Atlanta Falcons: Studs and duds blowout win over Raiders in Week 12
Atlanta Falcons studs and duds as they blew out the Raiders in Week 12.
After winning three of the last five games, the Atlanta Falcons aimed to get back into the win column in Week 12 against an AFC opponent at home in Atlanta. The Falcons returned home to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday afternoon to welcome in the Las Vegas Raiders for a cross-conference contest in Atlanta.
At the end of the game, Atlanta stormed away with a huge blowout victory that had to have caught many around the NFL off guard, taking the home contest by a score of 43-6.
In the opening half, the Falcons got off to a nice start against a solid Raiders squad, carrying a 6-0 advantage after the first quarter following a pair of field goals. In the second quarter leading into halftime, Atlanta added 10 more points while giving up three points to Las Vegas to take a 16-3 lead into halftime.
To round out the game in the second half, the Falcons continued their dominance over the Raiders, outscoring Las Vegas 14-3 in the third quarter and 13-0 in the final frame to take the 37-point victory.
With the win, the Falcons improved to 4-7 overall on the season and also improve to 2-4 on the year at home. In the loss, the Raiders dropped to 6-5 overall and are now 4-2 away from home in road contests so far in 2020.
Atlanta gets back to action in Week 13 when it remains at home to take on the New Orleans Saints for an NFC South showdown at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Las Vegas will return to the field next weekend in Week 13 when it hits the road to face the struggling New York Jets on Sunday afternoon in New York.
With the game between the Falcons and Raiders now over with in Week 12, let’s take a look back at studs and duds that took place for Atlanta throughout the game.
Stud: Calvin Ridley
Right before kickoff in Week 12, the Falcons learned that they would be without star wide receiver Julio Jones on the outside of the field against the Raiders, which once again pushed Calvin Ridley into that top spot in the receiving game. As he has done multiple times this year already, Ridley stepped up for his team and once again was able to find the endzone in the contest to help lead Atlanta’s wideout group.
In the contest, Ridley finished with six catches for 50 yards and one touchdown, recording a game-long reception of 16 yards along with being targeted nine times. Ridley continues to make the case for being one of the top tier wide receivers in the NFL, and he has been able to do that on a consistent basis through this point in the 2020 season.
Dud: Turnovers
One minor thing that appeared in the game for Atlanta this week was the fact that the Falcons still managed to turn the ball over a few times on their side of things. Ultimately, it didn’t matter at all by the end of the game as the game was already out of reach at that point, but the Falcons and specifically quarterback Matt Ryan still managed to provide an opposing team with some extra opportunities in the game.
Ryan finished the contest with one interception and one fumble that was recovered by the Raiders defense, providing Las Vegas with a few extra offensive possessions they otherwise wouldn’t have had. Like was said, those turnovers didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but it’s something that could come back to haunt Atlanta in future games.