistake he sees no wrong really, he’s lookn for a ref referral and we dont hand those out on sundays unless ur last name is Brady. We gotta go hard if we wanna see a playoff run. GO FALCONS
I love our redfaced coach! u seen the intensity in that squirmish! I thought he was gonna throw a few punches till he got pulled back!if that doesn’t fire up our team Idk what will!feed off this falcons & get that intensity & force it on opposition! GO FALCONS !!!
Can’t believe now Deangelo Hall wants the commish to do something to Mike Smith (for defending his players)!! Get real D.H. (tought you would never play for another loosing team)? Way show that you are down for your TEAM COACH SMITH!!!! Man I love win!!