Atlanta Falcons trail New York Jets 16-14 at halftime
The Atlanta Falcons trail the New York Jets 16-14 at halftime in the second preseason game.
Like last week, the Falcons dominated early on, generating good pass rush and swarming to the football. The Jets were forced to punt giving Atlanta the football on its own 15-yard line.
Matt Ryan picked up where he left off last week, completing 4 of 5 passes for 75 yards and one touchdown. On the Falcons’ opening drive, Ryan completed a pass to fullback Collin Mooney for a 60-yard gain. One play later and Ryan connected with Leonard Hankerson. A third down incompletion to Julio Jones was called back after a holding foul was called on Darrelle Revis.
Terron Ward, starting at running back due to injuries to the Falcons’ top three backs, rushed four yards into the end zone to open the scoring. The run blocking looked much better, and was capped off with the score.
The defense forced a quick three-and-out and the Jets would punt again. This time Devin Hester decided not to call for a fair catch, and returned the punt 61 yards all the way to the New York 4-yard line. Ryan would connect with Hankerson for a 2-yard touchdown, his first as a Falcon.
New York clawed their way back into the game as the Atlanta reserves came onto the field. A T.J. Yates interception gave the Jets the ball at the Atlanta 26-yard line, resulting in a 29-yard field goal by Nick Folk.
First half notes:
- Pass rush was good in first quarter, resulting in an Adrian Clayborn sack on Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Collin Mooney made big 60-yard reception and blocked well in TD run
- Robert Alford covered Brandon Marshall brilliantly in first quarter and was able to break up a pass
- Jonathan Babineaux was destructive. His biggest play was a huge hit on Chris Ivory
- Jalen Collins struggled against Brandon Marshall, took poor angle on completion
- Vic Beasley looked good again, and batted down a Fitzpatrick pass on third down
Stay tuned to Blogging Dirty as we keep you updated with the rest of this game.