The Atlanta Falcons are like vintage Mike Smith teams on steroids. Their defense literally (not figuratively) cannot stop anyone, while the offense seems utterly unstoppable in its own right. The halftime score of this game was 28-24, and that was with the Falcons missing an opportunity to score early on. Unfortunately, we’ve seen what the Falcons are going to be like against any good offense: Utterly incapable of stopping them. They’ve got the Steelers next week, which is going to be another tough matchup, and they just don’t appear to have the personnel or discipline to get this thing done. The offense can pile up tons of points, but will it be enough? For the third quarter, we got a glimpse of the alternative. The Falcons stalled out largely on offense, turning opportunities into just three points, but the Bengals were shut out by a suddenly aggressive Falcons defense that got two timely sacks and a pick. The fourth quarter featured more aggressive defense and the revival of the offense as the team took a five point lead partially erased by a field goal that almost certainly would have been worse had Takk not destroyed Andy Dalton. But in the end, the defense wasn’t good enough, the theme of this young season. The Bengals got the ball back with plenty of time and a five point deficit and proceeded to wipe out the clock and overcome some poor plays (with a referee boost on what I thought was a strip sack) to get into the end zone. The Falcons’ offense did almost everything they could to win this, but at some point the defense will have to allow fewer than 30 points for them to win games. At 1-3 and reeling badly, it’s starting to look very bad for Atlanta. Here’s the quarter-by-quarter breakdown. First Quarter Marvin Hall got us started by returning the kickoff to almost midfield. The Falcons picked up a quick first down after a short Tevin Coleman run, a pass to Calvin Ridley, and a 3rd and 1 conversion by Coleman where he rumbled for eight yards. Coleman picked up eight more on his next two carries before Julio Jones picked up a neat third down catch for another first. Then Ryan hit Justin Hardy for four yards to get inside the ten, and Ito Smith pounded it in from seven yards out for his first career touchdown. Falcons 7 - Bengals 0 The next drive started with a 35 yard Bengals return and eight yards on two plays, with Vic Beasley getting hurt on the second one. The defense promptly fell apart, with the Bengals picked up 30+, 10+, and then converting a pretty easy touchdown pass to Tyler Eifert to tie things back up. Falcons 7 - Bengals 7 A nice Marvin Hall return partially erased by Bruce Carter’s holding backed the Falcons up. Fortunately, Ryan was dealing, finding Julio Jones for 24 and Tevin Coleman for 15 to get Atlanta get moving in a major way. Unfortunately, they couldn’t sustain the momentum, ending up stalling out near midfield on third down (Calvin Ridley couldn’t quite get the ball) and going for it on fourth down, only to see Matt Ryan sacked for a turnover on downs. The Bengals got a neutral zone infraction by a recently returned Vic Beasley to start things off. Then they muddled their way to a first down, chiefly by running Giovani Bernard. The Bengals looked to be in a tough spot on 3rd and 6 in no man’s land, but then they got Giovani Bernard for a 17 yard pickup to get them into the red zone yet again. An eight yard Bernard run was followed by a 10 yard run for a touchdown by Bernard as the defense continued to stink. Bengals 14 - Falcons 7 Second Quarter No chance for a good Hall return on the next one, and Coleman picked up six to start things off. This technically happened in the first quarter but eh. Coleman was the featured back early, getting a couple of nice carries and a seven yard pickup on a pass from Matt Ryan. Then Ryan hit Mohamed Sanu and Julio Jones for double-digit gains on back-to-back plays, getting the Falcons down to the 31. Then Ito Smith picked up 14 on two carries and Ryan found a wide open Logan Paulsen for a touchdown to tie things back up. Falcons 14 - Bengals 14 The Bengals embarrassed Atlanta with a 24 yard pickup on a short pass to rookie back Mark Walton, followed shortly thereafter by a 12 yard pickup by Tyler Eifert. The defense didn’t even look competent enough to stop the 2014 Falcons offense by this point. Then John Ross scored on a 39 yarder from Dalton and the Bengals had the lead back lickety-split. Falcons 14 - Bengals 21 Atlanta got things going again, too. With Mohamed Sanu accounting for 46 yards receiving on just two plays and Ito Smith playing well, the Falcons got into the red zone with relatively little effort once more. They capped things off with an 11 yard touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley, his fifth score in the last three weeks. Falcons 21 - Bengals 21 Unfortunately, they left Cincinnati with a ton of time. The Bengals predictably had little trouble moving the ball minus one nice tackle for loss by Deadrin Senat, with a pair of ugly penalties on Falcons defensive backs making things even worse. The Bengals then erased 25 more yards in two plays, bringing them to the one yard line with 48 seconds left in the half. They scored on a one yard run. Falcons 21 - Bengals 28 The Falcons did an impressive job of managing their time and not giving up, driving far enough for Matt Bryant to drill a 55 yard field goal and tighten things up heading into halftime. Falcons 24 - Bengals 28 Third Quarter Things got off to a gruesome start, as Tyler Eifert’s ankle went in the entirely wrong direction on the second play of the half, which put him out for the rest of this game. He may very well have broken it, which is awful. The Falcons followed that up by sacking Dalton for a million yard loss (thanks Takk! ), and then KEITH TANDY BLOCKED THE PUNT OH MY GOD. That gave the Falcons the ball at the eight yard line. The Falcons were immediately backed up by a false start, but Tevin Coleman rolled for nine yards on first down. Unfortunately, the Falcons got nothing on their next two plays and Matt Bryant kicked the field goal, leaving Atlanta down a single point. Falcons 27 - Bengals 28 The Bengals looked like they’d score again after getting big chunks of yardage, but they were stopped thanks to a nice Vic Beasley pressure and a key third down sack from Takkarist McKinley, his second of the game. That forced the short punt. The Falcons, unfortunately, flamed out on offense again, with a questionable incompletion and some shaky, short plays ending the drive in short order. I summarized it briefly because I was too bummed out to do otherwise. The Bengals, starting close to midfield, got seven quick yards on a Giovani Bernard run. The Falcons got them to 3rd and 17 thanks to a timely penalty, but then a costly mistake by Brian Poole (an unnecessary roughness penalty) made for another first down. But then the wonderful Damontae Kazee picked off Andy Dalton, turning a dispiriting drive into a turnover. Offseting penalties on Kazee and Cincy led to the team starting their next drive at the 46. The Falcons got a nine yard run by Ito Smith that was called back due to an Alex Mack holding penalty, followed immediately by a sack and forced fumble for Matt Ryan erased by a roughing the passer call. A short Ito Smith run later and it was the fourth quarter. Fourth Quarter The Atlanta Falcons still had the ball. They took advantage, tossing it to Julio Jones for a quick 12 yards and then nailing Calvin Ridley for his sixth touchdown of the year, a 30 yarder. The Falcons had the lead back, but their two point conversion attempt failed. Still, Calvin Ridley remained amazing. Falcons 33 - Bengals 28 The Bengals needed to answer, as they hadn’t scored since the second quarter, and they got busy. A huge return put them right near midfield, and they followed that with a first down (though Duke Riley did his best to prevent it), and then picking up 16 on a play that Robert Alford also held on. A Bobby Hart illegal use of hands to the face penalty backed the Bengals up, Desmond Trufant was penalized for defensive holding, Dalton whiffed and then found Tyler Boyd, and it was 3rd and 5 deep in Atlanta territory. Then our bruising lord and savior Takk McKinley came to the rescue, sacking a hapless Andy Dalton on third down and forcing a field goal attempt. It looked like he got a strip sack, but the knee was ruled down, and the Bengals hit the three pointer. Falcons 33 - Bengals 31 The Falcons got a 32 yard beauty of a pass from Ryan to Mohamed Sanu to kick off the fesitivites before quickly finding themselves in a long third down situation. A 19 yarder to Austin Hooper took care of that, however, and brought Atlanta into field goal range. Ryan and Sanu couldn’t connect on first down, Ito Smith picked up three, and then Julio Jones picked up 15 to convert. First down say Brandon Fusco commit his second penalty of the game, backing the Falcons up by ten yards, and they couldn’t move any further. Matt Bryant’s field goal was blocked but the Bengals were offsides, and the second try went in. Falcons 36 - Bengals 31 The Bengals had plenty of time to drive and predictably started to do so against what had to be a tired Falcons defense. They swung past midfield thanks to nice passes to Tyler Boyd, some decent runs and an 11 yard Andy Dalton scramble, but just as they got close Vic Beasley got a huge sack and stripped the ball...but it was reviewed. They called it incomplete, even though it wasn’t. That proved to be an extremely costly call, because Desmond Trufant had an interception go through his hands and the Bengals converted a fourth and eight. Then Cordy Glenn was penalized and backed Cincy up to the 34, the Bengals picked up a quick 14 yards and then whiffed on third down, and Tyler Boyd beat Desmond Trufant for a first down. There were 11 seconds left. Isaiah Oliver knocked away a pass on first down, but the Bengals found the Dalton-to-Green connection for a touchdown with one second left on the clock. Falcons 36 - Bengals 37 That was that.<doc-sep>The Falcons needed three big sacks from defensive end Takkarist McKinley to help the defense get off the field. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was 29 of 41 for 337 yards and three touchdowns. The Falcons’ Matt Ryan was 29 of 39 for 419 yards and three touchdowns. The Bengals improved to 3-1, while the Falcons dropped to 1-3. The Falcons have blown fourth-quarter leads in all of their losses. “Through the first quarter of the season, our record doesn’t show that we have that part down,” Falcons head coach Dan Quinn said of closing out games. “We’ve got work to do. We are a good team and record doesn’t show it at this point.” Here are five things we learned from the matchup with the AFC North foe: 1. Sack-A-Takk comes alive: McKinley, who missed last week's game with a groin injury, had three sacks in the second half to infuse some energy into the defense that was getting dragged around the field by Dalton. “I was just out there competing,” McKinley said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t get the job done as a defense. It hurts. You’ve just to flush it and get ready for next week.” After giving up for straight touchdown drives in the first half, the Falcons started moving McKinley around the line to get favorable matchups. He took advantage of them and helped stop three second-half drives. On third-and-6 from Cincinnati’s 29, McKinley, rushing from defensive tackle next to Vic Beasley, overpowered Bengals guard Alex Redmond to get the sack. Before the stop the Falcons’ defense has given up touchdowns on 8 of its last 9 possessions, with the lone stop being a kneel down by the Saints. On the Bengals next possession, on third-and-6 from Atlanta’s 29, McKinley dropped Dalton for a 10-yard loss that pushed the Bengals out of field goal range. After the Falcons took a 33-28 lead on a 30-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley, McKinley helped stop the Bengals with another sack on third down. He came over Bengals right tackle Bobby Hart for the sack and near fumble. The refs ruled the Dalton was down and the Bengals had to settle for a field goal. 2. Third-down blues: The defenses entered the game ranked 31st and 32nd in third-down defense and both continued to play poorly on third downs. The Falcons converted on 10 of 13 (77 percent) and the Bengals converted 6 of 9 (67 percent). 3. Red zone fire: The Falcons continued their hot streak inside the opposition's 20-yard line. The Falcons entered the game having scored eight straight touchdowns on the last eight red-zone trips. On three trips inside the Bengals' red zone, the Falcons added three more touchdowns in the first half. The streak ended on the next red zone trip and the Falcons had to settle for a 28-yard field goal from Matt Bryant. 4. Eifert's injury: Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert left the game after suffering a horrific lower right leg injury early in the third quarter. After his fourth catch, Eifert had his leg immobilized and was carted off the field. Eifert knew he was hurt immediately after being tackled by Falcons linebacker De’Vondre Campbell. 5. Rookies pitch in: Ridley caught two touchdown passes and running back Ito Smith also scored on a 7-yard touchdown run. It was the first time two Falcons rookies scored touchdowns in the same game. Ridley became the first rookie with six touchdown catches in his team’s first four games in NFL history. Also, in the revamped secondary, Oliver started at left cornerback. Desmond Trufant slid inside to play nickel. He was called for a key defensive pass interference in the fourth quarter to give the Bengals a first down with 9:16 to play. Robert Alford moved over to left cornerback and Brian Poole split the strong safety spot with Jordan Richards.<doc-sep>
Check back right here for all scoring updates and commentary as the Atlanta Falcons host the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4. As always, follow us on Twitter @TheFalconsWire. The score capped off an efficient 8-play, 50-yard drive that took 4:33 off the clock. Falcons 7, Bengals 0 – Big return leads to first touchdown Falcons’ Marvin Hall took the Bengals’ opening kickoff back 52 yards, and the Falcons’ ground game largely took care of the rest. Running back Ito Smith scored from seven yards out — his first NFL touchdown — after Tevin Coleman handled much of the work on an impressive opening scoring drive. Perhaps even better, that touchdown marked the ninth consecutive touchdown the Falcons have scored in the red zone since their Week 1 implosion in the short area. Falcons 7, Bengals 7: Dalton to Mullet for the score The Bengals answered back furiously, as Andy Dalton hit tight end Tyler Eifert on a 15-yard scoring strike to tie the game at 7. Cincinnati needed four plays to go 67 yards, highlighted by Dalton hitting A.J. Green on a 38-yard completion to set the Bengals up in the red zone. Dalton was 3-for-3 on the drive, putting up a perfect throw to Eifert at the back of the end zone. He drug his left toe as his right foot planted for the score. Bengals 14, Falcons 7: Only thing stopping Bengals’ O is the Bengals In a way, the Bengals scored three times on their most recent drive, one capped off by a slick 10-yard touchdown run by Giovani Bernard. Dalton barely missed an outscretched Green on what would have been a 50-yard touchdown catch, and Dalton and Bernard misfired on a screen pass that would have been a big gainer, if not a touchdown. Dalton is 6-for-8 with 93 yards and the touchdown throw to Eifert. As a team, the Bengals are 3-for-3 on third downs and are averaging 9.1 yards per play. Ryan has been doing a good job taking what the Bengals are giving him, and a few Calvin Ridley miscues and a sack on fourth down held the Falcons back on the previous drive. Falcons 14, Bengals 14: Atlanta ground game humming The Falcons have run all over the Bengals so far. The Falcons’ game-tying touchdown drive was highlighted on the ground, even if a Ryan to Logan Paulson 17-yard pass put the score on the board. Ryan has been nearly flawless thus far, and, considering the Bengals appear to be unstoppable on offense, he might have to match the power of his team’s running game to keep Atlanta in it. Bengals 21, Falcons 14: Big plays are plentiful Dalton connected with John Ross on a 39-yard touchdown pass to push the Bengals back on top in a game for lovers of offense. Ross was largely uncovered, and didn’t appear to even be touched despite seeming to have injured his leg crossing the goal line. Dalton is now 9 of 11 for 168 yards and two touchdown passes for a perfect 158.3 passer rating. With seven minutes remaining in the half, neither team has punted. The Falcons failed on a fourth down attempt, but the Bengals have scored on all three of their possessions. The two teams are a combined 9 of 10 on third down (Falcons are 6-of 7, Bengals 3-3). Falcons 21, Bengals 21: Atlanta marches down to tie it up again Ryan completed two third-down passes, including his second touchdown throw of the game. This one, an 11-yard toss to Ridley, who atoned for his earlier third-down drop, both the only blemish on the Falcons’ 7 of 8 third-down rate, and the only possession of this game that didn’t end in a touchdown. Bengals 28, Falcons 21: Cincinnati cannot be stopped in first half The Bengals had the ball four times in the first half, and they scored four touchdowns. And there was little the Falcons seemed interested in doing about it. Perhaps the most eye-popping stat of the half is the fact the Bengals have run 24 total plays — so they’re scoring better than a point a play. The Falcons are clearly a step behind the Bengals to this point, but their offense is keeping them competitive. Bengals 28, Falcons 24: Bryant hits a bomb, pulls Falcons within 4 Matt Bryant’s 55-yard field goal capped off a first-half that saw the Bengals score touchdowns on four straight possessions, and the Falcons score on four of their five possessions.