Tom Brady, green group of receivers befuddle Falcons

Tom Brady came to the Georgia Dome with one star tight end out injured, another gone because of a murder charge, no real running game and a rag-tag group of wide receivers.

None of that mattered for Brady. He simply made do with what he had around him to lead the Patriots to a 30-23 victory against the Falcons at the Georgia Dome.

“He made big plays for his team throughout the game,” Falcons linebacker Stephen Nicholas said. “We just didn’t make enough plays on the defensive side of the ball. We had opportunities but the fact of the matter is we weren’t as good as we needed to be.”

Certainly not good enough to beat Brady, the two-time league MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion.

Brady was 20 of 31 for 316 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He did most of his damage in the second half, when he completed 5 of 7 passes to convert third downs and keep drives alive.

Atlanta’s pass rush was ineffective and its defensive backs spent much of the night chasing behind New England’s wide receivers.

“There was a lot of stuff going on (in the secondary),” Falcons cornerback Robert McClain. “There was poor execution on a lot of plays. That’s up to us to get off the field on third down.”

Brady

The Patriots released tight end Aaron Hernandez after he was indicted on murder charges in the offseason. Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski was out against Atlanta because of arm and back injuries.

So Brady tossed a one-yard touchdown to third-string tight end Matthew Mulligan by somehow fitting the ball in a tiny space between safety William Moore and linebacker Akeem Dent.

Danny Amendola, the closest thing the Patriots have to a No. 1 wide receiver, also missed the game with an injury. No matter: Brady burned the Falcons with passes to the likes of nondescript veteran Julian Edelman and rookies Kenbrell Thompkins and Josh Boyce.

Edelman finished with seven catches for 118 yards, Thompkins had six receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown and Boyce’s 24-yard catch set up a key field goal in the fourth quarter.

When the Falcons rushed four defenders, Brady usually stood unhurried in the pocket. When the Falcons sent blitzers, the Patriots blocked them, Brady sidestepped them or he threw the ball away before they arrived.

And when the Falcons rushed only three linemen, Brady patiently waited for a target to come free. That’ s what happened when New England faced a third-and-19 from its 12-yard line in the third quarter.

On that play Brady found Thompkins for a 26-yard strike to the New England 38. Moore’s personal foul penalty added 15 yards, and on the next play LeGarrette Blount ran 47 yards for a touchdown and 20-10 lead.

“We’ve got to make sure when we are playing zone defense that we play with good eyes and good vision,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “We had a really tough drive there with the conversion on (third-and-19), added to that with the penalty, and then we had an explosive run which was a misfit. I think that was really the worst sequence with our defense.”

The Falcons responded with a field goal and had New England in a third-and-eight at its 38. Brady found Edelman on a shallow cross and he burst along the sideline for a 44-yard gain.