Five things we learned from the Falcons' 48-21 victory against the Houston Texans before a crowd of 69,904 fans on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
“Once we put a full four quarters together, we are a problem for everybody as you can see,” Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant said. “We have talent. We have talent across the board. We are really coming together as a team.”
The Falcons, who are trying to rebound after two losing seasons, started the season 4-0 for the fourth time in franchise history. They were absolutely giddy after pummeling the Texans, who went 9-7 last season and had playoff aspirations. The Texans dropped to 1-3.
“I felt we put everything together today,” linebacker Nate Stupar said. “Our offense was making plays. Our defense was making plays.”
1. Freeman is not a one-game flash. Falcons running back Devonta Freeman missed some practice time last week with a toe injury, but he was ready to go against the Texans. He amassed 149 yards from scrimmage and for the second consecutive game he rushed for three touchdowns.
“He just loves to battle,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.
He had touchdown runs of 16, 23 and 6 yards. Also, running back Terron Ward added an 8-yard touchdown run.
Freeman rushed 14 times for 68 yards before Ward took over. Freeman also had five catches for 81 yards.
“Devonta, the last two weeks has done a great job in showcasing how good of a player he is,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “Our offensive line just played really well.”
2. Defense was fast and physical. The defense continued to play at a high level after shutting down Dallas in the second half of last week's game. They came out and created two turnovers that led to 14 points and helped the Falcons build a 21-0 lead.
Paul Worrilow tipped a pass that was intercepted by defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux.
In the second quarter, Texans running back Arian Foster fumbled after running into his right tackle Derek Newton. Cornerback Desmond Trufant scooped the ball and easily scored on a 24-yard return.
Safety William Moore whacked Houston tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz and forced a fumble, but the offense couldn’t convert turnover into point.
3. Ryan to Jones held under control. The Texans used a lot of double-teams on Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones, who was averaging 11.3 catchers per game. He caught four passes for 38 yards and was not a major factory.
With Jones getting so much extra attention, Ryan moved the ball around to his other targets.
Ryan completed 19 of 27 passes for 256 yards and one touchdown through three quarters.
Leonard Hankerson caught six passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. Roddy White, who didn’t catch a pass over the past two games, finished with two catches for 8 yards.
4. Fast starters. The Falcons opened the season with a 4-0 mark for the fourth time in franchise history.
The Falcons also started 4-0 in 1986, 2004 and 2012. The 1986 team went on to post a 7-8-1 record. The 2004 and 2012 teams went on reach the NFC Championship game.
5. Special teams contributed. Punter Matt Bosher continued to boom the ball. He averaged 47.7 yards on six punts and hit a long of 55 yards. He also had a punt downed inside the 5.
Also, Eric Weems had a 29 yard kickoff return and an 18-yard punt return.
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