In a strong debut, Falcons coach Dan Quinn watched as the reserves staged a comeback to defeat the Tennessee Titans 31-24 on Friday night at the Georgia Dome, which was about half full.
The starters staked the reserves a 17-0 lead, which they gave back to the Titans. The Falcons needed a clutch fourth-quarter, 16-play touchdown drive from third-string quarterback Sean Renfree to pull out the victory.
Let’s move on to the grades.
Game ball: Renfree. After the Titans tied the score 24-24, Renfee took over for T.J. Yates at the end of the third quarter. He took the Falcons on an impressive 86-yard touchdown drive, which was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Michael Ford. Renfree completed six of seven passes for 68 yards and had a passer rating of 107.1.
Quarterbacks, B-plus. Matt Ryan and Renfree earned A's, but T.J. Yates brought the grade down. He had couple of errant passes and couldn't drive the team in from the 9-yard line after Justin Durant's interception. He started the exhibition season slowly last season. Ryan and Renfree were more accurate with their passes and combined to complete 12 of 13 passes for 154 yards and one touchdown. Yates was 9-of-15 for 105 yards and an interception. He had a 53.5 quarterback rating.
Running backs, D. The group averaged a paltry 2.2 yards per carry, far below the desired standard of decency of 4 yards per carry. The outside-zone-perimeter run game is a work in progress. Ford, who signed Aug. 7, led with 11 carries. Jerome Smith was the leading rusher with 25 yards on seven carries. He had a nice 12-yard run to the outside when the Falcons were running out the clock in the fourth quarter. Antone Smith joined the injured hamstring club with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.
Wide receivers/tight ends, B-plus. Julio Jones is kicking himself. He was sizing up the safety to make a fake when he was tripped on his 26-yard catch on the second play of the game. He was trying to score. On his 13-yard touchdown catch, Jones faked Tennessee cornerback Perrish Cox out of his socks. Rookie Justin Hardy caught three of his six targets and bobbled a low pass from Yates that was intercepted. Last season's starting tight end Levine Toilolo was the third tight end and played with the backups. He caught three passes for 36 yards.
Offensive line, C. There weren't any holes for the backs, but the staff put this starting line together only a few weeks ago. They'll need some time to gel in this system. The most impressive item was that there was only one sack and two quarterback hits. Ryan wasn't touched on six dropbacks. There were two wretched shotgun snaps by Mike Person and Peter Konz.
Defensive line, A. The starting group included left end Vic Beasley, defensive tackles Ra'Shede Hageman and Paul Soliai and defensive end Tyson Jackson. Soliai came up with the big play to push Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota out of the pocket where Jackson was charging in for the sack. The officials incorrectly took away Jonathan Babineaux's forced fumble. The slow-motion replay showed that he got a piece of the ball.
Linebackers, A. The starters included strongside linebacker Kroy Biermann, middle linebacker Paul Worrilow and weakside linebacker Justin Durant. Worrilow and Durant came up with turnovers, with Worrilow scooping up a fumble and returning it 14 yards for a touchdown.
Defensive backs, B-plus. Free safety Ricardo Allen, a converted cornerback, received some extra work. Phillip Adams started for Desmond Trufant, who has a shoulder injury. Robert Alford held down the right side. The starters weren't tested much after the defensive line rattled Mariota's cage a couple of times. Second-round pick Jalen Collins gave up a touchdown pass, but bounced back to tip a pass and cause an interception.
Special teams, A-plus. Matt Bryant kicked a 45-yard field goal and wasn't bothered by the new extra-point rule. Matt Bosher averaged 41.7 net yards on three punts. Linebacker Allen Bradford shined on special teams with a strong tackle.
Coaches, A-plus. The Falcons' first-teamers came out ready to play. The coaches did a good job of rallying the reserves, who were getting pushed around. The defense came up with the one stop they needed on a Stansly Maponga sack after Renfree gave the Falcons the lead. The offense was able to run out the final 3:45 to preserve the victory.
Next up: Falcons (1-0) play at the New York Jets (0-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The Jets were defeated 23-3 by the Lions on Thursday night.
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