Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons: 5 reasons why they beat the 49ers

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:21 p.m. ET

Fansided, Sinjin Snope/FanSided via Blogging Dirty

The Atlanta Falcons dispatched the San Fransisco 49ers, 41-13 on Sunday afternoon. Onward with why the game went down the way it did.

Well, that was sort of boring.

You know, the good kind of boring. The kind of boring where nothing goes wrong and the outcome of the event was more or less expected. That’s how I felt about watching the Atlanta Falcons play the San Francisco 49ers yesterday.

The “Dirty Birds” were back in black for the second time this season; playing just as good as that particular AC/DC album. Atlanta led wire to wire in a convincing 28-point victory over the hapless 49ers. This was a game that the Falcons could not afford to lose and they played with that same mindset, never letting Chip Kelly’s team get close.

This week is a short one so let’s get right into why the Falcons moved to 9-5 yesterday:

#5. The 49ers aren’t a good football team.

Have you ever felt bad for a team while watching them play? I kind of did felt bad watching the Falcons beat down San Francisco yesterday. Sitting at a ghastly 1-13, the Niners are giving the Cleveland Browns a run for their money as to being the worst team in the NFL. The Atlanta Falcons did a great job capitalizing on Niners’ mistakes and running away with this game early.

Good teams win the games they should; the Falcons did that on Sunday.

#4. The Defense continued to play well.

A growing development is the strong play of the Falcons’ defense the last few weeks. The unit has done an admirable job in light of all the injuries to key players, and will be a huge key going forward. Forcing turnovers has become their M.O. as they forced another fumble yesterday. They held San Francisco to 272 yards and 13 points, not bad for a defense in the bottom half of the league.

Having a confident and improving defense is crucial with the playoffs on the horizon.

#MattyIce ➡️ #TurboTaylor for 6️⃣#SFvsATL #RiseUp https://t.co/8AbidwRgQD

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) December 18, 2016

#3. Matt Ryan had another efficient afternoon.

The Atlanta Falcons signal-caller added to his MVP resume with another big performance Sunday afternoon. Matt Ryan completed 17-23 passes for 286 and a pair of touchdowns, against a mediocre 49ers’ defense. If he can play with this kind of poise and precision the last two weeks of the regular season, Ryan has a great chance of hoisting the MVP trophy.

Critics of the Falcons’ quarterback should stay hushed this week.

#2. Taking care of business

I touched lightly on it, but Atlanta did a great job of not looking ahead and beat a team they should have beaten. The Falcons are a good team and if they play like they are capable of, they can win any game against any team in the league. A problem for them this year has been mental mistakes. If they can steer clear of self-destruction, this high-scoring (33 ppg) team will be a threat in the postseason.

Few NFC contenders want to lineup against the Falcons right now.

EAT DOG EAT @devontafreeman pic.twitter.com/vcvZplOAyB

— Carlton (@SlopingGiraffe) December 18, 2016

1. Devonta Freeman runs wild

The Florida State product had his best game of the season on Sunday. He ran for 139 yards on 20 carries and scored three times. Anytime Freeman finds the endzone three times in a one game, you know the Falcons are winning. Atlanta needed their feature back to get back into the headlines this week. His play will be instrumental as the Birds head to Carolina in Week 16.

That’s just the facts, friends.