Atlanta Falcons takeaways from Thursday’s kick off game

Last night’s 31-29 Tampa win over Dallas had a lot of implications for the Atlanta Falcons who will be playing both teams this season.  First, up will be Tampa for Atlanta who they will face in week two.

If you were a Falcons fan last night was nothing but discouraging. Tom Brady picked apart the Dallas secondary with a myriad of weapons. Not only does he have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin now it appears both Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski have turned back the hands of time.

Gronk caught a pair of touchdowns finishing with 90-receiving yards while Antonio caught a touchdown and had 121-receiving yards. Tampa would have been in complete control of this game if not for four turnovers including on what would have been a game-sealing drive.

Tampa somehow has even better weapons for the Atlanta Falcons to fear

Dallas had an all-time great performance from Dak Prescott (403-passing yards and 3-touchdown passes) and forced four turnovers and still never stood a chance. The minute Dallas left time on the clock and gave the ball back to Brady you knew the game was over.

Despite Dallas taking the lead with a 1:24 Brady quickly engineered a drive down the field for the game-winning field goal.

Defensively was equally upsetting for Atlanta fans to watch, while Dallas and Tampa both appear to have holes in their secondary the Tampa pass rush is nuclear.

Vita Vea was taking 300-pound athletes and bull-rushing them straight into the quarterback. He is a monster who helps to set up Tampa’s seemingly endless edge rushers. Matt Ryan needs to be prepared to take sacks with regularity behind a much worse Atlanta offensive line.

Dak was pressured 22-times last night behind an offensive line that has far more talent than Atlanta’s. Meaning Ryan better be prepared for a very long day in week two.

In the end, the biggest takeaway is the fact Tampa is still a much better team than Atlanta. They have better weapons and a defense Falcon’s fans can only dream of.  Tom Brady hasn’t found that infamous cliff and is going to continue to ruin the Falcons’ hopes and dreams this season.