Week 1, Falcons roll on the Fins

Dolphins 7, Falcons 19 Falcons record: 1-0 The Falcons open the 2009 campaign with a decisive victory over fellow upstart, the Miami Dolphins. The expectations of the Falcons defense was high coming into the game, while the expectations for the defense were quite low. During the preseason, the defense, especially the secondary, struggled to control the wide receivers of all of their opponents, Today's game told a different story. First half: Matt Ryan came out sharp in the passing game, at least when it came to the short passes. His long game, however, got off to a rough start, missing all of his first 3 passes over 15 yards. The Dolphins keyed in on the Turner running game, so Ryan responded by throwing the ball 21 times, including a TD pass to Ovie Mughelli, the sole visit to an end-zone by either team. Jason Elam went 1 for 2 on field goals. The shocker was this defense, holding the Dolphins to just 102 total yards in the half. Additionally, John Abraham snagged a sack, as did Kroy Biermann, whose sack caused a fumble, one of two recovered by the Dirty Birds. The Dolphins only made it to the red zone once, where they lost their second fumble, forced by Mike Peterson, recovered by Brian Williams and returned for most of the field. This defense came out with a passion and battled to prove they deserve respect. After the first half, Chad Pennington and the Dolphins were inclined to agree. Second half: The defense came out again prepared for the Dolphins, and forced back-to-back 3-and-outs, followed by back-to-back turnovers. Mike Peterson snagged an interception he returned for 39 yards, though he fumbled as well, the ball rolling, fortunately, out of bounds - the only time the Falcons put the ball on the ground. Curtis Lofton forced a fumble by Anthony Fasano, which Jonathan Babineaux recovered, his second recovery of the game. Abraham and Biermann each sacked the QB again in the second half as well. The secondary combined to make the Dolphins receivers try to adapt, and Pennington and the Dolphins QB's struggled to get the ball out. The vaunted Wildcat offense never panned out to much today. Matt Ryan looked a bit more solid overall in the second half, and he hit Tony Gonzalez for a 20-yard touchdown. Ryan finished the game 22 of 36 for 229 yards and 2 TD's, for a 98.0 QB passer rating. The Dolphins did a good job of stopping the Falcons rushing attack, limiting Turner to 65 yards and Norwood to just 7. The offense adapted, picking the Fins apart through the air, Ryan hitting 6 different receivers successfully, notably, Gonzalez, who had 5 receptions for 73 yards and that TD. Elam continued to struggle in the second half, going 1 for 2 again and missing an extra point. Mike Smith responded to his miss by sending him out on the Falcons next drive for an even longer attempt, a successful 50-yard FG. The Falcons also had a 1st-and-goal to come back from the final 2-minute warning, but chose to down the ball, rather than try to add on to the score. Studs of the game: Tony Gonzalez - He did more than just receive the ball today. He was a key in protection for Matt Ryan, and also aided in blocking. Picking him up is rapidly proving to be one of the best off-season moves by any team. The defense - Give credit where credit is due. The Wildcat formation was negated, 4 sacks, 4 turnovers, just 7 points against a good offense. The unit functioned as one. The sacks came because the secondary coverage was fantastic; the secondary were able to hold coverage because the line was able to hurry the quarterback. The linebackers aided in run-stopping, pass coverage, and combined for 24 tackles, let by Curtis Lofton's 11. Up next: Carolina Panthers at Atlanta, Sunday 9/20, 1pm