The Atlanta Falcons held off a late comeback from the St Louis Rams to secure their first win of the NFL season.
The Falcons got a break on offense early on when a penalty on Rams' Chris Long extended their opening drive allowing quarterback Matt Ryan to move the ball downfield. They opened the scoring when he found former Ram Steven Jackson on a swing pass and he powered into the endzone.
Atlanta found the endzone again on a huge play when Ryan discerned Julio Jones on a post route and he beat the tackle of Janoris Jenkins and went all the way to secure an 81-yard touchdown to extend his side's lead to 14-0.
Matters got even worse for the Rams when Sam Bradford tried to find Daryl Richardson on a screen pass, but the ball bounced off his hands straight into the path of Osi Umenyiora, who caught it and ran it back for a 68-yard touchdown.
St Louis finally got on the board thanks to a 29-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein, but Atlanta regained their 21-point buffer when Matt Bryant kicked a 49-yard field goal just before the break to leave the score at 24-3.
Bradford and his offense finally clicked into gear in the second half and they reduced the arrears when he fired a touchdown pass on the right of the endzone to rookie Tavon Austin for a six-yard strike.
The Rams got within striking distance of the Falcons when they scored another touchdown as Bradford found Austin Pettis in the flat, and he beat a tackle before going reaching the endzone to make the score 24-17.
Atlanta finally got their offense going in the second half and ncreased their lead to 14 points again when Ryan fooled the Rams defense with a draw play, allowing Jason Snelling to go over for a touchdown from 11 yards out.
Bradford found Austin again for a 10-yard touchdown to make the game close with time running out, but the Falcons managed to close the game out to secure their first win of the season.
Simon Sinclair
