Not everything is going perfectly for the Falcons at the moment, though they are still 6-1.
But Devonta Freeman keeps showing up, and is a large part they have such a record while playing imperfectly in recent weeks.
“I’ve been there before,” Freeman said, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. “I just do what I do every week. I’ve never did it on the NFL level. I did it on the college level and the high school level. But I’ve always believed in myself that I can do anything that I want.”
Freeman became the first Falcon to top 100 yards rushing in three straight games since Michael Turner in 2009, with 116 yards in a win over the Titans. And that didn’t count a 47-yard run which was called back on an illegal block by Roddy White.
Freeman now has 931 combined yards this season, and 10 touchdowns to give the Falcons the kind of foundation they needed to go with a passing game that’s more susceptible to teams like the Titans trying to ugly up a game.
“I think Devonta has played awesome, he really has, and he played awesome again today,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “His confidence is growing every week, and I think our offensive line’s confidence is growing every week. I think they’ve done a great job blocking for him. . . . I’m really proud of him and happy with the way he’s playing.”
Of course, they might even need to use him even more, such as a bizarre fourth-quarter sequence when he didn’t see the ball. They ran fullback Patrick DiMarco on third-and0-goal, and then Ryan’s fourth-down pass to tight end Jacob Tamme was broken up. With the way Freeman has been running, the Falcons might be better served in the future just handing it to the guy who keeps getting it done, and letting him do the rest.
