DEL.ICIO.USRyan, Turner lead Falcons to win in opener
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, September 07, 2008
After throwing his first NFL pass, Matt Ryan was gliding around the Georgia Dome like he’d just won the lottery.
First stop, the end zone to congratulate Michael Jenkins and celebrate with his teammates.
Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Matt Ryan launches a bomb to Roddy White as Tyson Clabo holds the line. Ryan had 161 yards passing on 9-of-13 attempts and one touchdown.
BY THE NUMBERS
• How They Scored• Team Stats • NFC Standings
• Photos: Ryan's debut • Game
• Schultz: More than a win
• Bisher: Expectations met
• Turner burns record
• Smith: 'Matt did good job'
• INT saved game • DBs held ground
RELATED STORIES • More Falcons
Then Ryan, the new face of the franchise and quarterback of the future, ran up the sidelines back to the bench, raising his arms to excite the crowd while taking a few leaps in the air.
It was a spectacular way to start his career and help send his team to a 34-21 victory over Detroit Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
“I think anybody would get excited in that situation,” Ryan said. “I was fired up. Jenks was fired up. That was a good start for us.”
On the 62-yard touchdown, Jenkins got behind Detroit’s cornerback and Ryan threw a masterful strike before the safety could come over to help.
It’s not a touchdown if Ryan’s pass doesn’t hit Jenkins in stride.
“I had a skinny post and Matt put it right on the money,” Jenkins said. “I couldn’t believe I was kind of by myself. All I had to do was take it in.”
Ryan was so happy after the play, he forgot to get the ball for a keepsake.
“I kind of lost track of the ball,” Ryan said.
Ryan’s touchdown pass got things started, but it was the running of Michael “The Burner” Turner and Jerious Norwood that was the bulk of the offense. Turner rushed for a team record 220 yards as the offense set a team-record with 318 yards.
Turner, who backed up LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego for the last four season, was also making his first NFL start.
On the Falcons second possession, Turner broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run.
That clearly was the Falcons offensive plan for success. Run Turner and open things up for Ryan to throw the ball.
“I was just impressed,” Ryan said. “Sometimes you find yourself sitting back there watching these runs, then you snap to it because you realize that you’ve got to run down there and help out because he might break through some more of those tackles.”
Turner and Norwood took a great deal of pressure off of Ryan.
“To have that one-two punch is nice,” Ryan said.
The rookie from Boston College, who was the No. 3 overall pick in the draft and signed a $72 million contract, completed 9-of-13 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. He had a quarterback rating of 137.
“He was very composed,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “Way, way back when we were doing our due diligence with [GM] Thomas [Dimitroff] and his staff, when we met with Matt, you knew this guy had something about him. He was very calm, cool and collected.”
The Falcons may not have asked Ryan to do too much, but the offensive players knew who was in control in the huddle.
“He didn’t seem like a rookie out there today,” Turner said. “He took control of the huddle. … He was being a real drill sergeant out there, letting everybody know that he was in control.”
The Falcons didn’t ask Ryan to throw 30 times or try to get 300 yards. He stayed within the framework of the offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey’s system.
“Matt did some good things at the line of scrimmage, getting us out of bad plays and into good plays,” Turner said.
On the Falcons third drive, Turner scored against on a 5-yard run to make it 21-0.
The Lions battled back with two touchdowns and were driving for a tying score to open the third quarter, but safety Lawyer Milloy intercepted a Jon Kitna pass intended for an open Roy Williams.
Milloy returned the ball 38 yards to set up the Falcons offense is good field position.
The Falcons added Jason Elam’s 50-yard field goal off Milloy’s turnover. After holding the Lions, Norwood scored on a 10-yard run to make 31-14.
“That’s probably the turning point in the game,” Smith said. “They were moving the football.”
To close out the victory, the Falcons ran the final 5:53 off the clock by pounding Turner and Norwood into the heart of the Lions defense.
In his first NFL game, Ryan got to take the victory stance — kneeling down — three times after the Lions used their final timeout with 1:41 left.
When asked if Ryan got an A or an F in his debut, Jenkins said, “Obviously an A, that was something he’ll never forget.”
Services »
