The Atlanta Falcons earned a crucial win in their quest to reach the playoffs as they defeated the Arizona Cardinals 29-18 at the Georgia Dome.
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The Falcons took the lead in the game as Steven Jackson reeled off a huge run for the home side, which took them down to the one-yard line. The Cardinals made a good stand on the first three plays, but Mike Smith's men got into the endzone when Matt Ryan found Levine Toilolo.
Atlanta thought that they had extended their advantage when Devin Hester returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown, but he was flagged for a facemask penalty on punter Drew Butler. The visitors made another stand on the goal line, and forced a 20-yard field goal as Matt Bryant fired the ball through the posts.
Matters got even better for Smith's side when Dwight Lowery intercepted a pass from Drew Stanton, which allowed their offense back on the field and Ryan fired deep for Julio Jones, who made the catch for the touchdown on a 32-yard play over Patrick Peterson.
However, the Cardinals hit back in the second quarter when Ryan was intercepted by Rashad Johnson. The safety found a crease in the defense and ran the ball all the way back to the endzone for an 88-yard score.
Arizona chipped away at the Falcons' lead, bringing themselves within seven points as Stanton moved his side downfield and Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 44-yard field goal.
Just before the break, the Falcons restored a 10-point lead when Ryan led them into field-goal range and Bryant kicked a 23-yard field goal.
In the second half, Atlanta's defense forced the Cardinals to punt the ball away on their first possession, and that allowed Ryan to move his side downfield, but they were held out of the endzone. Bryant added the kick from 21 yards to fire his side 13 points in front.
The Falcons continued to move the ball well on offense and they put the game beyond Arizona in the fourth quarter with another field goal from the boot of Bryant to take a 16-point advantage with time running out in the game.
Bryant added his fifth field goal of the game late in the fourth quarter to kill the game off once and for all, even though the Cardinals added a late touchdown as Stanton found Stepfan Taylor in the endzone.
The Falcons held out to claim their fifth victory of the season and keep themselves in the playoff race at the top of the NFC South, while the Cardinals remain only one game ahead of the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West.
Simon Sinclair
