Falcons' 35 points, 528 yards should quiet criticism of Shanahan

The Falcons punted twice in the first quarter. They didn't punt again until there were 10 seconds left in the game.

"We were flowing," said wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, who was one of nine Falcons to make at least one catch and had a key third-down reception for 15 yards to extend a drive in the final minute. "Everybody came up big."

You know who came up big? Shanahan.

He mixed in a fair amount of no-huddle offense, even while seemingly suggesting that it's not going to be a staple of their offense.

"We felt we would speed it up a little bit at times," Quinn said. "It was a hot day, and we knew we would have some [opportunities] for our runs based on the looks that we would have."

As for the team's use of the no-huddle, Quinn said: "Just to clear this up because this has been a big topic of conversation. We do use no huddle. It may not be in the shotgun format where you see it all the time, but often times when we’re under center, we (use) hand signals. We love using it often times within a drive. Some people would think of two-minute as a no huddle but we’re not into that mode."

The Raiders' defense, which albeit is not among the NFL's best, never seemed to know what was coming Sunday.  It certainly has been an impressive start for Ryan this season. In two games, he is 53 for 73 (72.6 percent) for 730 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. The lone pick came in the third quarter when he threw behind a slightly open Jacob Tamme in the end zone when the Falcons trailed 14-13.

Ryan: “I have to throw a better ball. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to, giving him a chance to make a play on the ball. I didn’t do that.”

But it was one of his few misfires. The play call was solid. So credit to Shanahan.

For my complete column on the Falcons' win, click here.

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