Atlanta Falcons Survive Fumble-Fest in Tokyo- Japan

On Saturday, amidst a raucous crowd in Tokyo, Japan, the Atlanta Falcons seemed to do everything that they possibly could to lose their game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Falcons committed stupid error after stupid error, including costly turnovers and dumb penalties, but made enough big plays to squeak out a 27-21 victory in the first game of the 2005 preseason.

For all the mistakes the Falcons made, you’d think that the game was played in a pounding thunderstorm or total snow, but the weather was perfectly clear. In the game, the Falcons had: two kickoffs sail out of bounds; a fumble returned for a touchdown inside their own five; a recovered fumble on a kickoff called back for a penalty; a bobbled punt return; two false starts inside the Colts’ ten; an interception on their first possession; an illegal touching penalty on a punt; a timeout called on the first play after a quarter ended; a hands-to-the-face penalty that erased a sack; a fumble after a completed pass, and they had 13 penalties in the game. The Falcons overcame all this to emerge victorious, thanks in large part to the stellar play of backup QB Matt Schaub.

The starters for both times played for a short period of time, with Michael Vick of the Falcons and Peyton Manning of the Colts each playing for two series. A Bob Sanders interception of Vick (on the game’s first possession) at the Falcons’ 47 set up the game’s first touchdown- a Manning two-yard pass to Troy Walters that put the Colts up, 7-0.

The Falcons responded with a clock-killing drive that lasted for 14 plays and nearly seven minutes. An ill-timed false-start penalty at the Colts’ five forced the Falcons into a field-goal attempt, which they made to pull within four. The drive was Vick’s last of the day, and he finished with 51 yards passing and ten yards rushing.

The Falcons kickoff sailed out of bounds, giving the Colts the ball at their own 40. They wouldn’t take advantage of the great field position because Manning was intercepted on the third play of the drive. The pick led to a 36-yard field goal and cut the Colts lead down to one.

After two drives, Manning’s day was done. He completed six of eight passes for 36 yards and had one touchdown and interception. Manning’s replacement, Jim Sorgi, entered the game on the next Colts drive. Sorgi’s first pass went for 32 yards, but the drive stalled and the Colts were forced to punt. A penalty on the punt pushed the Falcons back to their five yard line.

Matt Schaub, who had come in to replace Vick, bobbled the snap at the five and botched the handoff to Jason Wright. The ball was recovered by Kendyll Pope of the Colts and returned for a one-yard touchdown. The short TD put the Colts ahead 14-6 with 7:12 to go in the second quarter. The fumble was pretty much the only mistake that Schaub made all game. Schaub would go on to complete 11 of 13 for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Both of Schaub’s touchdown passes came in the second quarter on seven-play drives: a six-yarder to Brian Finneran and a three-yarder to Fred McCrary. The Falcons led 20-14 at the half.

The second half kickoff saw another huge blunder by the Falcons. Anthony Davis of the Colts muffed the kick return, and fumbled the ball at the seven. His fumble bounced forward all the way to the 20, where it was recovered by the Falcons. The celebration was short-lived because the Falcons were flagged for being offsides on the kickoff, and had to re-kick. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the re-kick went out of bounds, and the Colts got to the start with the ball on their own 45. Sorgi was sacked on two straight plays on the drive, and the Colts were forced to punt.

The Falcons and Colts continued to stall throughout the third quarter, as neither team could get anything going. The teams would go scoreless until Wright got some sweet redemption (bobbled the handoff from Schaub and the Colts scored on the fumble) with a one-yard touchdown run for the Falcons with 6:21 to go in the game, pushing the Falcon lead to 27-14.

Third-stringer Travis Brown of the Colts, who completed 10 of 14 passes for 136 yards, sparked thoughts of a Colt rally with a three-yard touchdown pass with 4:02 to go that made the score 27-21.

When the Falcons’ ensuing possession faltered, the Colts got the ball back at their 14 with 1:48 to go. Brown would drive the Colts down to the Falcons’ 30, but that was where the rally came to a screeching halt. Three incomplete passes and a quarterback sack would put an end to the game, and the Falcon victory was in the books.

No team has ever won a preseason game in Tokyo and gone on to win the Super Bowl, which is bad news for Falcons fans. Then again, the preseason is supposed to be meaningless, right?