The Falcons were on the national stage for the first time on Sunday night as they took on the New England Patriots at the Georgia Dome. It had the fireworks that NBC wanted, but for Falcons fans it was not the ending they hoped for as Atlanta fell to the Pats 30-23.
“I felt like our guys fought as a football team tonight, but in the end we didn’t make enough plays to get the outcome that we wanted, Falcons head coach Mike Smith said. “You get what you earn in the NFL, and we’ve earned a 1-3 record the first quarter of the season.”
The Falcons were down 30-13 with 6:18 left in the fourth quarter. But after a Matt Ryan 11-yards touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez two minutes later and an onside kick recovery by the Falcons which led to a Matt Bryant 25-yard field goal, the Falcons cut the New England lead to seven with 2:55 left in the game.
On the Patriots ensuing drive, they looked to run out the clock, but Tom Brady fumbled the snap on fourth down to give the Falcons a chance to tie the game.
Ryan took advantage of the miscue by the Patriots on the next play when he found Julio Jones on a 49-yard pass to put the Falcons at the Patriots 13-yard line.
But once the Falcons got to the red zone, they could not punch it in.
After an incomplete pass to Harry Douglas, an incomplete pass to Gonzalez and a 3-yard pass to Jacquizz Rodgers. The Falcons had one last chance to tie the game at the Pats 9-yard line. Ryan threw a pass to White in the end zone, but it was broken up by Aquib Talib and the Pats hold on to win.
“Just one of those situations at the end of the game where you are trying to make a play and give your guy a chance,” Ryan said who threw for a career-high 421 yards in the loss. “Roddy has made a ton of plays for us. It was a bang-bang play and we just didn’t make it.”
Once again the Falcons got off to a fast start as they jumped to a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter. The Falcons offense started the game with a 13-play, 75-yard drive which ended with a Matt Bryant 23-yard field goal.
It’s wasn’t until the second quarter when the Patriots answered as they took the lead when Brady threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Mulligan. That series lasted 12 plays for 75 yards. And of those 12 plays only two were passing plays.
Falcons had a chance to answer on the ensuing series as they drove to the New England 7-yard line. But instead of kicking a short field goal on fourth down, Falcons coach Mike Smith decided to go for it and Ryan’s pass goes over White’s head in the left corner of the end zone.
The Patriots responded with the turnover on downs with a 7-play, 62-yard drive that ended with a Steve Gostowski 48-yard field goal to increase the New England lead to seven. But the Falcons answered back as the offense went eight plays for 80-yards and the drive ended with a Ryan 21-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez to tie the game at 10 going into the half.
It was the fourth quarter that did the Falcons in. The Pats tacked on three more points in the third quarter to break the tie, but started the fourth quarter with a LaGarrette Blount 47-yard touchdown run to give the Pats the 20-10 lead. Falcons responded with a Bryant 45-yard field goal, but the Pats punched back when Brady threw a 18-yard touchdown pass to Kenbrell Thompkins to give the Pats the 27-13 lead.
The one thing that stood out for the Falcons in this game is something that has hurt this team all season long and that’s red zone efficiency. While the Patriots were 2-of-3 in the red zone, the Falcons were 1-of-6.
“We’re just not executing like we need to in the red zone,” Smith said. “We are moving the ball well between the 20s, but we’re not ending with touchdowns. We’ve got to score touchdowns in this League. It’s an offensive League and you’ve got to score touchdowns.”
With the loss the Falcons drop to 1-3 and the lost also marks the first time since 2007 they are two games under .500. They will look to turn things around next Monday night when they face the New York Jets at the Georgia Dome.
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