It seems every week a different Falcons player steps up on offense. Last week it was Roddy White on offense having one of the best games in his career. A few weeks back it was Thomas DeCoud and his two interceptions to help the Falcons control the San Diego Chargers.
It was only a matter of time before Tony Gonzalez had his chance. After a solid start to begin the season, including three straight games at the outset with touchdowns, the future Hall of Famer led the Falcons with 13 catches for 123 yards and one touchdown on Sunday.
Gonzalez' touchdown is the 99th of his career, moving him into a tie for the 8th-most touchdowns in the NFL history.
It was Gonzalez' 29th 100-yard receiving game of his career. Six of his receptions on Sunday were for first downs.
Though the Falcons secondary gave up a big 77-yard touchdown reception from the arm of Kirk Cousins to Santana Moss, they didn't allow much more. They were led by cornerback Dunta Robinson who enjoyed one of the best days of his Falcons career.
He ended the day with six tackles, 0.5 sacks, one tackle for loss, one QB hit, one interception and two passes defensed.
After the Falcons took a 24-17 lead late in the fourth quarter, it was Robinson's takeaway that truly ended the game for the Redskins. After a first down conversion, working from a second-and-7 situation, Robinson picked off Cousins' pass and returned it to the Atlanta 40.
Thomas DeCoud would another interception on the next drive to improve the Falcons' turnover differential to a league leading plus-11.
The Falcons defense held the Redskins to 187 yards passing and only allowed one third-down conversion on the game, despite giving up 129 yards rushing.
Atlanta improved to 5-0 with the win, the first time in franchise history they've begun the season by winning their first five games.
