Falcons open with a strong showing against the Chiefs

By D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Running back Michael Turner can indeed catch the football.

That was one glimmer of a highlight to glean from the Falcons' 20-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in their exhibition opener Friday night at the Georgia Dome.

It was only one catch, but it showed an area where the team plans to diversify on offense and was lightly applauded by the announced crowd of 65,726.

The offense opened the game by involving Turner on their first four plays. He had two carries, caught a pass and then had another carry. The most impressive was the first carry, when he moved the pile on a 7-yard gain.

The Falcons want to establish Turner, who has only 22 career receptions, as a receiving threat out of the backfield. He was the checkdown guy and gained six yards on his reception.

"We kind of wanted to go out there and set the tone early," Turner said. "I thought we had a couple of big runs. I thought the [offensive] line had a great push at the beginning."

Turner was not happy that the first-team offense had to settle for two field-goal attempts before becoming sideline spectators.

After the first drive stalled, Matt Bryant made a 30-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead. From there, things went downhill artistically.

It was your usual exhibition game with a slew of dropped passes, missed field goals and penalties.

Bryant and Steve Hauschka, who are in a battle for the field-goal-kicking job, both missed long field goals. The Chiefs also missed two field goals in the first half.

Hauschka's 53-yard attempt was low and slammed into the crossbar. Bryant's 50-yard attempt had plenty of distance, but was wide right.

Quarterback Matt Ryan and the offense went into their no-huddle attack on their second possession. They had a promising drive going before it was stopped when Pro Bowl wide receiver Roddy White dropped a screen pass and left tackle Sam Baker jumped offside.

Also, the first-team offense featured Brian Finneran starting for the injured Michael Jenkins.

The first-team defense played strong, but the retooled secondary didn't get much of a test from Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel.

Defensive end Kroy Biermann came up with a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by John Abraham.

Early in the second quarter on a third down, the Falcons sent an all-out blitz, and linebacker Curtis Lofton sacked Cassel.

The first-team defense received a scare when defensive end Jamaal Anderson and Lofton went down and needed medical attention. Anderson walked off on his own and Lofton walked off with the help of trainers. Lofton was suffering from leg cramps.

The first-team defense held the Chiefs scoreless on five of six series in the first half. The Chiefs didn't get on the scoreboard until Ryan Succop made a 20-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer to make the score 3-3.

The Falcons' reserves took over in the second half.

Rookie safety Shann Schillinger intercepted a Brodie Croyle pass. Schillinger, a sixth-round pick from Montana, showed some open-field running ability on a 29-yard return to Kansas City's 14.

Five plays later, Dimitri Nance scored on a 2-yard run. Nance, an undrafted rookie free agent from Arizona State, later capped an 18-play, 81-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown to put the Falcons ahead 17-3.

After a Chevis Jackson interception, Hauschka added a 37-yard field goal to make the score 20-3.

The Falcons, being extra cautious after last season's injury-riddled campaign, elected not to dress 11 players, including cornerback Dunta Robinson, the team's major offseason pickup.

The Falcons should get a stiffer test when they face the New England Patriots at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Georgia Dome.