Falcons Smother Raiders, Win 24-0

The Atlanta Falcons entered Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum with a script for the first 15 plays of the game.

At the conclusion of those 15 plays, Atlanta found themselves with a 7-0 lead over the Oakland Raiders. On the 18th play, running back Jerious Norwood ran around the left end, hurdling an offensive lineman into the end zone to give the Falcons a 14-0 edge.

The tally at that point with five minutes remaining in the first quarter: Atlanta—18 plays and 14 points; Oakland—six plays and zero points.

Atlanta continued this control of the Raiders all day, walking into the locker room at the half leading 24-0, turning out a dominating first half.

Quarterback Matt Ryan at the half was 13-16 with two touchdowns, having spread the ball around to six different receivers, and running back Michael Turner was doing something previously unfamiliar to Atlanta—running well on the road (82 yards on 22 carries at the half).

John Abraham added three sacks for an Atlanta defense that made Oakland look like anything but a team committed to excellence. JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders were disturbingly inefficient, finding themselves with minus two net yards (yes, minus two) and zero first downs at the break.

Matt Ryan was seven years old in 1992, the last time a team held another to negative net yardage in a half of play during a professional football game.

The second half was more of the same dominance from the Atlanta defense. However, the offense seemed to stall a little. A heavy dose of the Falcons' running game kept the clock running, and the team seemed content to continue to control time of possession and leave the West Coast 5-3.

As the game progressed, the Raiders offense looked uninspired and at times confused, finishing with 77 net yards and three first downs.

However, following a blocked punt in the fourth quarter, Oakland found itself with the ball on the Falcons' 46. Russell moved the offense inside the 20-yard line for the first time all game before an errant pass to Javon Walker in the end zone was intercepted by Erik Coleman, preserving the shutout.

For three Raiders—DeAngelo Hall, Justin Griffith, and Ashley Lelie—this game was an opportunity to face the team for which they once played. There was no advantage to be had by these three as they realized this was not the Falcons team they once knew.

Hall especially has had a traumatic past with Atlanta and seemed poised to have a big game versus his former team. That proved not to be the case as he was routinely victimized by the young Atlanta offense. He quickly left the locker room after the game, offering no sound bites for this game, something uncommon for the Atlanta-era Hall.

The Falcons, however, had plenty to say, and it was mostly from the Coach Mike Smith Book of Positive Reinforcement, praising each aspect of the team.

Matt Ryan said of his team's performance, "We started well in the first half offensively, defense with the shutout. I can’t say enough about the guys' effort today."

Abraham countered, "I just heard we had the ball for 44 minutes, which is really a tribute to the offense who kept the ball."

Coach Smith summed it all up: "I am really proud of our football team today. Any time you can come out on the road and play efficiently, like our team did today, in all three phases and win the football game like we did, you have got to be very encouraged.... Defensively, I thought it was our best performance."

The Falcons do indeed have reason to be encouraged. 5-3 at the halfway point of the season and in the thick of things in the NFC playoff hunt is something few expected from this Atlanta team.

8-8 or 9-7 is not out of the question for this team, yet neither is 5-11, though somewhat unlikely. Regardless, this young team has changed, seemingly overnight, and is clearly one on the rise.

With election day on Tuesday, the message of change will be on the minds of all voters.

Change is something Atlanta Falcons fans have gotten used to over the years, yet this time it looks like a permanent change that they can believe in—and it's well-deserved for this bedeviled franchise.

Its fans have hope for the future, and there's even a faint whisper of playoff talk around town.