falconstorm

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ATLANTA -- It seems strange that, in a state suffering one of the worst droughts in its history, the Falcons would have to weather a storm. But that's exactly what Atlanta did at the Georgia Dome Sunday afternoon, jumping out to a two-score lead and holding on for a 26-16 victory over the visiting Houston Texans (2-2).

In the process, the Falcons (1-3) picked up their first win of the season and gained some much-needed confidence by closing a game out in the fourth quarter.

"We have been fighting through adversity all year long and the team has played hard, practice hard and prepared hard," Head Coach Bobby Petrino said. "It paid off today and that is a good feeling. I like the way we played."

The team built a 20-7 lead over the Texans with two first-half touchdown passes from quarterback Joey Harrington to wide receiver Michael Jenkins. Jenkins finished the game with 64 receiving yards and two scores.

Harrington completed 23-of-29 passes for 223 yards (the fourth-highest completion percentage in team history). His rating was 121.7 and he didn't throw an interception for a second straight week. His second touchdown pass to Jenkins gave the Falcons a 17-7 advantage with 8:22 remaining in the first half.

"The factor that makes me feel good about this win is that we’ve improved from week to week," Harrington said. "These are noticeable improvements because you can look at game one and game four and see our progress. This is what we have to do on a continual basis and take it into next week versus the Tennessee Titans. The fact that we’re 1-3 is not the most positive, but we took a step up today to where we want to be at the end of the season.”

The offense also took advantage of the defense's solid play Sunday afternoon, scoring after Stephen Nicholas recovered a fumble by Texans fullback Vonta Leach (forced by Michael Boley) and getting a Morten Andersen field goal after stopping the Texans on fourth-and-2 with 5:36 remaining in the second quarter -- another play stopped by Boley.

Most impressive, though, was how the Falcons responded to early adversity.

The team trailed 7-3 with 5:34 left in the first quarter, but counter punched after a Texans touchdown with an eight-play, 68-yard drive finished with a Jenkins touchdown. That gave the Falcons a 10-7 lead they never relinquished.

Houston didn't make it easy, though, especially in the second half.

Twice in the third quarter the Texans drove deep into Falcons territory. Twice the visitors walked away with field goals. The second series ended with a pass attempt on third-and-goal at the 1 that was broken up by a Lawyer Milloy blitz. By forcing Kris Brown kicks, the Falcons were able to keep their lead at no less than seven.

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