Falcons’ report card: ‘Weird feeling’ but Falcons will take the ugly win

The Falcons crafted a 10-point fourth quarter lead and almost blew it. But cornerback C.J. Henderson, who was called up from the practice squad, would not let them.

He stepped in front of a Jacoby Brissett pass with 1:30 to play to save the Falcons from themselves. They shot themselves in the foot in the fourth quarter in games against the 49ers, Patriots, Colts and Panthers this season. With the win over the Cardinals, they have back-to-back wins.

Here are grades the Falcons earned in the win over the Cardinals:

Quarterback

Cousins was efficient as he completed 21 of 35 passes for 197 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He finished with an 82.7 passer rating. The Falcons were 7-of-14 on third-down situations. He leaned on tight end Kyle Pitts but couldn’t direct a couple of key conversions late to run out the clock. Grade: B

Running backs

Bijan Robinson put on a show and Tyler Allgeier came on to try to close out the game. Robinson rushed 16 times for 76 yards. He also caught seven passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. Allgeier added 79 yards on 16 carries. Robinson had his very own, 3-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that was amazing. “That was cool,” Robinson said. “Obviously, you want to score as fast as possible. But to do it three plays like that, in that fashion, I’ll take it.” It included a reception for 41, run for 11 and then TD reception for 13 yards. “I was tired as heck,” Robinson said. “I was trying to catch my wind, trying to catch my breath. I just knew that how the momentum was going, we had to get the ball in the end zone. That was the main focus. For us to do it three plays like that, was huge.” Grade: A

Wide receiver/tight ends

Wide receiver Drake London returned after missing four games. He caught 3 of 8 targets for 27 yards. Pitts caught 7 of 9 targets for 57 yards and a 5-yard touchdown pass. Darnell Mooney caught both of his two targets for 24 yards. Grade: B-plus

Offensive line

Robinson was asked what the line’s grade was. He gave them an A. Cousins was sacked just once, and they opened up the holes for Robinson and Allgeier. Jake Matthews nearly had a touchdown pass, but Cousins’ pass was a little high and he had to withstand the rush. Grade: A.

Defensive line

The Cardinals were able to run the ball. They picked up 132 yards on 23 carries, as they averaged 5.7 yards per carry. Brandon Dorlus continued his fine season with half a sack. The Falcons were more concerned about stopping tight end Trey McBride. Grade: C

Linebackers

James Pearce had half a sack and Arnold Ebiketie had a sack. Linebackers Kaden Elliss and Divine Deablo helped the safeties to keep McBride in check. He finished with four catches for 27 yards on eight targets. Deablo lead the defense with six tackles and had two passes defensed. Grade: B-plus

Secondary

Henderson came up with the play of the day for the Falcons. Cobee Bryant was in tight coverage with Michael Wilson on the 32-yard touchdown play, but has got to dig the football out on those contested plays. A.J. Terrell picked up one penalty before he had an injury late. Safeties Jessie Bates III and Xavier Watts helped to keep McBride under control. Grade: B-plus.

Special teams

Zane Gonzalez made all of his field-goal kicks, but missed the landing zone on his first kickoff. Also, the extra-point team had one blocked by Calais Campbell. The returners were not a factor as the Cardinals kicked the ball out of the end zone. Deven Thompkins had one punt return for 8 yards. Grade: B

Coaches

The Falcons had a better plan for third downs. They were doing well until late in the game which brought their percentage down to 50% (7-of-14). Also, there was a major shift in coin-toss strategy. After winning the toss, the Falcons deferred. They had been sending the offense out first. After battling back to tie the game 16-16 at halftime, the Falcons had the ball to start the third quarter and took the lead on a field goal. The Falcons couldn’t pick up a third-and-2 and a fourth-and-1 with the game on the line. Charlie Woerner and Tyler Allgeier ran into each other in the backfield. The penalties were cut down from 19 to 4. Grade: B.