Ryan Mayer
The Falcons offense struggled in the first quarter against the Patriots, allowing two drive killing sacks on third downs that led directly to punts. However, following a forced fumble by Deion Jones on the Patriots third drive, Matt Ryan and company started to put it together. First, they marched down the field behind the combination of Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman.
Then, after the defense forced another three-and-out from the Patriots, Ryan went to work again hitting Taylor Gabriel (34 yards) and Julio Jones (18 yards) to get down inside the red zone once again. Following a one yard run from Tevin Coleman, Ryan threw a perfect pass to tight end Austin Hooper for an easy touchdown.
The touchdown gave the Falcons a 14-0 lead with Ryan having quite the start to his night, completing seven of his eight pass attempts for 115 yards and the touchdown.
