Grady Jarrett made it look easy.
In the fourth quarter of the Falcons’ 34-27 victory over the Broncos, the Falcons were entering an all too familiar danger zone. They only held a two-touchdown lead with about 10 minutes left to play in the game. The Broncos got the ball back, looking to be yet another team to erase a double-digit fourth-quarter lead against the Falcons.
That’s when Jarrett stepped up. Off the snap on the first play of the drive, he beat right guard Austin Schlottman, with quarterback Drew Lock suddenly staring at him sprinting his way. Lock was forced to make a quick throw off his back foot, which resulted in a pass sailing down the middle of the field. There to grab it was safety Ricardo Allen, who returned the ball to the Broncos’ 12-yard line. Two plays later, running back Todd Gurley was able to punch in a 4-yard touchdown.
Allen was ecstatic about the pick but didn’t know that Jarrett was the one who forced the pressure until he was told after the game. Once he found out, Allen immediately wanted to thank him profusely.
“That was Grady who got that? I appreciate that,” Allen said. “I owe him a steak dinner or something. Whatever dinner he wants, I’ll take him out.”
Jarrett explained how he was able to get in the offensive backfield so quickly, which gave Allen his first interception of the season.
“I was just being aggressive, hitting my gap,” Jarrett said. “It opened up for me. It felt good to have an effect on that play.”
Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
If not for that sequence, perhaps the Broncos would have had a greater chance to tie or win this game. The Falcons began the fourth quarter holding a 27-6 lead but saw it shrink to 27-13 after Lock threw a 20-yard touchdown throw to receiver Jerry Jeudy. The Falcons were forced to punt on their ensuing possession, with Jarrett and Allen coming up big with the interception. But outside of that offensive possession that began with a short field, the Falcons were unable to move the ball after controlling that side of the ball for three quarters.
After recovering Denver’s onside kick, the Falcons ran the ball three consecutive times, with the Broncos using their final timeout after the first rush. The third running play was flagged for an illegal shift, which stopped the clock after the play. After a punt traveled into the end zone, the Broncos had 44 seconds to try and tie or win the game.
After recovering Denver’s onside kick, the Falcons ran the ball three consecutive times, with the Broncos using their final timeout after the first rush. The third running play was flagged for an illegal shift, which stopped the clock after the play. After a punt traveled into the end zone, the Broncos had 44 seconds to try and tie or win the game.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris said with a smile. “Good thing I had that mask on. It is what it is.”
Said Gurley: “We were just being us right there, making everybody nervous. We have to stop doing that. We got to find a way to, like coach says, step on their neck and just eliminate all the B.S. and just go out there and execute. … Sometimes we like to make it a little hard on ourselves.”
Although the Falcons’ defense allowed itself to get into this situation, it was able to close this late-game situation by pressuring Lock on each of his passing plays. On fourth down, Denver shot itself in the foot with a botched snap fumble.
The Falcons may have once again controlled a game for three quarters before squandering their big lead, like they did in games against the Bears and Cowboys. This time, they were able to make just enough plays to keep the improbable from happening once again.
With Denver deserving credit for its furious rally late, the play Jarrett and Allen combined to create proved to be the difference in this game. Without it, the Falcons might be looking at seventh loss for the season heading into the bye week.
Jarrett said it was a good feeling for the defense to make the needed plays late in the game, especially since it came just one game after the Falcons were able to close out the Panthers on the defensive side of the ball.
“Two weeks in a row, trying to finish out on the defense,” Jarrett said. “We know the omen that followed us for the first half of the season and we just wanted to step up again. The fact that we did feels good and we just want to continue that momentum the rest of the season.”
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