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Tag: Dee Alford

  • Dear Carolina, you’re welcome: Falcons end season with a 19-17 win over Saints

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    The Atlanta Falcons were in the driver’s seat on Sunday, January 4. 

    The scenario was simple: beat the New Orleans Saints, and the Carolina Panthers were in the playoffs. Lose, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would get the playoff bid. Beat the New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta would have their longest winning streak of the season (four). Lose, and the momentum that was building will be done, and another seven-win season will be in the books.

    Falcons ended the season with a 19-17 victory and a sweep of their hated rivals.

    Dear Carolina, you’re welcome.

    With five minutes remaining in the game, Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough took off running into Falcons territory. He had been playing a good game up to that point and was a threat on the ground and through the air. His next pass, however, became his team’s downfall. The pass was intercepted by Falcons defensive back Dee Alford and returned 59 yards into Saints territory. Zane Gonzalez’s 48-yard field goal with just under three minutes remaining in the game put Atlanta ahead by nine points. Game over.

    The Falcons defeated the Saints 24-10 on November 23. During that game, Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, a serious candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year, passed for 243 yards with an interception while being sacked five times. Atlanta will finish the 2025 season among the top three teams in sacks and set a new franchise record with 55 sacks following a second-quarter sack by defensive back Dee Alford. But it was the Saints’ defense that got things started.

    The New Orleans Saints (above) came into Sunday’s game in Atlanta on a four-game winning streak.
    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    New Orleans entered the game in Atlanta on a four-game winning streak, and a significant part of that success has been attributed to their defense. New Orleans defensive end Carl Granderson made an immediate impact on Sunday, sacking Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins and picking off one of his passes during the first quarter. 

    Offense was a different story as the Saints got off to a much slower start than their defense. New Orleans was without its leading receiver, Chris Olave, and starting running back, Alvin Kamara. Both players have played well in Atlanta throughout their time with the Saints. The Falcons, however, had their top receiver, Drake London, back in the fold. Cousins found London in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game to help give Atlanta a 7-0 lead with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. The 15-yard touchdown reception was London’s seventh of the season. 

    The Atlanta Falcons hosted the New Orleans Saints in the final home game and regular season game of the season.
    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    The second successful Falcons offensive drive was an eight-play, 31-yard drive that included a couple of spectacular runs by Bijan Robinson. Those runs put Atlanta in position for a 40-yard field goal from kicker Zane Gonzalez and a 10-0 advantage. 

    Robinson only needed 237 yards to set a new National Football League single-season record for yardage from scrimmage. In just his third season, Robinson had already set a Falcons franchise record a week earlier. 

    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    The Saints got on the board with 5 minutes remaining in the first half when Shough scored a touchdown on a bootleg run from the 15-yard line. The extra point from Charlie Smyth made the score 10-7. 

    With two minutes remaining in the first half, the Saints’ offense failed to engineer a final scoring drive and put the ball back in the hands of Cousins and the Falcons with 45 seconds on the clock. Atlanta went into the half with the same score on the board.

    The third quarter began with the Falcons forcing a Saints punt following a sack by Pearce, Jr. The rookie has 9.5 sacks this season to go along with 5.5 sacks by his fellow rookie Jalon Walker. The pair has more than lived up to the expectations that were placed on them during the offseason and preseason. 

    Scoring was minimal during the game. Atlanta took a 13-7 lead on a 51-yard field goal by Zane Gonazelz early in the third quarter and a 16-10 lead when Gonzalez made a 38-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. 

    New Orleans managed to pull together another scoring drive with just over a minute to play in the game. Their onside kick attempt was not as successful.

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    Donnell Suggs

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  • Falcons will need repeat performance from secondary to beat Niners on Monday night

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    The Atlanta Falcons defeated the Buffalo Bills, 24-14, on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in front of more than 70,000 fans. Atlanta last hosted Buffalo on October 1, 2017, and the Falcons lost that game. After Monday’s game, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris called the victory “a big-time team win” and was “well-fought by the guys.”

    Currently on a two-game win streak, the Falcons will have to travel to the West Coast in order to extend that streak of success. Up next: the San Francisco 49ers.

    The 49ers are tied at the top spot in the NFC West at 4-2, tied with the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, who each have the same overall record. The Falcons and 49ers have something in common: they both have lost to Tampa Bay. The 49ers are coming into the Sunday Night Football matchup with the Falcons following a 30-19 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To ref 

    During the first half of the victory over Buffalo, the Falcons’ defense sacked Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen twice. The Falcons’ front four kept pressure on Allen the entire game, and several of his pass attempts were thrown under duress. Falcons defensive back Dee Alford intercepted an Allen pass, one of the quarterback’s two interceptions. 

    The Falcons’ defensive front line gets all the praise a day after the smoke has cleared. Still, the secondary’s play allowed Ruke Orhorhoro, David Onyemata, and James Pearce, Jr. to help hold Allen to just 42 rushing yards to go along with his underwhelming passing night (15-26 for 180 yards and two touchdowns). According to Morris, the return of veteran corner A.J. Terrell, Jr. was also an assist.

    “AJ coming back this week was awesome,” Morris said after the game. “He’s one of our leaders in the back end. “We had a couple of penalties down the field, but those things will happen when you’re fighting throughout the play.”

    Morris said, along with Terrell and Alford, veteran corner Mike Hughes was among the players who made “big plays” during the game.

    “I really like how those guys went out there and fought. I think they all made big plays at different times throughout the game against one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League, if not the best,” Morris said. 

    Falcons quarterback Michael Penix, Jr., now nine starts into his NFL career, said he wanted to credit the defense for securing the victory. When asked about the play of the secondary, Penix, Jr. said the play was “really good!”

    “Midway through the week, I heard [coach] say the defense was going to play a lot of man, and they did that, and those guys were up for the challenge,” said Penix (20-32 for 250 yards and a touchdown). “They played great football and allowed our defensive line to get sacks and stuff like that because Josh [Allen] had to hold the ball whenever people weren’t open down the field.”

    “We definitely couldn’t have won that game without what they did on that side of the ball,” Penix said.

    49ers quarterback Mac Jones was intercepted twice during his team’s loss to Tampa last week. The Falcons’ secondary has intercepted passes during all of their victories this season.

    Atlanta will need Penix, Robinson, the defensive line, and smart coaching decisions to win the game at San Francisco on Sunday night. They will also need the secondary to be as stellar, if not better, than it was on Monday night against the Bills. 

    “It was a big-time team win,” Morris said.

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    Donnell Suggs

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  • Atlanta Falcons are back over .500 with 24-14 win over Buffalo Bills

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    Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (above) had over 200 yards from the line of scrimmage, including 170 yards rushing.
    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    The Atlanta Falcons defeated the Buffalo Bills, 24-14, on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in front of more than 70,000 screaming fans (the majority of whom felt and sounded like they were from up North).

    The last time Atlanta hosted Buffalo was on October 1, 2017. The Falcons lost that game.

    After the game, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris called the victory “a big-time team win” and was “well-fought by the guys.”

    Falcons and Bills fans make their way over the bridge to Mercedes-Benz Stadium before Monday night’s game. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    The Falcons (0-2 in the NFC South) came into Monday night’s game with as much rest as any team in the league. Getting a bye week followed by a game on Monday on your home turf has to be the best-case scenario for any team.

    It didn’t take the Falcons’ offense long to get into the end zone. For a consecutive game, the Falcons scored on their opening drive. Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. (20 for 32 for 250 yards and a touchdown) completed two passes to his go-to receiver, Drake London (10 receptions for 158 yards), before runs by Bijan Robinson (more than 200 total yards from scrimmage) led to a touchdown run by the team’s other running back, Tyler Allgeier.

    Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris (above) after the 24-14 victory. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    Atlanta was ahead for four minutes before Buffalo put together a long drive on their opening drive, which ended with a pass from quarterback Josh Allen to tight end Dawson Knox to tie the game at seven.

    The first quarter ended with a three-minute Falcons drive capped by a long run by Robinson, Penix’s first touchdown pass of the game to London, and a 14-7 advantage. The Falcons were ahead at the end of the first 15 minutes of play for a consecutive week. The good vibes continued early in the second quarter when the Falcons’ defense stole the show at first, sacking Allen twice in the same drive. Following a Buffalo punt, Robinson took a handoff from Penix and raced up the right sideline for an 81-yard touchdown. Robinson shook off a couple of would-be tacklers en route to the Buffalo end zone and a 21-7 lead for the home team.

    The Falcons scored on their possession of the game and twice during the first quarter. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    The Falcons could have gone ahead by 17 points, but head coach Raheem Morris decided to go for it on fourth down instead of attempting a 40-plus-yard field goal. The Falcons went into the locker room with a 14-point lead.

    During the first half, the Falcons’ defense sacked Allen twice and intercepted a pass. The latter went to Dee Alford, his second career pick as a Falcon.

    Buffalo began the second half by scoring on an efficient drive that ended with a short touchdown run by Ray Davis. The Bills pulled closer to the Falcons, 21-14. Both teams traded wasted possessions during the remainder of the third quarter.

    In the fourth, Buffalo got the ball back with 8:30 remaining in the game.

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    Donnell Suggs

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