Atlanta Falcons hope Michael Turner has reignited in New Orleans loss

November 3, 9:36 PMAtlanta Falcons ExaminerDaniel Cox

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Atlanta Falcons Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Michael Turner (left) runs in for a score against Saints, (AP Photo/Bill Feig)

One of the bright spots in the Atlanta Falcons 35-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday night was the strong game of running back Michael Turner. 

Turner, a 2008 Pro Bowl back who rushed for 1,699 yards and 17 touchdowns, has struggled in 2009 to put up similar yardage. 

He's scored eight touchdowns in seven games so he's finding the end zone, but his inability to pile on the yards and run with the authority he showed last season has stalled the Atlanta Falcons offense at times this season. 

A couple of things that jump out of Turner's stat line for the season is his four yards per carry average, lowest in his career and his longest run of the season is a 37-yarder that came against the Saints. Prior to Monday night, his season-long was a 33-yard run, followed by a 16-yard run. 

The explosion in his running has been lacking which has resulted in the meager (for him) long runs. In his previous four seasons, he had a run of 70-yards or more each year. The 27-year-old back also had accumulated only five fumbles in his six-year career entering '09. So far this season, he's laid the ball on the ground four times. 

A lot has gone into Turner's disappearance: an apparent, at some points in the season, de-emphasis on the running game, poor run blocking by the offensive line, and perhaps most under the radar, the health of fullback Ovie Mughelli.

Two of Turner's statistically worst performances came in Weeks 6 and 7, both weeks where Mughelli was inactive.

In Mughelli's return to the starting lineup on Monday night, Turner burst out with a traditional Turner performance, running for 151 yards on 20 carries with one score, averaging 7.6 yards per carry.

Last week Head Coach Mike Smith would never pin the blame on the struggles strictly on Mughelli, but he did believe his seven-year veteran fullback makes a significant difference.

"Well, we are not going to make excuses," said Smith. 'But we like to have our first line players out there. And I think Ovie is an outstanding blocking back and in our two back running game he’s a big, big part of it.”

Even though Turner's renewed positive production resulted in a loss, his teammates took notice.

"Mike ran the ball hard tonight," quarterback Matt Ryan said. "Physical. His second effort was great the entire night. I'm proud of him. He did a great job. I'm happy to see him running the ball and hopefully we can continue that throughout the year."

Turner's second effort was particularly noticeable in the fourth quarter when Atlanta was driving, down by four. In what appeared to be a dead-end run behind a mass of Falcons and Saints bodies, Turner kept churning his legs and emerged through the pile, breaking two more tackles before requiring three total Saints defenders to drag him down for a 24-yard gain.

"I think one of the biggest differences was Michael was really running hard and downhill," said Smith on Tuesday. "We did some things in terms of how we wanted to put things together formationally. I thought the staff did a great job of game planning. Michael ran extremely hard and was very decisive in his decision making."

It was the kind of running Atlanta was used to seeing from Turner and could signal his return to the bruising and quick back of '08. For Turner, it was a back-to-basics approach entering Monday night.

'I wanted to get back to running the football the way I was," Turner said on the team's Falcons First Take interview following the game. Smith pointed to Turner's work in the film room as part of his running back's success.

"Michael did a very nice job over the last couple of weeks in going back and evaluating his play in watching tapes from last year," said Smith. "I think that Michael evaluated just like we've been evaluating and trying to tweak it and get our running game going."

It marked only the second time this season Turner broke the century benchmark, the first coming in Week 2's 28-20 win over the Carolina Panthers.

Turner's game was especially impressive considering he was running against a top-10 run defense. Next up in Turner's efforts to return to form is Sunday's 1 PM matchup with the Washington Redskins, ranked 19th in defending the run.

 I always love to hear what you've got to say. Leave a comment or email me for the Weekly Mailbag: jdanielcox@gmail.com. Click "subscribe" to receive emails whenever a new article is posted. Follow me on Twitter.