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Freeman leads Falcons to another win, 48-21 over Texans
ATLANTA - When you win an NFL game 48-21 after leading 42-0 - as the Atlanta Falcons did inside the Georgia Dome on Sunday against Houston - it's pretty difficult to say the victors saved the best for last, but hear me out.
With a second left on the game clock, Texans running back Cecil Shorts III took a short pass out of the backfield and began running left, then right, frantic for a hole through which to find the end zone. Only he soon ran out of options, running smack dab into the Falcons' Allen Bradford, who, in the words of fellow reserve linebacker Nate Stupar, "Put the wood to him."
And with that wood applied, the football popped out of Shorts' hands, where it was scooped up by Stupar, who swiftly headed for the opposite end zone 84 yards away.
"First time I've scored a defensive touchdown since my junior year in high school," said Stupar, who grew up in State College, Pa., eventually playing for his hometown football giant, Penn State.
"I scored a few offensive touchdowns as a tight end in high school, but my last defensive score went for about 60 yards."
This is what it's like to play for the Falcons these days. Every play is worthy of its own YouTube video. Every player wears a smile.
Now 4-0 and blessed with one of the easiest schedules in the NFL, Atlanta may not only win the NFC South, it could post the best record in the NFC, which would assure it of home-field advantage in the playoffs until the Super Bowl.
"I don't see how they win less than 12 with that schedule," ESPN's John Clayton said of the Falcons. "They wouldn't even have to be that good to win 12 with that schedule."
But they are good. Or at least they looked awfully good against the AFC South's terrible Texans, who are now 1-3.
And it wasn't just Stupar who was super. Running back Devonta Freeman scored three touchdowns, rushed for 68 yards and caught five passes for 81 more yards. Leonard Hankerson had six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.
"Devonta catching the ball out of the backfield is another huge matchup for us," said quarterback Matt Ryan, who threw for 256 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. "(Houston paying extra attention to star receiver Julio Jones) forces you to throw to other guys. I thought Leonard Hankerson did a great job today. I thought Roddy White did a great job."
First-year Falcons coach Dan Quinn went further, focusing on the balance of an offense that rushed for 135 yards and passed for 256 more against a Houston front seven led by the matchless J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney.
"I can't talk about the balance on offense enough," Quinn said. "That's when we're at our best. And the defense scoring twice was terrific."
The scariest aspect of the 4-0 start is that Atlanta hadn't really played well for anything close to 60 minutes until Sunday. The Falcons made double-figure comebacks in road wins against the New York Giants and Dallas and overcame a sloppy second half to outlast the Eagles in the season opener inside the Georgia Dome.
"Once we start putting four quarters together, we'll be a problem for everybody," said defensive back Desmond Trufant, who was a problem for Houston when he returned a fumble for the touchdown that put Atlanta in front 21-0. "We know we have to start better, and we did that today."
Freeman has become so good so fast - he ran for 141 yards and three touchdowns against the Cowboys a week ago - that Roddy White said of the 5-8, 206-pound bundle of energy out of Florida State: "He's our X-factor. He's a hard cover for anybody. It's hard to keep up with that little guy."
Added Quinn, "The amount of grit and toughness he plays with, he just loves the battle. He's just got this relentless ability to keep competing."
The Falcons didn't compete all that well the past two years. Injuries helped cement a 4-12 record in 2013. The collapse of coach Mike Smith's tenure led to a 6-10 finish last season and the arrival of the mighty Quinn, whose Seattle defense helped the Seahawks deliver the Emerald City one Super Bowl title and come within a yard of another.
"You could sense it in the offseason," said Stupar, who's been on five NFL rosters since 2012. "It's amazing how Coach Quinn has brought this team to life. There's a genuine bond forming here. We're brothers."
But Stupar is a quarter of the way through his fourth NFL season. White is on his 12th campaign, tied with defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux for tops in seniority among the Falcons.
"Defensively, we're playing lights-out," White said, "And we played good offense today, but not nearly as good as we can."
If he's right, that could be the best thing to come out of this 48-21 win going forward.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com