Atlanta Falcons regain footing with ugly win over New York Jets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Atlanta Falcons didn't save their season with Sunday's 25-20 win over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.

After all, they're the only team in the NFL yet to play a division game.

So, just one game out of first place, a lot can still happen for Atlanta (4-3) in the next nine weeks.

But what Sunday's win did was change the optics, which were starting to look quite grim. Nobody in the locker room would admit it, but a fourth straight loss heading into next week's showdown in Carolina may have sent things spiraling out of control.

"We had some fumbles ... or you may see a dropped pass, or whatever the case may be in the game, you've got to understand you've got to stick together," wide receiver Julio Jones said. "You've got to understand that your brother is not trying to let you down and stuff happens in games."

It certainly wasn't pretty, but maybe Atlanta needed to win ugly in inclement conditions, if only to show the league that it could. The Falcons overcame two fumbles, numerous dropped passes and had to settle for field goals on four of their six red-zone trips.

But they made key plays in crunch time, especially Kemal Ishmael's timely recovery of Jeremy Kerley's muffed punt at the Jets' 13-yard line.

Rookie Takkarist McKinley also had a strip-sack with the Jets inside Atlanta territory early in the fourth quarter. New York recovered, but had to settle for a 46-yard field goal that cut the Falcons lead to 22-20.

Mohamed Sanu caught a pass over the middle for 15 yards on third-and-5 with just over three minutes to play to drain precious clock time. Punter Matt Bosher then pinned the Jets on their own 4-yard line with 1:07 left and no timeouts.

"It was about finding a way to get it done," quarterback Matt Ryan said. "And I'm proud of that."

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Kerley is about as sure-handed as they come.

He's fumbled the ball only five times in his seven-year career and lost three, but that includes one last week in Miami on the last play of the game, with the Jets down by 3 and lateraling the ball in desperation.

But on Sunday, his muffed punt gave the Falcons the ball on the Jets' 13-yard line with 6:53 left in the fourth quarter. Matt Bryant then made a field goal at the 5:19 mark to give Atlanta a 25-20 lead.

"Hell yeah, it definitely shifted momentum," the 28-year-old Kerley told The New York Post.

Bosher's punt went 53 yards, and Kerley had to backpedal trying to field the ball through a steady rain.

"At the end of the day, trying to catch the ball and make a play," said Kerley, who took over punt-return duties after rookie Kalif Raymond muffed one in Oakland in Week 2.

"If I can have it back, (I'd probably let it go). I'm always trying to make a play. It just happened I put the team in a bad situation.

"At the end of the day, it sucks, but it's not going to take away from how I play."