The fairytale turnaround season of Los Angeles Rams (11-5) ends in the Wildcard round! It beat the Atlanta Falcons (10-6) in a 13:26 defeat – also because Atlanta Todd Gurley defended excellently in the Passing Game. An outstanding performance by Aaron Donald was enough to reach the cruel, slippery ground in LA. for the Falcons in the Divisional round is now on their way to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Anyone expecting a shootout was mistaken – the defenses dominated the game, and Atlanta’s defence dominated the game. The Falcons determined the rhythm of the game over long distances, had much more offensive layouts and longer ball holding times, the run game worked. Even though Matt Ryan (21/30,218 YDS, TD) was repeatedly under heavy pressure in the passing game, especially caused by Aaron Donald
L.A. But he never found a real rhythm – and made completely unfamiliar mistakes for Rams in the Special Team. So Pharoh Cooper couldn’t control a punt that was distorted by his own husband, and a short time later he fumbled at the kick-off return. This finally led to the first touchdown, a short run by the brilliant Devonta Freeman. But the Rams also made their first touchdown before the half-time break, the best drive of the hosts so far ended with a great play and a TD-pass to Cooper Kupp.
But this remained a flash in the pan by Jared Goff (23/41,255 YDS, TD) and Co. than a growing flame. Atlanta dominated the third quarter of the game, but still revealed some big problems in the Red Zone. Both defenses only allowed for field goals, the game splashed between the 20-yard lines for a while – until the Falcons set off for the decisive drive: A great third-down conversion of Ryan, a 52-yard screen over Sanu and shortly afterwards the touchdown pass to Julio Jones.
Atlanta extended his lead to 26:13 and the Rams did not recover from it. It’s true, L. A. with a fast drive to the Goal Line again, but didn’t bring the ball into the final zone in four attempts. The Rams season is over, the Falcons are flying to Philadelphia!
Los Angeles Rams (11-5) – Atlanta Falcons (10-6)13:26 (0:6,10:7,0:6,3:7) BOXSCORE
Eight minutes before the end at 19:13, Atlanta had a critical third down low in his own half – with a punt L. A. would have been L. A. had all the possibilities to start his own game winning drive. But Ryan delivered a great play, walked out of his pocket and finally found Hooper for the first down pass. A few pitches later Julio Jones was standing in the final zone for the decisive touchdown.
It was one of the big questions in the run-up to the game: How would Atlanta Todd defend Gurley in passing? The Running Back of the Rams had done a lot of damage here this season, especially the Screen Game about Gurley impressed. And Atlanta had the perfect individual answer! Linebacker Deion Jones delivered a great game, causing Gurley major problems in numerous one-on-one duels and eliminating a central part of the Rams Offense.
In addition to Jones and the ultra-dominant Aaron Donald, Freeman was one of the game’s constants, especially in the first half. The stats (18 ATT, 66 YDS, TD) are not very impressive, but the way and the situational meaning of his physical runs was very important and allowed Atlanta to make the Rams-defense tired and keep the opponent’s offense on the sidelines. Especially because the Passing Game didn’t really work for a long time.
Goff had problems and missed some free receivers – but also delivered several great passes. Gurley wasn’t even the familiar factor in the Passing Game – but was more than solid in the Run Game. Cooper, on the other hand, who was able to shine over the regular season as a returner, had caught a black day. His mistakes served the Falcons ten points on the silver platter and were significant points in the game. Also worth mentioning here: Sammy Watkins, who was completely logged out of Atlanta’s strong Secondary.