Week 1, September 4th, 1988 Atlanta Falcons @ Detroit Lions

Sunday, September 4th, 1988 1:00PM
Atlanta Falcons (0-0) @ Detroit Lions (0-0)
Pontiac Silverdome
Weather: Dome
Line: Detroit -4 (atlanta), O/U 43.5 (under)

Attendance:  31,075 (80,311)

ATLANTA 16, DETROIT 10

Casillas, Falcons defense stifle the Lions to take the season opener on the road.

The Atlanta Falcons hung on to defeat the Detroit Lions in front of an opening day crowd of 31,075 at the Pontiac Silverdome.  The Falcons took the lead halfway through the 1^stquarter and never trailed.  They opened the scoring on a 39 yard pass to Stacey Bailey from Chris Miller.  That was Stacey Bailey’s only reception and Atlanta’s lone touchdown.  They would rely on their defense, who allowed only 234 yards of offense to the Lions.  Chris Miller played an efficient game, 13 of 21 for 147 yards and 1 touchdown.  John Settle and Gerald Riggs provided good ball control for Atlanta in a tandem, combining for 22 carries for 114 yards.  Settle also caught 4 passes for the Falcons.  Tony Casillas led the way for Atlanta’s defense, tallying 3 sacks (all in the 2^nd half).  Greg Davis was perfect in all 3 of his field goal attempts.  Top pick Aundray Bruce contributed 4 tackles.

Gerald Riggs hits the hole on his longest run of 18 yards early in the 4th quarter

Head Coach Darryl Rogers had no answers to Atlanta's defense as Detroit could not muster much offense at all.  In an afternoon that they allowed 6 sacks, the lone highlight was Gerry James’ 2 yard touchdown scamper in the final 2 minutes to bring the game within 1 score.  Detroit’s 1^st 6 drives resulted in 5 punts and a missed 44-yard field goal (to close the 1^sthalf).  Not including the missed field goal drive late in the 2^nd quarter, the Lions had 3 first downs and 45 net yards of offense at 9:20 of the 3^rd quarter.  

Player of the Game
Tony Casillas - Falcons

Casillas had 3 key sacks for Atlanta in the 2nd half and 7 total tackles

1988 Atlanta 16, 1988 Detroit 10
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1988 Atlanta	7	6	0	3	0	16
1988 Detroit	0	0	3	7	0	10

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	8:07	1988 Atlanta	S.Bailey 39 yd. pass from C.Miller (G.Davis kick)	7-0 ATN
2	8:48	1988 Atlanta	G.Davis 46 yd. field goal	10-0 ATN
2	3:23	1988 Atlanta	G.Davis 47 yd. field goal	13-0 ATN
3	5:38	1988 Detroit	E.Murray 40 yd. field goal	13-3 ATN
4	8:01	1988 Atlanta	G.Davis 43 yd. field goal	16-3 ATN
4	1:37	1988 Detroit	G.James 2 yd. run (E.Murray kick)	16-10 ATN

Team Statistics
	1988 Atlanta	1988 Detroit
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	8-7-1-16	8-11-0-19
Third Down Efficiency	3-12-25%	6-14-43%
Fourth Down Efficiency	2-2-100%	1-1-100%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	0-7-0%	10-14-71%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	279-56-5.0	234-64-3.7
Total Net Yards Rushing	139	84
Total Rushes	33	21
Average Per Rush	4.2	4.0
Passes Completed/Attempted	13/21 (61.9%)	23/37 (62.2%)
Net Yards Passing	140	150
Avg Yards Per Pass	7.0	5.2
Sacked/Yards Lost	2/7	6/42
Punts/Average	4/41.5	6/43.0
Punts Received/Return Yardage	4/12	3/4
Kickoffs/Returns	1/16	2/43
Interceptions/Returns	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	5/35	5/35
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	1/0	0/0
Time of Possession	28 mins 42 secs	31 mins 18 secs
Average Drive Start	ATN 26	DEN 26

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1988 Atlanta
Chris Miller	21	13	147	61.9	7.0	1	4.8	0	0	39	2/7	98.7
1988 Detroit
Chuck Long	37	23	192	62.2	5.2	0	0	0	0	15	6/42	75.5

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1988 Atlanta
John Settle	12	59	4.9	15	0	0	0/0
Gerald Riggs	10	55	5.5	18	0	0	0/0
Chris Miller	5	-3	-0.6	2	0	0	0/0
Gene Lang	4	22	5.5	13	0	0	0/0
James Primus	2	6	3.0	3	0	0	0/0
1988 Detroit
Garry James	10	30	3.0	15	1	0	0/0
James R. Jones	8	23	2.9	6	0	0	0/0
Tony Paige	2	24	12.0	16	0	0	0/0
Chuck Long	1	7	7.0	7	0	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1988 Atlanta
John Settle	4	27	6.8	16	0	0
Floyd Dixon	3	33	11.0	12	0	0
Jessie Hester	2	27	13.5	15	0	0
Michael D. Haynes	1	6	6.0	6	0	0
Ken Whisenhunt	1	14	14.0	14	0	0
Stacey Bailey	1	39	39.0	39	1	0
Gerald Riggs	1	1	1.0	1	0	0
1988 Detroit
Jeff Chadwick	6	54	9.0	15	0	0
Pete Mandley	5	49	9.8	14	0	0
Garry James	4	28	7.0	11	0	0
Gary Lee	2	16	8.0	8	0	0
Tony Paige	2	15	7.5	9	0	0
James R. Jones	2	14	7.0	9	0	0
Carl Bland	1	7	7.0	7	0	0
Stephen Starring	1	9	9.0	9	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1988 Atlanta
Greg Davis	0/0	0/0	0/0	3/3	0/0	3/3	100
1988 Detroit
Eddie Murray	0/0	0/0	0/0	1/2	0/0	1/2	50.0

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1988 Atlanta
Rick Donnelly	4	41.5	40.5	0	1	44	0
1988 Detroit
Jim Arnold	6	43.0	37.7	1	3	51	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Atlanta
Tim Gordon	1	16	16.0	16	0
1988 Detroit
Carl Painter	2	43	21.5	24	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Atlanta
Lew Barnes	4	1	12	3.0	7	0
1988 Detroit
Pete Mandley	3	1	4	1.3	2	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1988 Atlanta
John Rade	11	1	0
Tony Casillas	7	3	0
Marcus Cotton	6	0	0
Scott Case	6	0	0
Bobby Butler	5	0	1
Aundray Bruce	4	0	0
Robert Moore	4	0	0
Rick Bryan	2	1	0
Mike Gann	2	1	0
Tim Gordon	1	0	0
Charles Dimry	1	0	0
1988 Detroit
Mike L. Cofer	9	1	0
Chris Spielman	7	0	0
Dennis Gibson	6	0	0
Jerry Ball	5	1	0
Jerry Holmes	4	0	0
Eric M. Williams	3	0	0
Bruce McNorton	3	0	0
Devon Mitchell	2	0	0
Bennie Blades	2	0	0
Bobby L. Watkins	2	0	0
Curtis Green	1	0	0

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Atlanta
1988 Detroit

Game Story

In a tightly fought contest the visiting team from Atlanta defeated Detroit by the score of 16 to 10. John Settle led all rushers, carrying the ball 12 times for 59 yards. Atlanta controlled the ground game, out-rushing Detroit 139 to 84 yards.