Devonta Freeman pounded away all night until he finally found a way into the open field, helping the Atlanta Falcons remain in the thick of the tight National Football Conference South race.
With sidekick Tevin Coleman out with a concussion and Matt Ryan not particularly sharp throwing the ball, Freeman on Monday rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown to key a 24-21 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The fourth-year professional scored on a 32-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, darting through a hole on the right side, before cutting back to elude the only defender with a shot at tackling him and restore a 10-point lead for the Falcons (9-5), who barely hung on to win for the fifth time in six games.
Photo: AP
“We had a sense this would be a big night for him. We talked about that before the game,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “We thought he would have his opportunities. If he could get to the next level and to a linebacker or safety or corner, make sure he had a plan how he wanted to finish.”
Freeman also caught five passes for a team-high 68 yards and had a first-half fumble recovered in the end zone by teammate Levine Toilolo for a touchdown.
Ryan threw an early touchdown pass to Justin Hardy and finished 17 of 31 passing for 212 yards and no interceptions.
The victory kept Atlanta within one game of New Orleans and Carolina in the division standings with two to play.
If the playoffs started now, the Atlanta Falcons would be the second National Football Conference wild card.
Atlanta play at New Orleans on Sunday, then close the regular season at home against the Panthers.
“We’re right where we need to be at this point of the season... and we’ve got to find a way to get back to work this week, try to improve and make sure we play the best we’re capable of playing this Sunday,” Ryan said. “That’s really all our focus needs to be about. If we’re worried about anything else then you’re not as locked in as you need to be.”
Jameis Winston threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns for the Bucs (4-10), including a 16-yarder to Adam Humphries that trimmed Atlanta’s lead to three points with 3 minutes, 51 seconds remaining.
Winston, who also threw touchdown passes of 30 yards to O.J. Howard and 42 yards to Mike Evans, got the ball back with a minute left and nearly sent the game into overtime.
The third-year professional, a college teammate of Freeman’s at Florida State, completed three straight passes to move the ball from his 29 to the Atlanta 36.
Patrick Murray came on to try a 54-yard field goal to tie it, but the kick sailed wide right as time expired.
Winston finished 27 of 35 passing with no interceptions. He was sacked twice.
“Jameis played a heck of a game. He probably played his best game this season,” Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter said. “Took care of the football, was accurate, threw the deep ball with accuracy, checked it down, did a good job leading our football team.”
The Bucs have lost nine of 11 following a 2-1 start, taking a step back after finishing 9-7 in their first season under Koetter.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS