Atlanta Falcons 13 and Miami Dolphins 20
Article by Allison Smith
August 9, 2024
And so it begins…..the Era of Rah. Head Coach Raheem Morris is coaching his first game back as the Atlanta Falcons Head Coach. Pre Season Game 1 is at the Miami Dolphins, where the team has been in co-practice most of the week.
Captains are Storm Norton, Richie Grant, and Younghoe Koo.
Received the opening kickoff, with the new kickoff rules. Carlos Washington Jr returned the kick a few yards.
Now, we see Michael Penix, Jr for the first time. Casey Washington gets the call for a run that ended in a 3-yard loss. On 2nd and 13, Penix from the shotgun, finds Washington for a quick 7-yard gain. Now on 3rd and 6, Penix takes a shot down the field, just over the extended hands of Washington.
Deangelo Malone makes the tackle finally, even farther back as the returner escaped the first tackle, but ran backwards. Miami starts at their own 12. A quick pass, Antonio Hamilton Sr makes the quick stop. He was blocked, but got away and forced the 4-yard loss. From the shotgun, another quick pass. Kevin King knocked the ball out, but went out of bounds so the Dolphins retain. On 3rd and 3, empty backfield, Miami takes a shot down the field, out of bounds. King with good coverage.
Demarco Hellams was carted off the field with some sort of leg injury.
Natrone Brooks calls for a fair catch on the punt at the 41. Toss to Washington, Jr who gains a couple of yards along the left side. Penix drops back and hits Chris Blair, but he fumbles and Miami takes over in Falcon territory.
The Miami quarterback takes the ball himself and runs left for 5 yards. At the Falcons’ 45, Hamilton Sr makes a good tackle, but after the first down. From the 40, Miami runs the ball to the left and JD Bertrand makes his first NFL tackle after a 3-yard game. Second down has the running back slipping on the field with Kentavius Street on the tackle. Street and Arnold Ebiketie pressure the quarterback who throws early for an incompletion. Dolphins kick a 57-yard field goal to go up 3-0.
Washington, Jr grabs the kickoff and takes it up to the 20. Penix is under center and fakes the handoff, Penix finds Washington on the sideline for a big gain, but was just out of bounds for an incompletion. Next is a big pass to Blair for a 41-yard completion. Penix then overthrows Washington. False start backs the Falcons up, on 2nd and 15, Penix drops back, pumps and finds Washington on the 2nd read for another first down. From the 28, Jase McClellan gets the call and goes up the middle for 8 yards. McClellan then gets stopped at the line. On 3rd down, under pressure, Penix overthrows Washington, Jr in the end zone. Koo ties the game up.
The Dolphins begin their second possession with a pick off by King who returns the interception 29 yards. undercut the route.
From the Miami 16, Washington Jr loses a yard. Penix screen to Washington Jr who catches and runs up to the 4. First and goal, Washington Jr is wrapped up for a loss. From the 8, Penix passes to John Fitzpatrick who carries defenders to the one. Penix analyzed and held the ball for Fitzpatrick to get open. Third and goal from the one, Penix overthrows Washington in the side of the end zone. On fourth and goal, Penix hands to Washington Jr who runs straight into the end zone.
With 3 minutes left in the first quarter, the Falcons lead 10 to 3.
Miami starts at their own 27. A quick hand off, Zach Harris makes the stop in the backfield. On 2nd and 11, Miami’s pass is nearly intercepted, the receiver is WWE slammed by Bertrand immediately. On 3rd and 5, empty backfield, a wide open tight end gains 43 yards, Falcons were caught in cover 2, then a missed tackle, but finally a stop by Hamilton, Sr. Second down is an incompletion by blocked pass. A successful reception gets the Dolphins to the 9. First and goal, a handoff for 4-yard gain.
The second quarter begins with a 2nd and goal from the 6, from the shotgun, the Dolphins have a dropped pass. On the next play, the Dolphins score with Bertrand closing, but the receiver gets the ball over the pilon before the tackle.
A few seconds into the second quarter, the Falcons begin their third possession form their own 10. Penix drops back and passes up to McClellan, who tries to one-hand the ball but cannot. Penix goes back to McClellan up the middle for a successful reception, then to Fitzpatrick for the first down along the right side. McClellan tries to run again for no gain. A reception my Washington on 2nd down causes a 3rd and 6. Penix in the shotgun drops back and fires to the sideline at the marker to KhaDarel Hodge, but the pass is broken up.
After the punt, Miami gets a good run off a reverse for a 21-yard gain. Across midfield, the running back is stopped by Braylen Trice after a 2-yard gain. Back to back first downs and shove out of bounds by Micah Abernathy move the Dolphins to the Falcons 25. Several more quick first downs have the Dolphins at the Falcons’ 5, then backed up vis delay of game to the 10. Still driving and on 4th and 2, the quarterback keeps the ball and slides for a first down at the 3, but Raheem Morris challenges the spot of the ball and the Falcons get the ball.
First down is a Washington run up the middle for a gain of 6 yards. Then Taylor Heinicke, in at quarterback, hands off to Jovaughn Gwyn who fumbles and loses the ball.
Miami takes the ball two yards on the recovery, then another quick 6 yards for the touchdown and with just over 5 minutes left in the half, the Dolphins lead 17 to 10.
The Falcons take over on the 19 after the kick off. Heinicke has a short 4-yard pass to Dylan Drummond. Heinicke then attempts two deep pass that fall incomplete to Blair, then to Washington. Ryan Sanborn punts 42 yards to the Miami 35.
The defensive rookies continue to stand out. Miami goes three and out with quick stops and passes defended by Bertrand, Ruke Orhorhoro.
As the first half draws to a close, the teams exchange punts again, with one final play and possession by the Falcons as time expires.
I was not able to watch the second half as the stream of the game kept going out. The Falcons did lose 20/13 with no scoring in the fourth quarter.
Overall, we got much of what we expected. Seeing mostly rookies and guys competing for playing time and positions. Penix looked pretty good, al biet overthrowing some receivers, but also those overthrows were out of reach of defenders too. Penix finished 9 of 16 for 104 yards. Both Casey Washington and Carlos Washington, Jr stood out offensively. Casey had 3 receptions for 27 yards and a fumble recovery on special teams. Carlos had 16 carries for 25 yards, a long of 9 yards, 1 reception of 13 yards, with only 2 targets. The offense had 3 fumbles, 2 lost; which does not bode well, but some of these guys may not be on the roster by September, or certainly will learn to hold onto the ball better.
Defensively, rookies Jayden Price had 7 tackles, Bertrand 4, Ruke 2 and looked good overall. Returners, Malone, Abernathy, and Ebiketie had decent playing time and good performances. King, of course, stood out with a great interception. He read the play and stepped in front of the pass. There are many defenders that are new to the Falcons that competed well, but with the starters on the sideline in plain clothes, it will take a couple of games to see who sticks and who does not.
Unfortunately, the game started pretty early with some injuries on both teams. DeMarcco Hellams left on the cart with an injury to his left leg, later in the first half rookie Bralen Trice also injured his left leg. No prognosis on either yet.
Overall, saw some good things from some young guys. Seemed like the same story we have seen for 10 years, close, red zone, no scoring, defense hands O the ball and nothing good happens. But this was pre season game 1 with a totally new regime, so we will see.
#RiseUp
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