If there is one thing to take from the Falcons-Patriots game on Thursday for the Falcons, it’s that it’s only preseason.
The first-team offense struggled to get anything going in the first quarter and the defense could not get off the field on third down. As a result, the Falcons were handed a 28-10 loss to the New England Patriots.
“We obviously didn’t play anywhere near the level we need to play if we’re going to be the football team we want to be,” head coach Mike Smith said after the game. “It is the preseason, but we still didn’t play at the level of any phase of the game where we want to be.”
The Falcons got the ball rolling first with Matt Ryan and company with an 11-play 49-yard drive that ended with a Matt Bryant 49-yard field goal. It was a drive where Ryan looked sharp, completing four of his first five passes and Michael Turner ran hard with four carries for 16 yards.
The Pats were able to bounce back on their opening drive of the game as Fred Taylor ran 28-yards up the middle for the score to put New England up by four. The Falcons defense did a solid job defending the pass on the series, but the run defense was shaky, as Taylor ran for 39 yards on five carries.
The Falcons first-team offense played in another series in the first quarter, but went-three and out. The played in one last series in the second quarter and were able to get a drive going thanks to a Ryan 17-yard pass to Roddy White and a Ryan 14-yard pass to backup tight end Justin Peelle. But they were not able to put any points on the board because Bryant missed a 47-yard field goal and the Falcons were still down by four early in the second.
“I think we’re doing a pretty good job on offense,” White said at halftime. We’ve got to find a way to finish drives and convert some of those third downs and things like that.”
After a series where the Pats went three-and-out late in the first quarter, New England got a drive going with the help of Randy Moss who caught a 14-yarder from Brady and Aaron Hernandez who also caught a 14-yard pass to Brady. The drive stalled with the help of Kroy Biermann sacking Brady at the Falcons 24-yard line.
Kicker Stephen Gostkowski attempted a 41-yard field goal, but missed wide right. The series wasn’t over for the Pats because Chevis Jackson was called with a roughing the kicker penalty and that led to a Brady 4-yard touchdown pass to Hernandez to put the Patriots up 14-3.
After that series, the first teamers for the Falcons called it a day and John Parker Wilson took over for Ryan at QB. Wilson was put a baptism by fire situation, as he led the second-teamers in a two-minute offense situation. Things were looking okay for the Alabama alum until he threw a pick to Jonathan White which ended the drive and the half.
The second half was all New England, as Sammy Morris scored on a 20-yard touchdown run midway through the third. The Patriots were able to score again early in the fourth with a Brian Hoyer 24-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski to go up 28-3.
The Falcons finally scored on the ensuing drive with a Wilson 19-yard touchdown pass to Troy Bergeron to cut the lead by 18. Wilson, who got an extended look at the No. 2 QB spot on Thursday night finished the game 14-of-25 with 98 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“I thought he made some good decisions,” Smith said. “That’s one of the things we wanted him to do in this game was give him an opportunity to play.”
OTHER NEWS AND NOTES…
One of the things that hurt the Falcons last year was the defense not getting off the field on third down and that same problem occurred Thursday, as the Pats converted 64 percent on third down conversions.
“One of the touchdowns they scored was on a third-and-12,” Smith said. “It was our Achilles heel in the previous season and it’s something we have got to get fixed.”
The first team offense has yet to score a touchdown in the five series they have played in this preseason. But Ryan is looking at the positive.
“I think we’ve done some things really well offensively,” Ryan said. “And that’s what you look for in the preseason. You look for the positive and look for things to take in the regular season.”
Once again Kroy Biermann has another strong performance, racking up another sack and forced fumble. But Biermann was not high on himself after the game.
“Overall, I think I did okay,” Biermann said. “I think I made some mistakes.”
As far as injuries go, Christopher Owens and Cory Peters left the game and Jason Snelling did not dress. Owens injury was unknown, but Peters felt a pop in his knee during the game. Snelling did not dress because of an illness.
The Falcons are off on Friday and will be back for two more practices on Saturday that are closed to the public. They will be on the road next Friday for their third preseason game as the face the Miami Dolphins.
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