ATLANTA (AP) —in Black Brian Poole Jersey , and quarterback Matt Ryan was looking for something to spark the team.Ryan got just what he wanted from his teammate, linebacker Deion Jones.“That was awesome to get us going,” Ryan said. “I felt like the energy that really got everybody into it, and from that point forward we played really well.”Julio Jones made an acrobatic touchdown catch on a pass from Ryan, Deion Jones returned an interception for an early score, and Atlanta snapped a five-game losing streak with a 40-14 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.Playing their final home game of the season, the Falcons (5-9) forced three turnovers and sacked Arizona quarterbacks seven times, a single-game season high for both teams. Arizona (3-11) has dropped two straight and five of six under first-year coach Steve Wilks.“I want to start out by saying I take full responsibility for what you saw out there tonight,” Wilks said. “It was unacceptable Brian Poole Jersey 2019 , not even close.”Julio Jones caught six passes for 82 yards, all in the first half. His 22-yard score in the closing seconds before intermission put the Falcons up 26-7. Jones beat Patrick Peterson’s bump-and-run coverage down the left sideline, turning the cornerback around and twisting around him to make a diving catch.Ryan ran for a 1-yard score early the second quarter and finished with 231 yards passing in his 100th career victory. Matt Bryant added two short field goals, and Tevin Coleman had a 43-yard TD run in the third quarter as Atlanta won for the first time since Week 9 at Washington.Grady Jarrett had two sacks for Atlanta, and Arizona’s run defenses allowed 215 yards to the NFL’s worst rushing attack.Playing behind a makeshift offense line that has lost six players to injured reserve, Arizona’s Josh Rosen was under duress all afternoon and finished with a 38.4 passer rating.The rookie quarterback got the Cardinals off to a fast start with running back David Johnson catching two long passes to set up a short TD run that made it 7-0, but Arizona was essentially done after Deion Jones scored a touchdown for the third time in eight career interceptions.In his fourth game back after spending most of the season sidelined by a foot injury, Jones forced a 7-all tie in the first quarter, snagging Vic Beasley’s batted ball from the air in the flats and running 41 yards for Atlanta’s second defensive TD of the season.QUESTIONS IN THE DESERTIt feels like a couple of months have passed since Arizona enjoyed a season highlight under Wilks Black De’Vondre Campbell Jersey , a 20-17 win at Green Bay two weeks ago.The Cardinals were flat last week at home against Detroit and gave themselves almost no chance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Even with so many injuries, the performance was so uninspiring that Wilks might be wondering if he will return for a second season.Arizona showed why it began the day with the league’s worst scoring offense, worst passing attack and second-worst ground game.“Obviously on the road, you can’t spot people points and turn the football over like we did today,” star receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. “It was just an avalanche after the start.”KEY INJURIESJulio Jones injured his ribs on the TD catch and only played a few snaps in the third with the outcome all but assured. Jones missed practice one day this week with flu-like symptoms.Cardinals cornerback David Amerson and left tackle Joe Barksdale each left with concussion symptoms and didn’t return. Amerson collided with Falcons receiver Mohamed Sanu in the first. It wasn’t clear when Barksdale was hurt.Injured Atlanta running back Devonta Freeman likely won’t return this season, but he was on the sideline cheering on his teammates. Tight end Austin Hooper did not catch a pass and was only targeted once as he played through a sore knee he hurt last week at Green Bay.Johnson, playing with a sore quadriceps, ran 11 times for 33 yards and caught three passes for 68.EYES ON THE PRIZEThe Falcons had a respite from season-long difficulty in creating takeaways. Brian Poole had an interception and combined with Jarrett on a strip-sack fumble recovery. Bruce Irvin had his best game with Atlanta, finishing with 1½ sacks and three QB hits.“It was good to come out and have a good showing on defense today De’Vondre Campbell Jersey 2019 , get a couple turnovers, a couple forced fumbles,” Jarrett said. “Deion Jones got a touchdown. So it was good to come out and make some stuff happen on D.”ALL DOUBT ERASEDBeginning the game with a less than 1 percent chance of making the playoffs, the Falcons were mathematically eliminated.“You make your bed throughout the year, and today was a good day for us as a team, but obviously not playing in the postseason is disappointing,” Ryan said. “But we’ll enjoy the win today and try to win these next two.”UP NEXTCardinals: Host the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday.Falcons: Visit Carolina next Sunday. The Falcons defense has a lot of work to do this offseason. The decision to move on from Marquand Manuel and hand over the defensive play calling to Dan Quinn was a big step in the right direction. If Ricardo Allen and Keanu Neal stay on track, the back end of the Falcons secondary should be in excellent shape this fall. But before we look ahead, let’s take a look back. Ricardo Allen/Keanu Neal Not much to say about these guys. They are still the starters Black Deion Jones Jersey , notwithstanding everything that happened in 2018. Allen played 205 snaps on defense before tearing his achilles. In that time, he earned an “good” (one notch above “above average”) PFF rating of 77.5. Neal played just 37 defensive snaps before blowing out his knee. Who knows what he would’ve accomplished this season? But it’s best not to think about it. Damontae Kazee I can’t say enough positive things about Kazee. Kazee finished the regular season tied for the league lead with seven interceptions. His PFF rating of 77.8 made him the NFL’s 18th best safety in 2018. But he really shone in coverage where he earned a PFF rating of 82.7, 10th among NFL safeties. Dan Quinn has already promised the starting free safety role to Ricardo Allen in 2019, but he won’t be able to keep Kazee off the field for long. Jordan Richards Richards played 428 snaps on defense in 2018, somehow earning a PFF rating of 65.2. (62nd among NFL safeties and “above average” according to their metrics.) The Falcons relinquished a conditional draft pick to get Richards because they weren’t satisfied with Ron Parker. Richards proved to be a liability in coverage and only slightly better against the run. He wasn’t great, but he also wasn’t as bad as some Falcons fans thought he was. The Falcons relied on Richards heavily at the beginning of the season; then they limited his snaps as the season went on. Richard has likely played his last snap as a Falcon, so no matter how you feel about him, he’s not our problem going forward. Sharrod Neasman Neasman was a real bright spot for the Falcons in 2018. Neasman rebounded after being cut by the Saints at the beginning of the year and helped solidify a safety corps in desperate need of depth. His PFF rating of 67.8 ranked 48th among NFL safeties. Neasman carved out a role in the nickel package this season, and he’ll look to lock down that same role in 2019 and beyond. Kemal Ishmael Ishmael only played 64 snaps on defense (5.86 percent of the Falcons’ defensive snaps). While he’s passable in run defense Deion Jones Jersey 2019 , at this point in his career, he’s a liability in coverage. Notwithstanding the 330 special teams snaps he logged in 2018, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Ishmael plays for the Falcons in 2019. Keith Tandy Tandy, like Ishmael, barely played on defense. In fact, he only played two defensive snaps for the Falcons in 2018, and nothing particularly bad happened during those two defensive snaps, so I suppose that counts for something. Overall the Falcons coaching staff made do under less than ideal circumstances. There’s some incredibly talented depth on this roster at the safety position and that’s something to get excited about moving forward. Your thoughts about the safeties in 2018?
