Arizona Cardinals vs Atlanta Falcons Match Player Stats On Nov 27, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Nov 27, 2016

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Falcons bounced back after their bye week and in the process might have extinguished the Arizona Cardinals' flickering playoff hopes.

Taylor Gabriel raced 35 and 25 yards from touchdowns on screen passes from Matt Ryan and the Falcons improved to 7-4 with a 38-19 victory over the Cardinals, who have dropped eight straight games at the Georgia Dome.

Ryan completed 26 of 34 passes for 269 yards, and the Falcons rushed for three touchdowns and 118 yards to maintain their hold on first place in the NFC South.

Cardinals running back David Johnson went past 100 yards from scrimmage for the 11th straight game, finishing with eight catches for 108 yards and a touchdown, and rushing 13 times for 58 yards.

It wasn't enough, though, for the Cardinals (4-6-1). Carson Palmer started hot but finished 25-of-44 passing or 289 yards and two touchdowns.

The Falcons drove 77 yards in 13 plays to go up by 11 points late in the third quarter, with Tevin Coleman scoring on a 2-yard run after D.J. Swearinger dropped what could have been his second interception of the game for the Cardinals.

Then the Falcons went 60 yards in 10 plays to put the game out of reach with eight minutes remaining as Gabriel scored his second touchdown on an identical pass play from the 1 in the second quarter.

Johnson caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Palmer with four minutes left to cap a 75-yard drive, but the two-point conversion attempt failed and the Falcons covered the onside kick.

Six plays later, the Falcons had another touchdown as Devonta Freeman scored for the second time in the game on a 5-yard run.

The Cardinals pulled within 17-13 at halftime on Chandler Catanzaro's 54-yard field goal as time expired after Swearinger picked off a Ryan pass over the middle intended for Jones. Larry Fitzgerald alertly called for a timeout with a second left after catching a 10-yard pass from Palmer.

Catching Arizona in a blitz, Ryan had teamed with Tyler Gabriel for a 35-yard touchdown on a screen pass with 2:19 left to put the Falcons ahead for the first time.

Palmer, who completed all five of his passes on the game's opening possession, capped the 75-yard drive by hitting Jermaine Gresham in the end zone from the 1-yard line.

Ryan was just as sharp early, going 6 of 7 as the Falcons went 72 yards the first time they had the ball. Freeman ran it in from 1 yard.

Catanzaro had a 25-yard field goal early in the second quarter and then Matt Bryant connected from 45 yards for the Falcons.

NOTES: CB Desmond Trufant, the Falcons' top coverage man, missed his second straight game and is likely to need season-ending surgery for a torn pectoral. The former first-round draft pick injured a shoulder and pectoral against Tampa Bay on Nov. 3. CB Jalen Collins replaced Trufant. ... With P Matt Bosher (hamstring) out, P Matt Wile opened with a 59-yarder punt in his NFL debut and also handled kickoffs. Backup QB Matt Schaub did the holding. ... The Falcons lost DE Adrian Clayborn to a knee injury in the third quarter. ... Arizona WR/PR John Brown (hamstring) left the game in the third quarter and didn't return. ... The Cardinals shuffled three spots on their offensive line, with RT Ulrick John getting his first start. D.J. Humphries played LT and John Wetzel opened at RG. ... DT Robert Nkemdiche, the Cardinals' first-round draft pick out of Ole Miss, was a healthy scratch for a third straight game and has been in on just one tackle this season.