ATLANTA — It was an exercise in futility to watch the Atlanta Falcons try to run the ball after Steven Jackson left the game with a thigh injury following the first series.
It was as if offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, sitting in the press box, fell victim to some malignant thievery, someone having stolen the pages of his playbook with the running plays. It was no way to preserve a 21-point halftime lead against the St. Louis Rams.
That's for sure.
And so the Rams roared back and made a game of it but, fortunately for the Falcons, Atlanta had the arm of Matt Ryan to fall back on and wide receiver Julio Jones, who had perhaps the best outing of a brilliant young career: 11 receptions for 182 yards and a touchdown.
With the benefit of a late touchdown, the Falcons prevailed 31-24 Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons, who advanced to the NFC title game last season and carry the burden of heavy expectations, evened their record at 1-1.
On a day when they needed Ryan to engineer mistake-free football and make plays, he did so. He finished 33 of 43 for 374 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 117.8 rating, while continuing to take hits from a defense that tied for the league lead in sacks in 2012.
The Falcons ran the ball for 36 yards, including 13 on the final drive as they ran out the clock.
"I think, as a quarterback, depending on the way games shake out, you feel you’ve always got to carry the load and make plays and try and keep that offense moving," said Ryan, who improved to 34-5 at home during the regular season. "I think it was particularly tough today with Steven going out, (fullback) Bradie Ewing going out, two key guys for us in our backfield."
Ryan credited the jobs turned in by Jacquizz Rodgers and Jason Snelling in the aforementioned dual roles and said, "But it always makes it more difficult when you have guys like (Jackson and Ewing) go down."
With touchdown drives that lasted 1 minute, 50 seconds and 3:03 sandwiched around a Falcons’ three-and-out, the Rams rallied to within 24-17 with 11:57 left in regulation on Austin Pettis’ three-yard touchdown reception.
The Rams had the momentum and the Falcons — out five starters: Jackson and Ewing (shoulder) on offense and linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (foot), cornerback Asante Samuel (thigh) and end/linebacker Kroy Biermann (ankle) on defense — were poised for a meltdown.
That’s when Ryan led an 80-yard, nine-play drive that lasted 6:12, almost exclusively on his arm. The first eight plays were throws. On 3rd-and-3 from the Rams' 40, Ryan and Jones hooked up for a special one.
Under pressure, Ryan rolled to his left and Jones improvised for an 18-yard reception. Three plays later, with the Rams so geared up for the pass, Koetter finally unfurled his off-speed pitch and Snelling ran up the middle 11 yards for the score on a delay.
Humbly, Jones said the Rams had defended the play well and that he just tried to stay moving. The Falcons desperately needed Jones' production, as a high ankle sprain continues to severely limit four-time Pro Bowler Roddy White, who had three catches for 21 yards.
"It’s impressive but I’m not surprised," Tony Gonzalez said of Jones and Ryan’s performances. "I’m not surprised at all. Matt Ryan’s one of the best in the business, and so is Julio Jones. You're going to be hearing those two names for a long time around here."
With Jackson out, one of the Falcons' best running-type plays was the screen to a variety of players, including Jones. That screen was made all the more effective because of his 81-yard touchdown reception with 1:19 left in the first quarter. in which he used his speed to burn Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins.
"With his speed, he’s such an unbelievable athlete," Gonzalez said of Jones. "The guy is a freak, as far as I’m concerned. The things that he can do as a defense you have to respect that this guy can go over the top at any moment. So defenses may think they know (the screen's) coming but in the back of their mind where they’re like 'OK, wait a second, I can’t just really crowd this guy because if I do, if the screen’s coming, I’m going to get burned deep ...'
"That's what he brings to the table."
The result partly helped to ease the pain of a season-opening loss to archrival New Orleans, in which Atlanta's offensive line came under heavy criticism. The unit allowed three sacks and six hits on Ryan.
Without having looked at the game film, head coach Mike Smith thought the Falcons kept Ryan “cleaner than he was last week." However, Ryan was still sacked twice and hit eight times, officially.
The offensive line also committed its share of penalties, including a third-quarter holding call on right guard Garrett Reynolds that negated a first down play and led to that three-and-out after which the Rams pulled within a touchdown.
The win was necessary to get the Falcons back on track but the road ahead is daunting. They visit 2-0 Miami next Sunday. Then New England visits the dome the following week. The health of those five starters — Smith said he would provide an update on Wednesday with the league-mandated injury report — remains a major question, as does the running game, a fact Smith admitted.
"I'm happy. We’ll take the win, we're 1-1 and hopefully we keep this thing rolling. ... We get to build it on it. We're not happy, by any means," Gonzalez said. "They’re a good defense, a young defense. Any time we step on that field, we've got to realize, we’ve got a guy like Matt Ryan, we’ve got to give him some time. He’ll make things happen for us. With the receivers we have, it’s going to be a big thing for us."
