Atlanta Falcons Win Fourth Straight Over Cardinals
Vick Struggles Again But Warrick Dunn Carries Atlanta
Box Score
Atlanta, GA. The Falcons cruised to their fourth win in as many games today with a commanding 38-19 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Stopping the run was the main focus of the Atlanta defence going into the game against such a dynamic runner in Edgerrin James. "Tonights win was great, we stopped Edge from creating oppurtunities for the Cards, and that took a little pressure off Mike and Warrick to deliver on offence." said Ed Hartwell, who recorded an amazing 11 tackles, 5 of which were in the backfield.
The game started out sow for both teams, as the Falcons allowed a field goal from K Neil Rackers late in the first quarter. As the offence took the field, Michael Vick struggled to find open recievers, and Warrick Dunn had to carry the load. Dunn took the Falcons all the way down to the 18 yard line, and on 1st and 10, sprinted left and spun around FS Robert Griffith for the touchdown. In the second, the Cardinals came out firing. As they picked apart the defense with great passes, QB Kurt Warner moved the Cardinals with ease all the way up to the goal line. Two plays later, Warner found reciever Larry Fitzgerald wide open in the corner for the easy touchdown. After a failed 2 point conversion, the Falcons received the kickoff.
After a useless offensive showing, the Falcons tried a 52 yard field goal attempt which missed just left of the up-rights, and the Cardinals got the ball back with great field position. I didnt take long for the Cardinals to score once again, as they moved up to the 16, but they were stopped on 3rd down, and they could only take away a field goal from the drive.Not long after DeAngelo Hall returned the kickoff 28 yards, Michael Vick was picked off by Robert Griffith. However, on the first play, with just 1 minute to go in the 2nd, the Falcons' DeAngelo Hall picked off a pass intended for receiver Anquan Boldin, and returned it for a touchdown to give the Falcons a 14-12 lead.
In the third quarter, the Falcons defence stepped up and forced 7 third downs, with only 2 of those being converted. The Falcons took advantage of these situations as they put up 10 points in the quarter, 6 of those came off a miracle pass from Michael Vick to Eric Beverly, that went straight through the hands of Cardinals defender Antrel Rolle. Later in the quarter K Michael Koenen put up 3 more points on a short field goal attempt.
In the final period, the Falcons defence picked off Kurt Warner 3 more times, one of those was in the endzone by DeAngelo Hall for his second INT on the day. Warrick Dunn found the endzone two more times in the quarter as the Falcons went up to the tune of 38-12, with just 3 minutes to go in the game. With a comfortable lead, the Falcons inserted QB Matt Schaub and rookie RB Jerious Norwood. When the Falcons forced another turnover, Norwood looked poised to recieve the handoff. As he got the ball, he ran down the right sideline and broke a tackle on the 10 yard line for the touchdown, however holding was called on the play and the touchdown was not counted. On 1st and 20, Norwood ran left, stiffarmed two players on separate occasions for a breathtaking 47 yard touchdown run. Yet again, holding was called on the play and the TD was withdrawn.
On 2nd and 30, Norwood carried again, but was stopped in the backfield for a short loss. With just 3 seconds to go, he decided to have another crack at it. As Schaub received the snap and went to hand it off to Norwood, he was tackled, causing a fumble. Cardinals defender Karlos Dansby returned the fumble 26 yards for the final score of the game, but the Cardinals lost with a final score of 38-19.






Game Highlights:
DeAngelo Hall intercepts a potential touchdown pass in the endzone
DeAngelo Hall intercepts a pass from Kurt Warner and returns it for a touchdown
Michael Vick lands a miracle pass in the hands of Eric Beverly for the touchdown