Atlanta Falcons snap losing streak, beat Jaguars 23-17

The Atlanta Falcons end their league-worst six game losing streak by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 23-17 at EverBank Field Sunday afternoon.

The Atlanta Falcons put an end to their awful six-game losing streak by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, 23-17 in Week 15 to move back to .500 at 7-7. Atlanta stays alive for the moment in the NFC Wild Card race needing to win their final two games and the Seattle Seahawks to lose out in their final three to get the sixth seed in the NFC.

Atlanta will likely have the postseason dreams come to an end this evening as the Seahawks take on Johnny Manziel and the hapless Cleveland Browns in the Pacific Northwest. However, this was a great team win for the Dirty Birds. At times, this was the best the offense has looked in months.

Matt Ryan completed 22 of 35 passes for 246 yards, a touchdown to Julio Jones, and a tipped pass interception to Paul Posluszny. Posluszny had a cast on his right arm so that made the Ryan’s interception even more awkward. Otherwise, Ryan played a strong game despite having limited receiving options on Sunday. He looked great running the play-action bootleg as we had imagined he would when Kyle Shanahan took over the offense this offseason.

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Ryan’s favorite target this afternoon was none other than wideout extraordinaire Julio Jones. Jones broke Roddy White‘s season receptions record in this game with his nine catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, his seventh of the season. White had three great catches for 47 yards and rookie Justin Hardy had three receptions for 36 yards when the Falcons needed him the most in crucial third down situations.

Running back Devonta Freeman had 101 all-purpose yards on 32 combined touches, including his 10th rushing touchdown of the season on the Atlanta Falcons’ first drive of the game. He took a beating today, but it was his competitiveness that opened up the pass for Ryan and the Falcons throughout the game.

Let’s not forget how big of a game kicker Shayne Graham had today. He made all three of his field goals in the windy mess that is EverBank Field. Though we all miss Matt Bryant who is on IR, Graham has played wonderfully for the Atlanta Falcons the last month or so.

Defensively, I thought that the team did a good job of slowing down the run. 44 of the Jaguars’ 72 rushing yards came on Blake Bortles‘ scampers. Atlanta did a fine job in limiting Bortles’ effectiveness despite being one of the league’s best young passers.

Strong safety nearly had a pick six on Bortles at the end of the second half. He was able to get deep enough in Jaguars territory for Graham to extend the Atlanta Falcons’ lead to 17-3 at halftime. Philip Wheeler had a strip sack that Jacksonville graciously recovered roughly 10 yards out of their own end zone. Adrian Clayborn had a great sack to essentially knock the wind out of the Jaguars’ offense in their two-minute drill.

With this win, the Atlanta Falcons have exceeded their win total from last year and can still finish above .500 in 2015. The Falcons played a more cohesive brand of football Sunday than I have seen since their Week 4 blowout against the Houston Texans at home.

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Today was proof that Kyle Shanahan’s offense can work in Atlanta and that the defense is improving whether we want to believe it or not in 2015. This is not a playoff team, but it seems that with this victory the Atlanta Falcons look determined to finish their 2015 strong and on their terms. There are still personnel issues greatly affecting this roster, but for today we can celebrate an Atlanta Falcons’ victory for the first time in nearly two months. Rise Up!

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