Atlanta rolled up 391 yards of total offense and improved to 3-2 on the road this season.
WR Roddy White entered today's game with 5,623 career receiving yards. With a 26-yard reception in the first quarter, White passed former Falcons WR Andre Rison for the third-most receiving yards in franchise history. Rison totaled 5,633 receiving yards in four seasons in Atlanta while White has now tallied 5,706 yards in his six seasons with the Birds.
Atlanta held a nine-point lead with 7:57 remaining in the game when St. Louis QB Sam Bradford led the Rams on a 10-play drive that had them on the verge of cutting the Falcons' lead to just two points with three and a half minutes to play. S William Moore stepped into a passing lane and picked Bradford off at the Falcons one-yard line. It was Moore's fourth interception of the season and snapped Bradford's NFL rookie record streak of 169 consecutive pass attempts without an INT.
RB Michael Turner personified the Falcons drive to close out games in the fourth quarter as he rolled off a season-long 39-yard touchdown run on the Falcons final possession putting Atlanta up 34-17 with under two minutes remaining.
Turner finished the game with 131 yards on 28 carries and one touchdown, marking his fifth 100-yard game of the season and the third time he's gone over the century mark in the last four games.
With a nine-yard reception late in the third quarter, White recorded his 1,000th receiving yard of the season becoming the first player in franchise history to record four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. White finished the game with nine catches for 83 yards. He is on pace for 1,600 yards this season.
Atlanta trailed 10-3 early in the second quarter when WR/KR Eric Weems broke a 55-yard kickoff return to set the Falcons up with possession at the Rams 47-yard line. The return tied Weems' season-long and marked the fourth straight game that he has had
On the ensuing drive, the Falcons took the ball 47 yards on four plays as QB Matt Ryan tied the game at 10-10 with a 12-yard touchdown strike to WR Brian Finneran. The score was Finneran's third TD grab of the season, his most in a single season since 2002 when he had six touchdowns receptions.
The touchdown was Ryan's 17th of the season and the second most of his career. Ryan threw 16 TDs as a rookie in 2008 and registered a career-high 22 in 2009. Ryan is on pace for 26 touchdowns in 2010 and he has found the end zone at least once in nine straight games this season.
Trailing 17-16 in the final minutes of the third quarter, Ryan hit TE Justin Peelle for a two-yard touchdown pass marking his second scoring strike of the day and his 18th of the season. Ryan has thrown multiple touchdowns in six games this season including four of the last five games.
Ryan's touchdown pass to Peelle put the Falcons up 23-17 going into the fourth quarter. Under Mike Smith, the Falcons are 23-1 when leading at the start of the fourth quarter. It was Peelle's first touchdown of the season and his first score since 11/15/09 at Carolina.
Ryan completed 26 of 39 pass attempts for 253 yards and two touchdowns. He also posted a 101.8 passer rating, marking the fifth time this season he has accomplished that feat. The Falcons own a perfect 14-0 record when the third-year signal caller's QB rating is 100 points or better.
After falling behind 10-0 early in the game, Atlanta took the lead going into half time on a pair of field goals from K Matt Bryant. Bryant finished the game with four field goals, including a 49-yard long. It was the sixth time in Bryant's career that he's kicked four field goals in a single game and the second time he has accomplished that feat in the Edward Jones Dome.
In the first half, the Falcons held the Rams to an average starting position of the 14-yard line on five kickoffs. Additionally, Atlanta held St. Louis to 145 total yards and did not allow a third down conversion in the first half.
Entering this afternoon's matchup, Atlanta had converted an NFL-best 48 percent of its third down attempts. The Birds continued that trend, converting nine of 17 third down attempts (53 percent) in their win over the Rams.
P Michael Koenen has had 17 punts downed inside 20 this season which ranks among the top punters in the NFC. In the third quarter, Koenen booted a 51-yard punt that RB Antone Smith downed at the Rams six-yard line. St. Louis was unable to sustain a drive and punted four plays later. On the ensuing drive, Ryan found Peelle for what would prove to be the game-winning touchdown.
Entering today's game, the Falcons ranked third in the NFL in time of possession, holding the ball for an average of 32:22 per game. Atlanta had a 35:55-24:05 edge in time of possession against the Rams including a 14-play, 73-yard scoring drive at the start of the fourth quarter that put the Falcons up nine points with under eight minutes to play.
With today's win, the Falcons tied the Minnesota Vikings for the NFL's best record in indoor stadiums over the last three seasons. Since 2008, Atlanta is 21-6 in domed stadiums.
Defensively, the Falcons allowed the Rams to convert just one of 10 third down attempts and held St. Louis to 71 yards rushing. LB Curtis Lofton led the team with eight total tackles (seven solo). CB Brent Grimes played well in the secondary collecting four total tackles (four solo) and a team-high three passes defensed.
Atlanta entered this week's game tied for second in the NFL with 14 interceptions. Moore's interception gave the Falcons 15 on the season, which ranks second behind the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Falcons have now won four straight games and eight of their last nine. Sunday's win in St. Louis snapped a five-game Atlanta losing skid in the state of Missouri. Prior to Sunday's win, Atlanta's last win in St. Louis was 1989.
The Falcons have not turned the ball over in three straight games (Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and St. Louis).
The Rams entered Sunday's game having recorded 18 sacks in their last 4 games. Atlanta's offensive line held St. Louis sackless in Sunday's road win.
