Turner gets last laugh as Falcons beat 'Skins
ATLANTA - Michael Turner is looking a lot more like he did a year ago. DeAngelo Hall might want to keep his mouth shut the next time he faces his former team.
Turner, who ran for a season-high 166 yards, broke away from Hall on a 58-yard touchdown run to finish off Washington early in the fourth quarter as the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Redskins, 31-17, yesterday.
ERIK S. LESSER / Associated Press
Falcons running back Michael Turner heads for a touchdown as teammate Harvey Dahl blocks the Redskins' London Fletcher in the fourth quarter. Turner finished with 166 rushing yards.
Hall, who made two Pro Bowls playing for the Falcons from 2004-07, yapped away all week about how Atlanta had treated him unfairly before a trade to Oakland. He didn't even make it through one season with the Raiders and landed in Washington.
Turner and the Falcons got the last laugh. The burly running back broke off two long touchdown runs, also scoring from 30 yards out as the Falcons built a 24-3 halftime lead.
Washington looked down and out, losing running back Clinton Portis to an apparent concussion, and Hall lost his cool after teammate LaRon Landry delivered a late hit to Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan along the Falcons sideline. As flags flew, the outspoken cornerback jumped into the middle of things, surrounded by Atlanta players and coach Mike Smith.
Hall was yanked away before any punches were thrown, and the Redskins came to life after halftime. Jason Campbell directed two 13-play scoring drives to close the gap to 24-17.
But Turner wasn't done. Taking the handoff on what appeared to be a routine play between the tackles, he found an opening, leaped over a diving Landry trying to take him down at the ankles, shook off Hall's attempted tackle with ease, and rumbled the rest of the way for the clinching score.
The speedy Hall didn't even try to chase Turner down, realizing he was gone. So was any chance of getting revenge against the Falcons.
Turner finished second in the league a year ago with 1,699 yards rushing, trailing only Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, but defenses had hemmed him in much of this season. He eclipsed 100 yards only once in the first six games.
Looking to get back on track, Turner took home some DVDs showing the way he ran last year. He saw a back playing with more abandon and vowed to get back to that style.
That he has. Turner was coming off his best game of the season, a 20-carry, 151-yard effort against New Orleans, and he was even better against the Redskins, who had one of the league's top-rated defenses.
Campbell took quite a beating in the first half behind a makeshift line, playing without two key players lost to season-ending injuries.
Washington 0 3 7 7 – 17
Atlanta 14 10 0 7 – 31
First quarter
Atl–Gonzalez 2 pass from Ryan (Elam kick), 9:18.
Atl–Hill 62 interception return (Elam kick), 2:47.
Second quarter
Was–FG Suisham 48, 5:56.
Atl–Turner 30 run (Elam kick), 3:36.
