The Falcons offense took over trailing 10-0, and put together a great drive that probably should have ended in a touchdown. Matt Ryan ran the no-huddle and relied on the devastating receiving combo of Roddy White and Julio Jones, hitting Roddy twice for 35 yards and Julio twice for 22 yards. He also mixed in a couple of solid runs by Turnelling (Turner + Snelling = Turnelling?).
The Falcons took the ball all the way to the Pittsburgh 5-yard line, and Ryan had Harry Douglas wide open in the corner of the end zone. Alas, the pass was a little high and Douglas couldn't quite come down with it. The Steelers D held strong and limited the Falcons to a 23-yard Matt Bryant field goal, cutting the Falcon deficit to 10-3.
On the following drive the Falcons defensive line showed up big once again as Vance Walker applied the pressure and sack of Big Ben, Atlanta's second one of the night. That put the Steelers into another third and long, one that the Falcons almost blew as Hines Wards broke free of coverage and nearly got his hands on a deep Roethlisberger pass.
Still, it was a great start to the second quarter for the Falcons. The defense came up with yet another stop, and return man extraordinaire Eric Weems followed up that defensive stand with a beautiful 48-yard return to the Pittsburgh 38.
Set up with good field position, Matt Ryan quickly went to work and marched the Falcons offense all the way down the field, capped off by a 10-yard TD pass to the one and only Roddy White. Ryan has looked stronger as the game has worn on, and this drive he really utilized all of his weapons, completing two passes to Harry Douglas, one to Tony Gonzalez and the TD pass to Roddy that tied the game up 10-10. If Ryan can get good protection, this offense can be really special.
However, that score deadlock didn't last long as Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for a 77-yard touchdown pass. Brown beat out the usually unflappable Brent Grimes on a seam route, and as Thomas DeCoud went for the pick and failed, no one was going to beat Brown as he took it to the house. Falcons trail 17-10.
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