ATLANTA – Falcons linebacker Mike Peterson, an 11-year veteran, might have put it best when he said he thought Sunday was a night when a lot of his team’s young defenders grew up.
The key to the 21-14 nationally-televised victory over the Chicago Bears before 68,082 raucous fans at the Georgia Dome were three Bears’ possessions inside the red zone in which the Falcons threw a shutout, as they improved to a 4-1 record.
Second-year safety Thomas DeCoud, who had only one interception in his collegiate career at California, came up with two -- the first two interceptions of his career, including one at the Falcons 8-yard line.
Second-year linebacker Curtis Lofton forced a fumble at the Falcons 1 by Bears’ running back Matt Forte, keeping him out of the end zone. The Bears recovered but Jonathan Babineaux forced another fumble on the ensuing play and this time the Falcons Coy Wire recovered.
“It’s a dog-fight game,” said Peterson, who had his first sack as a Falcon. “It’s 14-7. It’s 7-7, that’s when your veterans step up and let your guys know it’s going to be a dog fight. The game’s going to come down to the last play, the last few plays, the last few seconds of the game.
“So veteran guys, we’re constantly on the younger guys, letting them know. But I think a lot of the young guys grew up tonight. In this league, you got to play all the way, four quarters and they had a chance to see that tonight.”
One of those was DeCoud, who also had five solo tackles. Earlier this season in the team’s only loss to the New England Patriots, DeCoud got his hands on two of quarterback Tom Brady’s passes, but he could not come up with the picks.
Against the Bears, it was a different story.
“You know, I felt like I owed the defense those two picks,” DeCoud said. “I had to get those back and make those plays, so I’m back even now.”
Said Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith of DeCoud: “He did it twice tonight and they were both big plays. Thomas was playing the ball very well in the air. He went through his reading of the route progression and played the ball. It’s good to see Thomas -- a young player, a third-round draft pick, second year in the league -- make plays like that. Good to see these young guys continue to progress and start making plays like that.”
Wire, who plays in the team’s nickel package in passing situations, said he has seen DeCoud’s evolution.
“Thomas, it’s not a surprise to us because we’ve been seeing him develop as a safety in our defensive scheme in practice and he’s getting really good at the position,” Wire said.
“He makes plays like that all the time in practice. I think now everyone else is starting to see what he’s capable of and he’s going to continue to make plays like that for us.”
Truth be told, the veterans had their share of big plays, too. There was Peterson’s sack and sack that was shared by Babineaux and John Abraham in the final two minutes. They collapsed the pocket around Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler for a seven-yard loss with 1:12 left in regulation, setting up third-and-17 from the Falcons 31.
Cutler’s final pass on fourth down fell incomplete, securing victory for the Falcons.
“Really, I think the big play was not the last play of the game, it was the previous play when we got the sack,” Smith said. “Any time you can get a sack in a two-minute situation, I think you enhance your chance of being successful in those red zone series.”
The final numbers were not pretty for the Falcons except for one. They allowed the Bears 373 yards of total offense, but they won the turnover margin with those three to the Bears’ two.
Babineaux, the fifth-year defensive tackle, had a huge night. He had the forced fumble, the half sack, two quarterback hurries and a pass defended, deflecting Cutler’s pass incomplete on first down of the Bears’ final series from the Falcons’ 14.
“Every game we try to go out and make turnovers,” Babineaux said. “I think turnovers put you in a great position to win at the end of the game. Today we had three. That really helped us out, especially getting them in the red zone. We took points off the board that they could have had at least three [scores] in the red zone.”
One concern coming out of this game will be the status of one of the team’s veteran defenders: defensive back Brian Williams left the game with 6:18 left in regulation with a knee injury.
So Chevis Jackson, another second-year player, took his place in the secondary. That put him in there with second-year cornerback Brent Grimes and third-year cornerback Chris Houston.
It wasn’t always pretty, but they fought. And won.
“Our guys just kept fighting and fighting and fighting and there was no quit in that group of men tonight,” Smith said.
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-BEARS GAME:
- GAMEDAY LIVE: Complete game coverage from AtlantaFalcons.com
- FEATURE: Falcons defense stands tall in Sunday night win
- GAME CENTER: Stats and more in the NFL.com Game Center
- FIRST TAKE: Exclusive postgame videos from AtlantaFalcons.com
- VIDEO: More Falcons-Bears video interviews and highlights
- THE BEAT BLOG: In-game thoughts and stat updates
- J. MIKE'S MISSIVES: Thoughts and commentary from the Managing Editor
- GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the Georgia Dome press box
- QUOTES: Thoughts from the Falcons postgame locker room | Bears
- INACTIVES: Falcons-Bears inactives and probable starters
- FORUMS: Talk about the game with other fans on FalconsLIFE
