Grimes, Weems provide big boosts despite small statures

TAMPA, Fla. -- Two little men, two big plays, one by the Atlanta Falcons' most athletic player, the other by a guy the head coach calls the "toughest pound-for-pound" player on the roster.
Brent Grimes and Eric Weems stand virtually eye-to-eye at roughly 5-9 -- give or take the inch or so of fudging on the roster -- but they stood taller than any other Falcons on Sunday. Their big plays, the two biggest of the day, enabled the Falcons to leave Tampa with a come-from-behind 28-24 victory over the Buccaneers.

Brent Grimes does his part to save Atlanta from defeat with this game-clinching interception on the Bucs' final drive. (AP)

Atlanta -- which is now 10-2, leading to a chorus of "double-nickels" from players as they entered the locker room -- did everything in un-Falcons-like fashion against Tampa Bay. They turned it over, they had bad penalties and they never seemed in a groove.
On a day when Matt Ryan struggled, it was the two little men who saved the day.
First up was Weems. With Atlanta trailing 24-14, he returned a kickoff a team-record 102 yards for a touchdown, tip-toeing down the right sideline, a move that would make any dancer proud.
Then it was Grimes' turn. His diving interception of a Josh Freeman pass at the Falcons' 19 sealed it with just under two minutes left in regulation and the Bucs driving toward a potential game-winning score.
"It was an unbelievable return by Eric [Weems]," Falcons coach Mike Smith said.
The Falcons looked down and maybe out before that return. Ryan was struggling and Tampa Bay had just stretched the lead to 10 on a halfback pass from Earnest Graham to John Gilmore -- points off a Ryan interception -- and Atlanta seemed lifeless.
"That changed in 15 or 16 seconds," Smith said.
After that return cut it to three, Ryan did what good quarterbacks do. He brushed off his unusually tough day, which included the first turnovers in five games for the Falcons, and led Atlanta -- not to a potential game-tying field goal, but to the go-ahead and game-winning touchdown. That score came on a 9-yard pass to Michael Jenkins, but it was an earlier pass in the drive that was Ryan's best of the day.
Facing a third-and-20 at his own 23, Ryan fired a laser to the right sideline to Roddy White for 25 yards and a first down. Those are the kinds of plays you expect from the big stars on this team.
They get most of the attention, which is why it was nice to see players like Grimes and Weems stealing the spotlight.
We see it all the time in the NFL, little players, both in stature and name recognition, becoming heroes for a day. The league's historical landscape is dotted with them and their accomplishments.
Add Weems and Grimes. Anybody who picked that parlay as the Falcons' big-play guys step forward. Didn't think there was anybody.
"They have the biggest hearts," Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson said. "You understand why guys that small are in an NFL locker room. Everybody else has size. Those guys have what a lot of guys don't have, which is heart. They leave it out on the field every day."

CBSSports.com Grades
Atlanta Falcons
B	QB Matt Ryan didn't have his best game, completing 18 of 36 for 205 yards and two TDs while throwing his first INT in five games. The defense also struggled, particularly against the run, allowing 151 rushing yards. All that aside, the Falcons found ways to get the victory.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
C	Tampa had the game in hand, leading 24-14, but then allowed the 102-yard kickoff return. Then, at crucial moments the Bucs were called for penalties that helped move Atlanta down the field. QB Josh Freeman sealed the Bucs' loss throwing an INT while trying to go in for a winning score.

Weems, who is from Ormond Beach, Fla., the same hometown of Smith, is a receiver who plays some on offense, but is known mostly as a special-teams demon. He is great covering kicks, but this return will be his signature play now.
Because he hails from the same hometown as Smith, some call him a coach's favorite. It's hard not to like his toughness and his desire. His return was even more special for him because he paid to buy 15 tickets for his friends and family, including his mother, so they could drive the two or so hours to see him play. "It's worth it now," Weems said.
As for Grimes, his athletic ability helps make up for his lack of size against the bigger receivers. He has a 40-inch vertical, which allows him to dunk a basketball with ease. He struggled some as a starter in 2009, but he's been one of the Falcons' pleasant surprises this season.
He had a leaping interception earlier in Sunday's game overturned by the replay booth, but on the game-saving pick the replay official upheld it. He dove in front of receiver Mike Williams to make a sensational pick.
That brought the focus in the locker room to the two shortest non-kickers on the Falcons' roster. So who's taller?
"Oh, I got it," Weems said. "He's a little midget."
Grimes said he has Weems by a quarter of an inch.
"Weems is hating," Grimes said.
As a sportswriter who is 5-feet-6, I can tell you that neither is close to their listed height. That's why I was comfortable asking Grimes if he had little-man syndrome, which I do have by the way.
"I don't have a little-man syndrome," Grimes said.
But haven't you been told you can't your whole life?
"Just go out and prove them wrong," Grimes said. "Then they can't talk about it anymore."
Grimes and Weems get plenty of good-natured ribbing from their teammates for being small.
"I tell him [Grimes] 'Little man, they're going to pick on you,'" Robinson said. "With Weems, it's 'you better be tough because you're so tiny.' It's all just having a good time. They take it well."
Moments later, Robinson turned serious when talking about his two teammates, maybe summing up the day.
"They may be small in stature, but the attitude they bring and the plays they make are that of a giant," Robinson said.
Little men making big plays. It was that kind of day for the Falcons, one that might help put them in the biggest game of all.

extracted from cbssports.com