Falcons look to finish season strong over final three games

After facing the Cardinals, the Falcons will host the Rams on “Monday Night Football,” on Dec. 29, and then close the season by hosting the Saints.

Neuzil was on his way to help Darnell Mooney get up off the ground when he saw the ball squirt out.

“It’s kind of engraved into all of us to finish the play,” Neuzil said. “Just kind of going through that almost every play. That just happened to be that play that something happened. I was just fortunate enough to be around the ball and be able to come up with it.”

It was magical.

“They had the ball,” Falcons guard Chris Lindstrom said. “He drove in there, and he outworked them for it quickly and clearly recovered it. So, I’m just really proud of him.”

Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell was putting his helmet back on.

“It looked like they recovered it,” Terrell said. “But we ended up winning. Just Neuzil being Neuzil. That’s just understanding the situation and a ‘got to have it’ situation. He got the ball and set us up perfectly to go score.”

The Falcons went on to score a touchdown and make the score 28-26 in favor of the Bucs.

“So, we just do it each game, and there’s a champion of the week,” Lindstrom said. “We have a running tally all season. So, it’s something that we take a lot of pride in. And so Neuzil was a phenomenal example of the habits and culture we try and build in our (group).”

The Falcons needed another stop and then had to go and get the field goal.

“I think Kirk has proven time and time again with a two-minute situation that we can win,” Lindstrom said. “So, there’s a ton of confidence in him, too.”

The Falcons needed so much to overcome the deficit because they helped to create it with a franchise-record 19 penalties.

“Yeah, you just believe in one another, and know that we’re going to be able to overcome it,” Lindstrom said. “There’s frustration with setting ourselves back. I was responsible for one of them, but in the same sense, you know that we have the ability to overcome them.”

Terrell was a popular guy among the referees. He was called for five penalties, of which three were accepted.

“Just got to reset,” Terrell said. “Just each play, just going out there, knowing, (we’re) still in the game. Calls and stuff weren’t going our way. Just keep fighting.”

Falcons rookie safety Xavier Watts has bought in to that approach.

“You can’t control what the refs are seeing or what they are doing,” Watts said. “You got to keep playing. You can try to play as best you can, but you can’t control what the refs are seeing.”

In addition to Neuzil’s big fumble recovery, the Falcons got a big interception from cornerback Dee Alford. Leading 28-20, the Bucs were on the move and in Falcons territory at the 45. Alford soared to the sky to intercept a pass intended for Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans.

“He got up real high,” Watts said. “I was right behind him. That was a crazy play. A great, instinctual play. Made a big play that changed momentum of the game.”

Terrell said: “I (saw) it from afar … just being able to see him do his job and leap up, get a crazy pick. Huge momentum swing for us. Gave us the ball back, so we could go down there and score. That was huge.”

As far as the Cardinals, the Falcons will have to avoid playing to the level of the competition. The Cardinals have lost six in a row.

The Rams currently are fighting for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and the Falcons will need to play like heavyweights before closing the season against the Saints, who have won their past two games over the Bucs and Panthers and face the Jets and Titans.

The Falcons could be facing a Saints team on a four-game win streak.

Injury update: Cornerback Mike Hughes (ankle sprain) will be out this week, according to coach Raheem Morris.

Also, he said wide receiver Drake London, who has missed the past four games, is day to day. Morris said he was “hopeful” London could return this week.