Patriots' Defense Dominates Falcons In 25-0 Victory
BOSTON (CBS) -- In a game that was dominated by the New England defense, the Patriots capped a decisive win over the Falcons in appropriate fashion: a pick-six by linebacker Kyle Van Noy.
Van Noy intercepted backup quarterback Josh Rosen in the final minutes, returning it 35 yards for a defensive touchdown to give the Patriots a 25-0 victory -- stretching their winning streak to five games.
Nick Folk was 4-for-4 on field goals, successfully hitting kicks from 32 yards, 44 yards, 53 yards and 33 yards out. He did miss the PAT after Van Noy's touchdown.
Mac Jones completed 21 of his 25 passes for 197 yards, throwing one touchdown and one interception. Rhamondre Stevenson ran for 69 yards on 12 carries, while Damien Harris ran for 56 yards on 10 carries.
Matt Ryan completed 19 of 28 passes for 153 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions -- one to Devin McCourty, and one to J.C. Jackson. Both backup QBs -- Rosen and Feleippe Franks -- threw interceptions in the game's final minutes, giving New England four interceptions on the night.
The Patriots opened the scoring with a 32-yard field goal from Nick Folk on their second possession. That was a nine-play, 52-yard drive that came after the Patriots' defense forced a three-and-out on Atlanta's first possession.
New England turned it into a 10-0 lead, getting 31 yards on two carries from Harris before an uncovered Nelson Agholor had a 19-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown.
The Falcons briefly cut the lead to 10-3 in the second quarter, but an illegal formation penalty on the field goal resulted in a 50-yard attempt for Younghoe Koo, which went wide left and kept the score at 10-0. The Falcons had a third-and-1 at the Patriots' 14-yard line prior to that miss, but Ryan took a 13-yard sack prior to the formation penalty on the field goal.
The Patriots drove 41 yards before halftime, setting up a 44-yard field goal from Folk to make it a 13-0 lead.
The score stayed there through the third quarter, with Jones throwing an interception deep in Atlanta territory.
The Patriots' defense stopped Atlanta on runs on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 from the New England 16-yard line on the ensuing drive to keep the Falcons off the board.
Devin McCourty intercepted an errant Matt Ryan pass early in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots drove to the Atlanta 23-yard line, but Jones was sacked for a loss of 12 yards on third-and-8. Folk was able to kick the 53-yard field goal attempt through the uprights, finally adding some points on the board again for the Patriots.
Van Noy later added the pick-six, and Adrian Phillips picked off third-string QB Feleippe Franks to officially end Atlanta's chances on this night.
Now 7-4 on the season, the Patriots will spend their mini-bye recovering from the short week and preparing for a home date against the Tennessee Titans in Week 12.
