Saturday, August 10, 2002
Falcons 23, Jaguars 13
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons have a lot more fans. Apparently, they haven't figured out a way to count them all.
The Falcons drew an unusually large turnout for the first game of the Arthur Blank era, a 23-13 preseason victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday night.
Blank, who bought the often-dismal franchise for $545 million, cut ticket prices and was rewarded with a significant increase in season-ticket packages.
The impact was evident with a Georgia Dome crowd that appeared to be at least 55,000, though the team announced only 43,624 in some sort of mixup with the ticket-counting system.
“I'm proud of Atlanta,” Blank said. “I'm not sure exactly how many people were here. We didn't want to overestimate or overblow it. Obviously, we sold more tickets than that.”
New starting quarterback Michael Vick led two scoring drives, and first-round pick T.J. Duckett rushed for 55 yards in his NFL debut.
Vick, handed the starting job when the Falcons cut Chris Chandler, was off target with a few throws but still completed 7-of-12 for 58 yards. He guided the Falcons to two field goals in the first half.
“I rushed some throws in the beginning, but there were a couple of things to build off of,” said Vick, the No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft. “It was another steppingstone in my career.”
The Jaguars were without their leading receiver, Jimmy Smith, who's holding out in a contract dispute.
But Fred Taylor, who missed most of last season with a groin tear, appeared to be back at full strength. He ran eight times for 42 yards and showed no hesitance to make cuts.
“It was good to see Fred in the huddle again, and we told him,” quarterback Mark Brunell said. “We sure missed him.”
Otherwise, the Jaguars struggled. They threw for just 69 yards, and lost 40 yards on five sacks. Overall, Jacksonville was outgained 310-160 in total yards.
“It wasn't anywhere near as smooth as I thought it would be or should be,” said coach Tom Coughlin, trying to bring the Jaguars back from two straight losing seasons. “The offense sputtered.”
Duckett missed the first nine days of Atlanta's training camp before signing a contract. He didn't show any rustiness, carrying 10 times and breaking off a 25-yard gain that featured a ferocious stiff arm.
“Anything to keep them away from my body,” the 254-pound Duckett said.
Doug Johnson, Vick's backup, helped his cause by going 14-of-15 for 151 yards. He led the Falcons on both of their touchdown drives against Jacksonville's backups in the second half.
Johnson threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Alge Crumpler, who made a brilliant catch along the sideline. The 262-pound tight end leaped high to snare the ball and came down with his toes just inside the line before tumbling out of bounds.
The Jaguars challenged the call, but the officials let it stand after viewing a replay.
“I'm confident that any ball thrown near me, I can make the grab,” Crumpler said. “I don't think a lot of guys would come down with it.”
Jay Feely, who connected on field goals of 41 and 29 yards in a first half that ended 6-6, hit a 30-yarder in the fourth quarter to give the Falcons a 16-6 lead.
The Jaguars made it 16-13 when second-string quarterback David Garrard scrambled 14 yards for a touchdown.
But the Falcons scored the clinching TD in the final minute on Travis Jervey's 1-yard run.
Brunell played the first four possessions for Jacksonville, going just 3-of-8 for 28 yards. Garrard was 4-of-8 for 35 yards and led the Jaguars with 47 yards rushing.
Hayden Epstein kicked a couple of field goals for Jacksonville in the second quarter, both set up by Atlanta fumbles.
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Falcons 23, Jaguars 13
