Chris Redman gave the Atlanta Falcons a feel-good
finish to an otherwise ugly season.
Redman set a career high with four touchdown passes, including
two to Alge Crumpler, and the Falcons rode three fourth-quarter
touchdowns to a 44-41 victory over the Seahawks on Sunday that
should give Seattle cause for concern about its defense in the
playoffs.
Seattle, the NFC West champion, allowed the woeful Falcons to
best their previous scoring high by 17 points. The Seahawks had to
wait to learn whom they'll play next week.
The Falcons ended a six-game losing streak, giving interim coach
Emmitt Thomas his first win in three tries. Redman, the third starting quarterback for Atlanta in the post-Michael Vick era, also threw touchdown passes to Joe Horn and Roddy White. He was 17-of-27 for 251 yards with no interceptions.
Warrick Dunn rushed for 70 yards with a 5-yard scoring run and Morten Andersen kicked three field goals for Atlanta.
Shaun Alexander and Maurice Morris, who rushed for 91 yards, had
touchdown runs for Seattle. Crumpler's first touchdown catch, a 55-yarder on the first play of the fourth quarter, tied the game at 27-27.
Atlanta (4-12) then made Seattle (10-6) pay for two fourth-quarter turnovers by backup quarterback Seneca Wallace, who played the second half.
Wallace fumbled when hit by Jonathan Babineaux. Defensive tackle
Montavious Stanley recovered to set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from
Redman to Crumpler.
On the first play of Seattle's next possession, Wallace was intercepted by Chris Crocker, who returned the ball 18 yards to the Seahawks' 10. On first down, Roddy White's touchdown catch gave the Falcons a 41-27 lead.
Wallace recovered to throw touchdown passes of 45 and 13 yards
to Nate Burleson .Andersen answered with a 32-yard field goal after the first touchdown pass to Burleson. Burleson's second scoring catch came with 54 seconds left.
White recovered Josh Brown's onside kick to end Seattle's
comeback.Matt Hasselbeck completed 15 of 25 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He was pulled to start the second half
even though the game was tied at 17.
Wallace was 17-of-22 for 206 yards with two touchdowns, one
interception and a fumble.
Labels: Atlanta Falcons, Football, Michael Vick
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 12:20 PM
