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After an impressive first half of play and up 17-7, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said to his team, "One more half and we're in." With the knowledge that Tampa Bay had lost, Atlanta knew what could happen to their season...

The Season of Miracles: Atlanta Falcons Clinch Playoffs With Win Over Vikings

by daniel cox (Senior Writer)

32

272 reads

Game Recap

December 21, 2008


After an impressive first half of play and up 17-7, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said to his team, "One more half and we're in."

With the knowledge that Tampa Bay had lost, Atlanta knew what could happen to their season.

Up to that point, everything they'd needed to happen had happened. The other team that needed to lose to help the Falcons' cause was the Cowboys, who fell to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night.

And with one more half to play, as their quarterback said, they'd be "in," meaning they'd clinch an NFC playoff berth.

But to be in, they still needed to win—and it didn't come easy, just as nothing has the past two years for the Atlanta Falcons.

Last year in Week 16, the Falcons found themselves in Arizona in a game of no consequence, simply going through the motions to cap a season that was everything if not forgettable.

For a team that was given no chance of finding any success this season, it's not a bad way to end two wild years—playoff bound.

Defensive end John Abraham, who recorded one sack to give him a franchise record 16.5, was overcome with emotion.

Describing the moment that culminated a season that saw his career flash back to his early dominance and a team that was written off before any games were even played, the defensive end said, "I teared up. It all hit me. To have a year like this, to fight like this, after what everybody was saying about us—I actually teared up. Never happened before.”

Abraham was talking about his personal fight and the fight of his entire team. The coaching staff limited his snaps this season in an effort to keep the notoriously injured Abraham healthy, and for the most part it worked. But as the season wore on, so did the injuries.

Few knew it last week, but Abraham said he'd doubted he'd be able to play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his body so dinged up from the double and triple teams he's faced all season. The adrenaline kicked in at game time and he decided to give it a go. He finished with three sacks in the game, for the third time this season, none more important than his Bucs-drive-stopper in overtime.

This Atlanta Falcons team showed that kind of fight all season. Coach Mike Smith often spoke of his team's resiliency following games, and that has come to epitomize this season for the Falcons.

While the win on Sunday was not pretty and wasn't accomplished in traditional ways, they capitalized on Minnesota mistakes and hung on in the second half to get the job done.

Minnesota fumbled seven times, turning it over four times to the Falcons. Atlanta wasn't able to take advantage of each turnover, but they were able to muster 10 points out of those turnovers, which proved to be enough.

On a day that found Atlanta facing one of the toughest defenses in the NFL, they were able to do just enough on offense to create a cushion that would be insurmountable for the fumble-prone Vikings.

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32 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Derek Coffelt 6 months ago

    HUGE, HUGE win. I'm elated. Awesome recap Daniel. I love the quotes.

    I wish we could hand out 3 MVP's just for Ryan, Turner, and Abraham but of course we can't. All 3 of them (among the entire team of MVP's in my opinion) stepped up to unforeseen heights this year.

    I wish them luck in the playoffs, because they'll need it.

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      derek, thanks for reading.

      yeah they're definitely all deserving of the team mvp. i'm leaning more and more towards turner at this point, at least on offense, over ryan. abraham has been simply outstanding this season though.

      the playoffs. can you believe it?

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    • GeorgiaDawg 6 months ago

      I could go for co-mvp's on offense with Ryan and Turner..... But if I had to choose, I would have to give it to Ryan. As a rookie, to do what he has done.... not to mention that he is the obvious leader on the field.

      Turner is certainly deserving, and we would not be here without him... but if Redman was the QB and Turner was still having a great season, would we be in the playoffs? I don't think so......

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      gd, i think you make a good point. but on the flip side, to counter, if ryan had not had turner, would he have been this good. i suppose the chances are better for turner than your argument with redman, but still...turner has carried the falcons a looooong way this season.

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  2. Austin Penny 6 months ago

    wow. i have suddenly become a Rams fan for the next week.

    a win next week and a panthers loss will clinch the division for the Falcons...sending the Panthers, who could have clinched home field last night, to the 5th seed and the wild card....wow.

    sorry i dont have more thoughtful comments...i'm still a little stunned.

    nice article though man, always love reading your stuff

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      austin, if there's a silver lining, look how poorly the panthers played on defense and they still almost won the game. that says something...why root for the rams? your team takes care of business and you have nothing to worry about it!

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  3. Adam 6 months ago

    I hope the Falcons win the NFC South and get the 2 seed next week, they are the NFC version of the Dolphins. However, whoever ends up the 5th seed gets to play the Cardinals anyway, not such a bad thing haha.

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      derek, i think you're exactly right. the similarities are there. yeah, playing the cardinals isn't so bad. good lord they looked awful against the pats.

      but i'd still take a first-round bye and homefield advantage.

      thanks for reading!

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  4. Glenn Card 6 months ago

    The Vick hangover is over. Congrats

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  5. Eric Quackenbush 6 months ago

    Vick is gone, the Falcons are a new team.

    In my opinion, Smith should get coach of the year awards, and as far as offensive rookie of the year, it's a toss up between Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco. Both have been amazing this year.

    Excellent recap, and I really wish I could have seen either the Falcons or the Titans game. The Redskins/Eagles were a bore, and the Patriots game was ridiculous.

    Best of luck to Atlanta. As long as they're not playing the Panthers, I'm backing my NFC South counterpart.

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  6. Bryn Swartz 6 months ago

    I guess you had a better day than me.

    I still think we could beat you guys again.

    See you guys in the NFC championship game.....

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  7. Dan Parzych 6 months ago

    Congrats on the win. I'm still upset the Eagles weren't able to take advantage of the TB loss. Matt Ryan has been nothing short of unbelievable this season. Great work as always Daniel! Like Bryn said, I hope to see you in the NFC Championship....

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      dan, thanks for reading. well...the nfc championship is a long ways away. i'm not getting my hopes up for either team...we'll see what happens.

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  8. Ray Bogusz 6 months ago

    Atlanta: Playoff team since 2008

    Philly: Not a playoff team since 2008

    I did not expect this. I now fully expect them to go far in the playoffs. Here's to more Falcons success and more for you as well.

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      ray, that's mighty nice of you. yeah, the falcons being in the playoffs is good for business.

      thanks for reading!

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  9. Sean Crowe 6 months ago

    Congrats on the win. What a great turnaround!

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  10. Michael Cline 6 months ago

    Aweesome game. I'm glad that the Falcons were able to bounce back and get into the playoffs again. What a great story! 2nd only to the Dolphins!

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      second only to the dolphins? sure the dolphins only won one game. the falcons were 4-12 and had about as much bad luck as an organization can have. but i'll let you have it...

      thanks for reading!

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  11. GeorgiaDawg 6 months ago

    Great job Daniel... as always. What a season!! I can't believe the Falcons are in the playoffs. The home games this year have been great... we are finally defending the Dome again.

    We still need to get Falcon fans in their seats before kickoff... This 1:10, 1:15 stuff is getting old... We need to be there, screaming from the opening kickoff!!! The Dome was only 3/4's full at best for kickoff against the Bucs.

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      speaking of defending the dome. have you heard those john abraham commercials on the radio? oh my goodness...i get chills listening to them. i hear them and i want to get out and hit something.

      thanks for reading gd. it's been a great season. cheer a little louder for me on sunday.

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  12. John Lorge 6 months ago

    Is it wrong that when I see the falcons score I think of how happy you are? Between my dislike of matt ryan, my turner article, and all 179 of your articles I have followed the Falcs much closer this season than all my years combine. The only question is... Will Turner ever breakout the dirty bird?????

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      john, that's funny. i hope you don't think of me with disdain.

      you know...if turner ran a td in late in the game against the rams next week, it would be the perfect homage and cap on the season. a nice tribute to the '98 falcons, 10 years later...

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  13. Sayre Bedinger 6 months ago

    Good recap once again Daniel. I'm really excited for the Falcons. To overcome all of this Mike Vick and coaching nonsense, to just come out this season and play some great football, it has been a great season for this team.

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  14. Dennis James 6 months ago

    Imagine for a second; could this be the beginning?

    Could it possibly be the beginning of a run of playoffs, division titles, et al, to the likes of which we, as Falcon fans, have never seen before?

    You think Dimitroff and Blank will sit on their hands and be 'happy to be here' like the Smiths and Eddie LeBaron did after 1980? I don't think so, either.

    You think these guys want to prove that this wasn't a fluke by showing up in 2009? I think so, too.

    The present looks pretty sweet from here. The future looks even sweeter.

    And to think, we have Bobby Petrino and Michael Vick to thank. Making the playoffs and possibly winning the division may have been worth the pain of 2007 after all......

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      dennis, i couldn't have said it any better.

      i try not to think too far into the future. that's never worked before as a falcons fan. but this feels different.

      i don't think the front office will rest on what they've accomplished. i'm confident they'll go out and make more good moves.

      thanks for reading dennis! i appreciate it.

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  15. Nick Vandiver 6 months ago

    i really can't believe how well they did stopping Adrian Peterson. I was thinking this was really going to be a difficult game for the falcons, and they managed to come out on top. matt ryan is rookie of the year, hands down. and i really think michael turner is an mvp candidate. it's hard to believe they have come this far after last year's disastrous season.
    good analysis

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    • daniel cox 6 months ago

      nick, yeah...they were focused on a.p. all game. they swarmed him each time he had the ball. i guess they acknowledge that one man can't tackle him.

      it is hard to believe how far they've come...but it's so great!

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