The Falcons played good enough on both sides of the field to win on Saturday Night but they just fell a bit short.  Still, there was plenty to get excited about for the Falcons.  Chris Redman started at QB and he looked terrible completing 3 of 6 passes for 13 yards and tossing a pickoff.  Rookie Matt Ryan was outstanding in his NFL debut completing 9 of 15 passes for 113 yards and hitting WR Roddy White for a 25-yard TD pass.  Joey Harrington was next up and he was solid completing 5 of 7 passes for 64 yards.  He also scored a TD on a 1-yard carry which was the only time he ran the ball in the game.  D.J. Shockley looked awful in finishing up the game for the Falcons.  He completed only 4 of 15 passes for 63 yards with a interception.  He also carried the ball 1 time for 17 yards in this game.  Jason Snelling led the way for the Falcons with 32 yards rushing on 4 carries (8.0 ypc).  He also caught 1 pass for 47 yards against the Jaguars.  Michael Turner was solid in his Falcons’ debut rushing for 22 yards on only 4 carries (5.5 ypc).  Jerious Norwood was busy with 6 carries for 20 yards (3.3 ypc) on Saturday.  Rookie Thomas Brown also had a solid NFL debut rushing for 19 yards on 4 carries (4.8 ypc).  WR Roddy White led the way for the Falcons on Saturday with 5 catches for 47 yards (9.4 avg) with a TD grab covering 25 yards from rookie QB Matt Ryan.  The Falcons finished up Saturday Night with 115 yards rushing on 24 carries (4.8 ypc).  They also completed 21 of 43 passes for 228 yards thru the air.  The Falcons looked impressive on offense despite only scoring 17 points.

The Falcons defense was pretty tight on Saturday Night.  Cornerback Brent Grimes led the Falcons with 6 tackles on Saturday Night.  Linebacker Curtis Lofton made a smashing debut for the Falcons with 6 tackles also.  The Jaguars finished up with 136 yards rushing on 33 carries (4.1 ypc).  The Jags also completed 15 of 30 passes for 129 yards thru the air.  The Jaguars run against everyone so don’t be too alarmed by the yardage but the Falcons’ pass defense was pretty impressive on Saturday.  Despite the loss the Falcons put up a good all around effort on Saturday Night.