Falcons swoop late to fly past Ravens

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The Atlanta Falcons scored a touchdown with 20 seconds remaining to complete a dramatic 26-21 victory over a late-charging Baltimore Ravens at the Georgia Dome on Thursday.

The Falcons (7-2) remained perfect at home to take sole possession of first place in the NFC South division while the Ravens (6-3) fell to second place in the AFC North.

Matt Ryan connected with Roddy White on a 33-yard pass to complete a seven-play, 80-yard drive that took just 45 seconds to complete for the game-winning score.

Ryan completed three passes on the drive, which was aided by a pass interference penalty on a third down that gave the Falcons a new set of four downs.

"It took all 60 minutes to come away with that win," said Ryan, who has won 14 successive games at the Georgia Dome and completed a career high 32 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns.

"With 65 seconds to go, we got the ball back. We've been in these situations before. We were confident."

The Falcons had charged out to a 13-0 lead early in the third quarter and led 20-7 before the Ravens scored two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter with Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco connecting with Todd Heap in the end zone on a nine yard pass with 65 seconds remaining to give the visitors a 21-20 lead.

"We really came alive at the end of the game, but it wasn't enough," said Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.

"You think it's your game to have, and you think it's kind of over, but it didn't work out that way."

White had 12 catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns while Jason Snelling scored the other touchdown for Atlanta, who also converted two Ravens' turnovers into two Matt Bryant field goals.

Flacco was 22 of 34 for 215 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Anquan Boldin and Derrick Mason also scored for Baltimore.

(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario; Editing by John O'Brien/Greg Stutchbury)