Falcons 41, Jaguars 14
Roddy White reeled in two of Matt Ryan's three touchdown passes as the Atlanta Falcons cruised to their seventh win in nine games with a 41-14 home rout over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday.
White, who matched a season high with 10 catches for 135 yards, had scoring receptions of 6 and 29 yards for his fourth and fifth touchdowns in the last four games. With 85 catches for 1,100 yards, White became the eighth player in NFL history to have at least 80 receptions for 1,000 yards in five consecutive seasons.
Rookie Julio Jones had a 29-yard touchdown reception and Michael Turner rushed in from 5 yards out for Atlanta (9-5), which pulled ahead of Detroit (8-5) for the NFC's fifth seed in the postseason. The Falcons also posted a 23-16 victory over the Lions on Oct. 23.
Coach Mike Smith certainly liked what he saw after returning to the sideline following a health scare last weekend. Smith became ill and walked off the team plane following Sunday's win over the NFC South rival Carolina Panthers.
Ryan completed 19 of 26 passes for 224 yards before being pulled late in the third quarter with the game out of hand. On the first drive, Ryan completed all four of his passes - with Jones splitting a pair of Jacksonville defenders and racing into the end zone for his third touchdown in two games.
While the Falcons were cruising, the Jaguars (4-10) couldn't get their offense untracked. Rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert completed 12 of 22 passes for 141 yards and fumbled twice.
Gabbert started the second half by getting the ball punched out by defensive end John Abraham. Defensive tackle Corey Peters scooped it up and rumbled 13 yards to give Atlanta a 34-0 lead.