Alford’s INT return lifts Falcons past Redskins 25-19 in OT

His late interception of Ryan, which included a career-best 28-yard return, also gave the Redskins a chance to extend a 13-12 lead.

Now they’ll have to do a quick turnaround and get ready for arch-rival New Orleans in a Thursday Night Football showdown in the Big Easy.

“I was hot off the left side and felt need to get rid of the football and not take a sack and kill the drive”, Cousins said.

But neither running backs Matt Jones (sprained toe) nor Alfred Morris could get on track against the Falcons, who didn’t have to respect the deep ball with wide receiver DeSean Jackson (left hamstring) and tight end Jordan Reed (concussion) out injured. I’m very comfortable being the workhorse.

Mixing in a few play action plays on first downs “a little bit more” and that could clear up space for the backs, too. The Falcons in turn are 4-0 overall and 2-0 at home. When you go on the road and play an undefeated team, those shortcomings are going to be exposed, or at least exploited. I think our guys are starting to feel that. “We’ve got to do better job of getting them in better looks, better situations and call a better game for them”. It’s just early for us still and we recognize that.

Freeman rushed for 153 yards on 27 carries, a 5.7 yard average. We’re excited about where Tevin’s headed.

Gonzalez believes Cousins has shown he’s a good quarterback, he just needs to continue to get repetitions so he can reach his potential, whatever that may be. “When you’re feeling it, you just have to keep going in that way”.

Atlanta trailed 16-12 before Devonta Freeman’s 6-yard scoring run with 24 seconds remaining in regulation.

Officials ruled that although Freeman broke the plane of the end zone on the reception, he did not control it through the ground. Gruden said Monday that Reed “has improved”, but is still undergoing independent neurological testing. It’s at this point that I don’t even know if I am happy or mad about this team, but I am trending toward happy.

Quinn agreed with the call. “Almost winning” is not something you should ever get overly excited about, especially when you consider that the NFC East is likely to be won by a team that has escaped “almost losing” more times than the rest of the division. “The first two weeks we were able to do really well”. We knew when that happened that may be the case. Williams and Hankerson each have one catch. Ryan threw for 254 yards and did well to find tight end Jacob Tamme (eight receptions, 94 yards) repeatedly.

The 205-pound Freeman seems the ideal fit for the Falcons’ zone-blocking scheme.

-PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus. Quarterback Matt Ryan has had better days. He threw two interceptions in a game for the third time this season. He was, however, targeted seven times for six catches, including a long of 14. Roddy White had two catches off four targets for 23 yards.

The Redskins came into this game against the Atlanta Falcons with several starters out due to injury.

The load is Devonta Freeman’s to carry. He had a fumble and didn’t secure the catch after breaking the plane. Rashad Ross totaled 53 yards on two kick returns. Opposing defenses don’t have as much to worry about. Washington ranked second against the run (78 yards per game).

Against the Giants, Morris, Jones and Chris Thompson combined for just 88 yards on 20 carries. Middle linebacker Paul Worrilow led the Falcons with nine tackles.

-SPECIAL TEAMS: B. Improvement here. The Falcons had to settle for a field-goal attempt that hit the right upright. It should hurt every time and it should hurt more the next time than it did the last time.

White’s first catch of the day, a 16-yarder, moved the Falcons to the Washington 14 in the fourth quarter. Coaches Bobby Turner (running backs) and Chris Morgan (offensive line) have their units playing great.