Defense, kicking, plus other thoughts and observations from Falcons’ win

History was made Sunday night, as the Falcons won their first game by a 22-6 score, just the seventh game in NFL history decided by those totals, according to Stathead.

Other, perhaps more pertinent thoughts collected from watching the NBC broadcast...

However it was acquired, Falcons won

It wasn’t the most elegant win for the Falcons. Maybe the outcome would have been different had they not been facing a quarterback making his second career start.

But surely no one in the organization cares. After stumbling in Week 1, the Falcons avoided an 0-2 start that might not have been fatal to their playoff chances, but it would have made the job much harder.

According to Rotowire, 83 teams have started the season 0-2 since 2015 through last season. Of those, only nine (7%) went on to make the playoffs.

Of the 146 teams that started 1-1, 62 of them reached the postseason, or 44%.

However secured, the most important baggage on the return flight home from Minneapolis was a win. The Vikings are not the same with quarterback J.J. McCarthy as they were last year with Sam Darnold, whose contributions helped fillet the Falcons in their visit to U.S. Bank Stadium last season. Again, not a concern for a team that didn’t want to be 0-2.

Defense shows up meaningfully

While it’s a little tricky to tease out how much blame to assign overwhelmed McCarthy and how much credit to give the Falcons’ defense, it was an eye-opening night for Falcons’ defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.

Building on a promising showing in the season-opening loss to Tampa Bay, they finished with six sacks with six different players contributing at least a half-sack, led by defensive linemen Zach Harrison and Brandon Dorlus with 1.5 each. McCarthy absorbed 11 hits.

You’ll remember the Falcons finished 31st in sacks last season.

In the second half, Minnesota had a chance to take the lead on its first three possessions. The Falcons allowed only one first down on the three drives, leading to two punts and a turnover by forced fumble.

On the first play of the third possession, with Minnesota starting at its 48-yard line, Harrison made one of the big plays of the game, taking advantage of a protection breakdown and getting a free run at McCarthy for a strip-sack for a turnover.

The Falcons’ dominance on defense overcame the offense’s inability to get into the end zone, enabling them to win, even as they were merely stacking field goals.

On a low-scoring night, field position matters

Field position established by the Falcons’ special teams was difference-making. After giving up a 54-yard punt return and a 35-yard kickoff return that helped Tampa Bay score touchdowns on both possessions, the Falcons finished with a punt net of 43.7 yards with a long return of six yards and yielded an average drive start on seven kickoffs at the Minnesota 23.

New kicker acquits himself well

Speaking of special teams, new kicker John Parker Romo was 5-for-5 with a long of 54 yards. The longest was most critical, as he made it early in the fourth quarter with the score 12-6 in the Falcons’ favor. A miss would have returned the ball to Minnesota with decent field position and a chance to take the lead. Romo’s make extended the lead to nine points, which, given the way the Falcons were stymying McCarthy, was massive.

It will be interesting to see if coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot decide to continue using roster spots on both Romo and Younghoe Koo. It worked one week, but it’s a luxury.

Red-zone shortcomings

Going forward, the Falcons will have to do better than one touchdown in five red-zone trips. And on the lone touchdown, the Vikings allowed running back Tyler Allgeier to score to get the ball back. Penalties, execution and play-calling all hampered them against the Vikings.