If you wanted to look up the definition of "strange game," you might find this one listed somewhere. At one point, the Falcons were up 20-3. Matt Hasselbeck was taken out of the game having injured his throwing elbow, and the rookie first round pick Jake Locker stepped in and performed surprisingly well. Or unsurprisingly, if you consider yourself the pessissimist type.
Yes that's right, after shutting down a longtime veteran QB for almost three quarters of play, they let a rookie in what was essentially his first extended action at quarterback run all over them. Well, not all over them. But he did go 9-for-19 with 140 yards and two touchdowns. Just something to consider.
Outside of that however, the Falcons played a very impressive game. Matt Ryan topped 300 yards, and was 22-for-32 with one touchdown pass. Michael Turner hit 100 yards on the ground. Both Roddy White (seven catches for 147 yards) and Tony Gonzalez (five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown) also had great games.
Dunta Robinson made an excellent diving play to intercept Hasselbeck, and John Abraham had the lone sack of the ball game. All in all, a great showing of what this team can do when they're running on all cylinders (before Locker came into the game).
All in all, the Falcons would hold off the Titans just long enough to come away with the 23-17 victory and improve to 6-4, keeping their wild card hopes very much alive.
FULL HIGHLIGHTS