The Sports Xchange

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Ricardo Allen was cut by the Atlanta Falcons last season. The former fifth-round pick from Purdue didn’t even make the team as a cornerback. He was brought back to the roster to serve on the team’s practice squad.

The Falcons needed Allen, who has been converted to free safety, to seal their 26-24 victory over the Eagles on Monday night. Allen bailed out the defense, which had squandered a 17-point lead.

With the Eagles attempting to drive down for a potential game-winning field goal, Allen intercepted a Sam Bradford pass that bounced off the shoulder pads of Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews.

“They really just ran to the middle of the field,” Allen said. “They tried to get into the middle of our zone. Our defensive line got pressure. Our (defensive ends) were rushing really fast and he ended up trying to get the ball out. He tipped it up and I was in the middle of the field and just ran up, the ball was there.”

Allen credited the tip drill in practice for the play.

“We practice tip drills every day,” Allen said. “That’s all I did, I just finished the game.”

The Falcons’ defense, after a strong start, was floundering in the second half. In addition to blowing a 20-3 lead, they gave up a 13-play, 95-yard touchdown drive.

But with the game on the line, Allen came up to the rescue.

“He’s grown a lot,” cornerback Desmond Trufant said. “He’s always working. He went from corner to free safety, and it looks like he has been playing there his whole life. He has a lot of big things ahead of him.”

Allen finished with seven tackles and one pass breakup. He didn’t want to make too much of a big deal over his interception.

“It was just an overthrow,” Allen said. “Every day, we go over it. My defensive line, linebackers and corners, they didn’t want to throw at my corners. They wanted to throw to the middle of the field.

“Our line was getting a lot of pressure. It tipped up and just landed in my lap.”

Allen could have returned the interception for a touchdown. There was an open lane up the sideline. But with the game in question, he went down to the turf.

“They didn’t have too many timeouts left,” Allen said. “I just wanted to get down and give our offense the ball to finish it off.”

Allen was elated with the victory.

“Anytime that you come out with a ‘W’ in this league, you are playing pretty good,” Allen said. “There is a lot that we can work on. We are still building as a team. We are still building chemistry and we are a very young team. But every day, we’re going to come out and compete.”

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn liked Allen’s speed, range and tackling ability when he reviewed him on tape. He thought Allen had the necessary skills to make the transition to free safety.

“That’s what we work for,” Allen said. “We put in all of these hours. After hours, long nights, long days. It’s just good to end up with a win.”

The Falcons met the challenge of keeping up with the Eagles fast tempo offense.

“They ran the same things over and over again,” Allen said. “We practiced for that. They made plays. We made plays and we came up with the win.”

–The Falcons’ never-ending quest to improve the talent along the offensive line led to the signing of former No. 1 overall draft pick Jake Long on Tuesday. Long, who had two workouts with the Falcons, is expected to compete for the right tackle spot with Ryan Schraeder.

For now, Long will serve as a reserve swing tackle. The Falcons waived safety Charles Godfrey to make room for Long.

“I think we’d rather go through practice to see where he’s at,” Quinn said. “But no, I wouldn’t (expect him to play against the Giants on Sunday). I’m not expecting that, but I am excited to have his competitiveness and toughness. For a guy (to say), ‘I just want a chance to compete.’ I certainly have a lot of respect for how he goes about his business.”

Long will get a chance to play some left and right tackle for the Falcons, Quinn said.

“We’re excited to have him here,” Quinn said. “We’ll get him up to speed as fast as we can. Then, we’ll cross that bridge about where, after that.”

REPORT CARD VS. EAGLES

PASSING OFFENSE: C-plus – Matt Ryan was 23 of 24 for 298 yards and two touchdowns. He had two interceptions and nearly tossed two others. He tossed a couple of nice slants and a deep ball to Julio Jones. He finished with a passer rating of 90.1. He was not pleased with the offense’s third-down efficiency (4 of 14, 29 percent). Julio Jones and Roddy White helped to carry the offense. Jones dominated his matchup with Eagles cornerback Byron Maxwell. He caught nine passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns. White, who was coming back from elbow surgery, caught four passes for 84 yards. Many longtime onlookers noticed that White appeared as fluid, fast and agile like he was before he suffered the high ankle sprain a couple of seasons ago. Leonard Hankerson caught his first pass in a regular-season game since Nov. 17, 2013 against the Eagles back when he played with Washington. Tight ends Jacob Tamme (3 of 3) and Levine Toilolo (1 of 1) caught all four of their targets for 23 yards. Nick Williams had one catch for five yards. Rookie Justin Hardy was inactive.

RUSHING OFFENSE: A-minus — The Falcons used all three backs. Tevin Coleman (44 snaps) had a strong debut. Devonta Freeman (29 snaps) looked a little tentative in his return from his hamstring injury. Terron Ward (four snaps) didn’t get a carry. The team was stuffed late when they were trying to run out the clock.

PASS DEFENSE: C — The Falcons didn’t record a sack, but laid eight hits on Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford. Jonathan Babineaux (two), Vic Beasley (one), Malliciah Goodman (one), O’Brien Schofield (one), Tyson Jackson (one), Grady Jarrett (one) and Ra’Shede Hagemen (one) all had quarterback hits. The secondary had two interceptions and knocked down five other passes. The Eagles stayed away from cornerbacks Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford for most of the game. They tried to attack the middle of the field in the Falcons’ zone defenses. The Falcons played mostly Cover 3 and Cover 1 the entire game. They had to come up and tackle. The Falcons were in nickel, with Phillips Adams as the nickel back, on 57 percent of the 74 defensive snaps. They gave up 336 yards passing, but held Sam Bradford to a 77.1 passer rating.

RUSH DEFENSE: B — The line helped the Falcons hold the Eagles to 63 yards rushing on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Justin Durant and Paul Worrilow were all over the field making plays and finished with 22 tackles. Worrilow had a big stop on third down to force the Eagles to attempt a 44-yard field goal that sailed wide right. O’Brien Schofield and Kroy Biermann were solid in taking over Brooks Reed’s role.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A — Matt Bryant was clutch with two second-half field goals. Matt Bosher boomed his punts. The coverage units were solid and kept dangerous return man Darren Sproles from breaking loose on the final key punt. Tight end Levine Toilolo made a nice open-field tackle of Sproles with the game on the line.

COACHING: B – Offensive line coach Chris Morgan has to receive some credit for pulling together the unit on short notice. The Falcons came out on fire. The defense delivered some knockout shots, but the Eagles wouldn’t go down for the count. Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was on fire early with the play-calling. The defense’s tackling got sloppy in the second half and the offense needed to run out the clock when they got the ball back. But the Falcons got a win on a night when Matt Ryan wasn’t at his sharpest.