ATLANTA — Roddy White hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan with 20 seconds remaining and the Falcons, after squandering a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, rallied to beat the Ravens 26-21 on Thursday night in a matchup between two of the NFL’s top teams.
“If you like football, like intense football, that was it,” said Falcons coach Mike Smith, a former Ravens assistant. “That might have been the most intense game I’ve ever been involved with at any level of football.”
With commissioner Roger Goodell looking on, just adding to the big-game feel, the Falcons (7-2) appeared to be control after Ryan went to White for a 4-yard touchdown with 11:34 remaining to make it 20-7. Curiously, Smith didn’t attempt a two-point conversion, which nearly came back to bite him.
After barely touching the ball in the first half, Baltimore (6-3) rallied behind Joe Flacco’s two fourth-quarter TD passes, the latter a 9-yarder to Todd Heap with 1:05 left.
Back came the Falcons, who improved to 18-1 at home with Ryan as the starter. He needed less than a minute to pull off an 80-yard drive, hooking up with Michael Jenkins on a huge third-down pass along the sideline before going back to his favorite receiver for the winner.
Ryan rolled to his left to get away from the pressure, and White shoved off Josh Wilson with his right hand to get free, sending the cornerback tumbling to the turf. Ryan delivered the ball perfectly, White caught it with no one around and cruised into the end zone.
Wilson hopped up, screaming for a penalty. But the official kept the yellow flag in his back pocket and held up both arms. Touchdown.
White knew he got away with one.
“Yeah, you’ve got to do whatever you’ve got to do to win,” he said. “I’m going to leave it up to the referee.”
White finished with 12 catches for 138 yards. Ryan threw a career-high 50 passes, completing 32 for 316 yards and three touchdowns.
Flacco, coming back from a sluggish start, was 22-of-34 for 215 yards and three touchdowns, too.
“It was crazy,” he said. “You think it’s your game. You think it’s over.”
