Matt Ryan Leads Falcons With 100th Career TD Pass. Replacement Refs Gone Wild!
For Week 2 of Monday Night Football on ESPN, we saw Peyton Manning and his Broncos travel to the Georgia Dome and play the Atlanta Falcons. On the first possession of the game, Broncos QB Peyton Manning would be victim to an interception by safety William Moore which would lead to an easy 1-yard run score by Michael Turner. Here’s where things got interesting. On the next ensuing drive after Denver got the ball back, Peyton Manning would throw his second interception of the game that safety Thomas DeCoud captured that which would later set up for a 37-yard FG from Matt Bryant.
Heading into the 2nd quarter, the Falcons would score 10 points on back-to-back possession credited to a 42-yard FG from Matt Bryant and a TD pass from Matt Ryan to Tony Gonzalez marking his 100th of his career. On the next possession for the Broncos, they would endure a lengthy 17 play drive getting their first score of the game with a TD pass from Peyton Manning to wide-out Demaryius Thomas. The play was initially ruled out of bounds but after a challenge by John Fox, Thomas did indeed get both feet down before he fell out of the in-zone.
Fast-forwarding to the 4th quarter with the score at 27-7, the Broncos would open up the quarter with a strong drive finished with Willis McGahee rushing for a TD to bring the game to striking distance. The Broncos defense would finally awaken forcing two back to back turnovers to give the Broncos a shot but the offensive line couldn’t hold their end of the deal as Peyton Manning was sacked on a crucial third down that caused a turnover. Denver’s defense would force one last turnover as Peyton Manning led his team down the field once more capped with a Willis McGahee rush to bring the score at 27-21.
In the end, it just wasn’t enough time as Matt Ryan and Michael Turner finished the game with two first downs as Denver failing to stop the Falcons for one last shot at winning. Things don’t get easier for Peyton and the Broncos as next week they play against the AFC favorite Texans at home; while the Falcons travel to San Diego and play the Chargers. The Falcons now join San Francisco, Philadelphia and Arizona as the only undefeated teams left in the NFC.