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- Jason McDonald
Falcons Kick Past Pats
By Jason McDonald
Who's going to play when the lights come on? Which players will help the Falcons get back to the Super Bowl.
Those are the questions that were supposed to be answered Friday night when the New England Patriots sailed into the Georgia Dome. The first preseason game for both teams provided more unanswered questions than answers. Most notably who will win the Falcons third string quarterback.
"I can't say right now standing here at this time that one of them distinguished themselves over the other" confessed Falcons Coach Jim Mora. "I think the competition is still heated."
For as good as the offense performed, the defense was equally less than spectacular. The Patriots scored on five of their nine possessions including a game tying ten points in the fourth. "I think it's a talented group who will start to gel the more as they play together" explained Mora. "It's their first bit of rough hitting and real competition and they are feeling each out".
Competition is exactly what the Patriots offense provided. New England rushed for 162 yards on the ground and threw for 229 more in the air. Atlanta's defense gave up seven plays of 15 yards or greater on the five scoring possessions. The tying field goal coming on a 16 play, 80 yard drive that began on the New England 8. A similar drive by the Pats defeated the Falcons in week five of 2005.
The Positive
Offensively, the Falcons delivered their usually effective running game. T.J. Duckett returned to his 2004 form rushing for 59 yards on 10 carries.Rookie Jerious Norwood exploded on the radar of Atlanta fans with 93 yards of total offense and a spectacular, high-stepping 37 yard touchdown reception.
Backup Matt Schaub tossed the first touchdown of the game with a 21 yard strike to Michael Jenkins with 46 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Michael Koenen nailed four field goals including a 52 yard bomb that had plenty of distance to spare. Koenen's success doesn't give Coach Mora a warm fuzzy feeling. "I liked what I saw in him tonight but we still have concerns about having a guy do all three (punt, kick off, and kick field goals), so we have to take in another week or so and see where he is, how he feels and how he holds up" said Mora.
The Negative
The defense allowed four backs to average five or better yards per carry and 407 total offensive yards. Patriots first round draft pick Laurence Maroney accounted for most of the damage with 66 yards on just 9 carries. His 27 yard burst up the middle set up the Patriots first field goal.One sack. The defensive line was unable to consistently mount a pass rush. Newly acquired Jon Abraham was the only Falcon with a sack amidst a few quarterback hurries.
Play from the linebacking corps was less than dominating accounting for just thirteen of the team's 44 tackles. With 31 rushing plays there should have been more activity.
Final Tally
While its easy to say what went wrong, the fact remains the Dirty Birds came away with the 26-23 victory. Sure the offense and defense looked less than sharp at times, but that's why its called preseason. As long as the problem areas are fixed by the start of the season no one will even remember this game.