Despite Elimination, Washington Battles : Redskins: They’re knocked out of playoffs, but rally from 27-10 halftime deficit to beat Falcons, 31-30.

Art Monk said the Washington Redskins knew exactly what they had to do.

“We knew we had to go out and put some points on the board pretty quick,” Monk said of a 27-10 halftime deficit.

The Redskins did just that, scoring three touchdowns within a span of 3:38 during the first six minutes of the third quarter to take a lead they never relinquished in defeating the Atlanta Falcons, 31-30, Sunday.

“We just happened to catch them in the right coverage,” Monk said of the rally that featured long pass completions by Mark Rypien.

Although the comeback was spectacular, it failed to keep Washington (9-6) in contention for a wild-card playoff berth. The Redskins’ final chance ended when the Rams beat the New York Jets, 38-14, earlier in the day.

Monk started the Washington rally, scoring on a 60-yard pass from Rypien, who then hit Ricky Sanders on a 68-yard pass to the one, setting up Earnest Byner’s touchdown on the next play.

A.J. Johnson launched the second scoring drive with an interception and the Redskins had to go only 31 yards on the go-ahead drive after an interception by Darryl Grant.

Rypien, who missed more than a period in the first half with a sprained neck, put Washington ahead on a nine-yard rollout.

It was the fourth victory in a row for the Redskins and the sixth consecutive loss for the Falcons (3-12).

Rypien, who completed 17 of 27 passes for 284 yards, said his neck was a little sore. X-rays were negative.

“The disappointing thing is we’ve won four in a row and we’re still going to sit for the playoffs,” Rypien said. “But we’ve got ourselves to blame. We didn’t do it earlier.”

Doug Williams took over at quarterback when Rypien went down with the neck injury on a hit by Jessie Tuggle in the first three minutes of the game.

Williams gave Washington a 10-3 lead when he hit Monk with a 34-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter.

After Williams’ touchdown pass, the Falcons wasted little time in surging into the lead.

Chris Miller connected with Michael Haynes for a 72-yard touchdown on the first play after the kickoff. Moments later, Deion Sanders returned a punt 36 yards to the Washington 32. Miller and Haynes teamed up for their second touchdown in a span of 3:40, a 17-yard pass that gave Atlanta a 17-10 lead.

Before halftime, Atlanta added a 24-yard field goal by Greg Davis and John Settle scored on a three-yard run after Tim Gordon’s 40-yard return of an interception that bounced off Tuggle’s leg.

“I wish we could have pulled this thing off, but it certainly didn’t turn out the way we wanted,” Tuggle said.