Atlanta Falcons Takedown Jacksonville Jaguars

The Atlanta Falcons continued their winning ways, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-12 this afternoon. After this win, the Falcons have gone 5-2 since their bye week.

The Atlanta Falcons got off to a quick start today, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive when Devonta Freeman ran for a 17-yard touchdown. Fortune stayed on the Falcons side when the Jaguars fumbled the kickoff return with the Falcons recovering the fumble. The Falcons would make the Jaguars pay, scoring a touchdown when Matt Ryan hooked up with Freeman for a touchdown pass, extending their lead 14-0 before the first quarter was over.

With the 14 point lead, the Falcons defense did a great job of keeping the Jaguars offense at bay. Gardner Minshew was never able to find any rhythm in the first half, only coming away with three points in the first half. The Falcons defense did a great job in the first half, however, the offense did little to extend their early lead. The Falcons tacked on three points before the half, extending their lead to 17-3.

The second half started the way much of the first half was played for the Jaguars offense. Unable to mount any drive that would lead to points, the game was a stalemate for half of the third quarter. The Jaguars offense finally broke through, driving to the Falcons red zone, but only coming away with a field goal. After the Jags made the score 17-6, the Falcons offense answered with a touchdown to extend the lead to 24-6.

The Jaguars would fight back to score their first touchdown of the day to make the score 24-12, after a failed two-point attempt. After forcing a punt on the next Falcons drive, the Jags had a chance to make this game interesting. The Jags offense would drive up the field, converting two fourth downs in the process, but would ultimately be stopped on the doorstep of the Falcons endzone. The Falcons would run out the clock to secure the win.

The Falcons have now won two games in a row. This has been the prototypical Falcons season that saw the Falcons start 1-7 and now fight back to 6-9. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week, the Falcons will have a shot to lock down their second 7-9 season in a row. However, with the Bucs fighting to make it to 8-8 on the season, there is a good chance the Falcons run into the buzzsaw known as Jameis Winston. Until then, let’s continue to ponder this perplexing team for at least one more regular-season week.