Falcons-Broncos: Denver Overcomes Injuries and Atlanta, Wins 24-20

The Denver Broncos weren't supposed to play this way.

Coming into Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons, Denver's running game was expected to be nonexistent.

Besieged by injuries, they turned to rookie fullback-turned-running back Peyton Hillis, fresh-off-the-practice-squad running back P.J. Pope, and re-signed journeyman running back Tatum Bell.

With the way Atlanta played defense last week against New Orleans' pass offense, there was good reason to believe the Falcons' defense would hold the lead.

Think again.

While the Falcons' players denied it, they seemed to lack their typical enthusiasm. Their mode of operation all season long has been to jump to an early lead with patient play from the offense and let the defense do the rest. Incidentally, that defense hadn't given up a first quarter touchdown—until Sunday.

Denver struck first, doing exactly what was expected of them. The running game was relied upon little as Cutler spread the ball around to different receivers (six ended the day with a reception). However, Hillis made the most of all 10 of his running attempts, for 44 yards, rushing straight through the middle of the Atlanta defense on his second attempt for a touchdown.

The Falcons answered with two field goals and a handful of confusing gimmick plays. They were moving the ball well and it made little sense as to why they chose to run the Wildcat, utilizing a direct snap to the third-string running back on one play and dangerously lining up the franchise quarterback in the slot on another.

In the second quarter, after a missed field goal by Denver, the Falcons' offense found its spark with the reliable Ryan-to-White combination.

In one of his better moments of the day, Matt Ryan scrambled to escape a pass rusher and passed to Roddy White, who made a great play after the catch, breaking a tackle before going down at the 10-yard line.

The offensive line opened up a huge hole on the left side on the next play that running back Michael Turner burst through for nine yards and a touchdown.

Heading into the half, it seemed that the Falcons' offense had found its rhythm and the defense was doing what was expected, not allowing a lot on the ground (19 yards in the first half) and preventing the big play through the air.

It turned out to be a tale of two halves.

The second half introduced a grittier and scrappier Broncos team to Atlanta.

Denver shocked everyone when they came out running in the latter half. The Falcons' defense was particularly shocked and said as much after the game.

Cornerback Dominique Foxworth said, "They definitely relied on the run and safe short passes, which is something that we weren’t ready for."

Denver gained 39 yards on the ground on their opening drive of the second half, which culminated with Hillis' second touchdown of the day.

The Broncos seemed to suddenly believe they could beat Atlanta at their own (running) game.

Defensive end Elvis Dumervil said about his team's resolve in the second half, "...no one gave us a chance in this game. All the media, including USA Today, all said we didn’t have a prayer. But you know, Coach Shanahan is a great coach and he rallied us all. We’ve got a lot of guys out, but we didn’t make any excuses."

This team's play on Sunday seemed to be personified by do-everything utility rookie Spencer Larson who became the first player in Broncos history to start on offense and defense, playing fullback, middle linebacker, and on special teams.

Larson took it all in stride, simply saying at the game's conclusion, "...I’m a little beat up. I’m a little more tired than I usually am, but when you win, you feel great."

A solid Atlanta drive in the third quarter, led by Turner, ended when Ryan showed a little of his inexperience with a mistake that was as costly as it is rare.

While being pursued, Ryan backpedaled and instead of throwing the ball away, he tried to make a play, throwing an errant pass downfield that was intercepted (Ryan's first at home this season) by Dre' Bly.

Ryan said of his decision on the play, "...you always want to be aggressive and make plays for your team. But you have to be smart and make better decisions at the same time. Any time you have a turnover which leads to points, it is not a good feeling."

Atlanta put together another good drive in the fourth quarter, culminated by a 28-yard touchdown run from Turner. The third lead change in the game found Atlanta ahead 20-17.

Denver struck back with the final blow. Using five minutes of the clock, the Broncos pieced together 38 yards on the ground and an impressive 47-yard pass to receiver Brandon Marshall to go ahead 24-20.

With 5:35 to play, Atlanta hoped Ryan had another comeback in him.

The Falcons were driving and with two minutes left, they found themselves at the Denver 37. A holding penalty set them back and on 3rd-and-18, Ryan rolled the dice, taking a shot at the end zone to White.

It was a well-thrown pass and White had it in his grasp, but he lost his balance and fell to the ground, as did the ball.

White took the drop hard and the loss harder, saying, "I have to go out there and make those plays. I feel responsible for the loss today. I had an opportunity and I didn’t take advantage of it...When they expect me to go out there and make plays for us to win, I have to go out there and make those. It’s a tough one. We should be celebrating right now, but we have to bounce back and play hard next week."

The bounce-back factor is now critical. In post-game comments, most Atlanta players acknowledged they needed to put this behind them quickly and move on to an important division foe in next week's Carolina Panthers.

"In this league, you have to have a short term memory when it comes to losing. Next week is a big game for us. Hopefully we can get out there and get this thing headed back in the right direction," said center Todd McClure.

The right direction is back towards the top of the NFC South. A loss next week to division-leading Carolina combined with a New Orleans win will drop Atlanta further back.

Six games remain on the schedule for the Falcons, and only one could be considered a sure-thing win (against St. Louis).

In the NFL, a team's fortunes can change in the course of one week.

This time last week, Atlanta was flying high, having grounded the prolific Saints' offense. After a disappointing loss at home Sunday, some of that playoff talk has been grounded.

If this Atlanta team hopes to shock the league and make the playoffs, they can't afford many more games like this. With Coach Smith in charge it's hard to believe this team could be caught looking ahead, but it is certainly a possibility.

The Falcons now must decide if they're content to simply be a surprise, feel-good story for the NFL this year, or if they deserve to be that legitimate playoff contender everyone was speaking about last week.

Next Sunday against the Panthers will be a great place to begin that process.