Washington defeats Atlanta  34-30

October 3, 2021

By Noonefromtampa

First Quarter

Washington won the coin toss and deferred until the second half. With Washington starting on defense, Matt Ryan was able to lead the Falcon’s offense on a 15 play, 78 yard drive to on their first series. Washington was able to do something it had not done on an opponent’s first drive of the game – keep them from scoring a touchdown. On the downside, Ryan completed two 15 yard passes to Kyle Pitts and a 13 yard pass to Calvin Ridley.  Mike Davis rushed for 14 yards on several carries during the drive. Atlanta had to settle for a Younghoe Koo 25 yard field goal to give Atlanta a 3 – 0 lead.

Washington’s first offensive series didn’t end in a 3 and out, but itonly for 6 plays and 16 yards. Curtis Samuel finally made his first appearance in a game, catching a 4 yard pass from Taylor Heinicke for a first down. Logan Thomas suffered an apparent hamstring injury on this series. Tress Way punted the ball 39 yards down to the Atlanta 14. The Falcons were held to 11 yards on 5 plays, forcing a Cameron Nizialek punt.

Second Quarter

Washington went on an eight play drive that covered 35 yards but ended on a turnover on downs. A mixture of runs and pass enabled the offense to keep the Falcons off balance on defense. A third down scramble by Heinicke came up just short of the first down marker. On fourth down, Ereck Flowers whiffed on his block, enabling Grady Jarrett to penetrate and stop Antonio Gibson short of the first down.

Atlanta immediately went on a quick strike drive, cover 4 plays and 69 yards which ended with a 42 yard touchdown pass to Cordarrelle Patterson. The coverage on the touchdown was horrible with Patterson 6 or more yards behind Kendall Fuller and Bobby McCain, who blew his assignment as the free safety in cover 3. Atlanta’s lead increased to 10 – 0.

The next drive was Washington’s best of the game to this point.  Washington gained 77 yards in 7 plays to score on a 33 yard Taylor Heinicke touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin. Key plays were a McLaurin 21 yard reception and a 19 yard reception by Dyami Brown. Dustin Hopkins converted the extra point to make the score 10 – 7.

Washington’s defense came to life on the next drive, holding the Falcons to a three and out, with Montez Sweat sacking Ryan on third down for an 8 yard loss. After the punt yielded good field position, Washington’s offense continued to improve. Heinicke ran for 28 yards on two scrambles. Ricky Seals-Jones had a great run on a 16 yard reception. Gibson had 14 yards on three runs including the two yard touchdown. Hopkins missed the extra point, to keep the score at Washington 13, Atlanta 10.

Atlanta went to their two minute offense when they got the ball back. Sparked by a 28 yard defensive pass interference by Torry McTyer, Ryan was able to move the Falcons down to the red zone. Ryan completed several long passes to Ridley and Patterson with Patterson scoring the touchdown with 14 seconds left in the half. Koo converted the extra point to give Atlanta the lead by a score of 17 – 13.

Third Quarter

DeAndre Carter took the kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown to open the second half. Hopkins hit the upright and missed the extra point to make the score Washington 19, Atlanta 17.

On the Falcons’ next series, Ryan completed a 15 yard pass to Olamide Zaccheaus and William Jackson was called for a 27 yard defensive pass interference call. Ryan also hit Hayden Hurst on a couple of passes to move the ball down the field. Ryan then hit Patterson for 14 yard touchdown pass over Fuller to make the score 23 – 19.

Heinicke then led Washington’s offense on 14 play, 73 yard drive which culminated in a Dustin Hopkins 23 yard field goal. Key plays included a 20 yard reception by McLaurin, an 11 yard pass to Gibson, and a 10 yard completion to Samuel. Gibson also picked 19 yards rushing on the drive. Brandon Scherff was injured on the field goal attempt. It was later announced that Brown injured his knee sometime during this series.

The next drive by Atlanta featured some controversy. After moving the ball over 40 yards to Washington’s 42 yard line, Atlanta faced a 4^th and 2 with the punter injured. They therfore decided to go for the first down. On a bizarre play, Bobby McCain intercepted a pass that Ryan threw with his knee down after a Chase Young hit. However, Young was called for roughing the passer for a high hit on the quarterback to nullify the interception. The Falcons went on to score early in the 4^th quarter on a 7 yard pass from Ryan to Davis to increase Atlanta’s lead to 30 – 22.

Fourth Quarter

Washington responded with a three and out on their next series, gaining only 5 yards. Atlanta was forced to punt on the next series after 5 plays that gained just 16 yards, with Koo punting for 25 yards. More importantly, the Falcons burned off nearly three minutes off the clock.

Washington then went on a drive that covered 75 yards in 10 plays. The big plays were an 11 yard pass to Jarret Patterson, a 10 yard scramble by Heinicke, a 23 yard completion to McLaurin, and a 10 yard completion to J.D. McKissic on third down.  On a first down play, Heinicke threw up a lame duck pass into the end zone while under pressure. Luckily, McLaurin outfought two defenders to catch the 17 yard touchdown pass. After two penalties, one on each team, Washington failed to convert the two-point conversion, and the score was 30 – 28.

Washington then held Atlanta to a three and out to give Washington the ball back with two minutes to go. The Washington offense was able to move the ball thanks a 24 yard completion to Carter and a 19 yard completion to Adam Humphries. After a couple of short gain plays, Heinicke hit McKissic on a checkdown that McKissic took in from 30 yards out for a touchdown to give Washington the lead by a score of 34 – 30..

Atlanta got the ball back with thirty-three seconds left. Ryan hit Ridley on and 21 yard completion and then scrambled for 16 yards. Ryan was able to spike the ball with one second left. The “Hail Mary” pass attempt was batted down by Fuller in the end zone to preserve the win for Washington.

Game Heroes

Taylor Heinicke and Terry McLaurin

Game Zeroes

Dustin Hopkins and Chase Young (you could even say the entire defense along with the defensive coaching staff)