Summary of the Atlanta game

by Raul Villaronga
Editor for theboys.com

The Georgia Dome may be &quotDeion's House", but the Big 3 of Dallas did some major renovations en route to a 28-13 victory over the Falcons today. The game featured the debut of Darrin Smith, the LB holdout from Dallas, as well as one Deion &quotPrime Time" Sanders.

Dallas QB Troy Aikman passed for 198 yards, RB Emmitt Smith bulled for 167 yards and WR Michael Irvin caught passes for 135 yards as the Dallas offense proved to be too much for Atlanta.

The Falcons started out quickly, with Atlanta QB Jeff George hitting WR Eric Metcalf on a 42-yard TD pass in their opening drive, the 1st opening drive TD that Dallas has allowed in over 35 games. A field goal from Morten Anderson put Dallas down 10-0 early in the 2nd quarter.

But seemingly sparked by adversity, Dallas stormed back with 2 TDs before the half to take a 14-10 lead into the locker room. The first, a 1-yard TD run by Emmitt Smith, added to his NFL leading 14 TDs. Aikman found TE Jay NOvacek all alone in the end zone with :15 seconds left in the half for the go-ahead score.

Next to get into the act was Irvin, who pulled in a 43-yard Aikman TD pass on a nice reception in the 3rd quarter. Anderson added a meaningless FG towards the end of the quarter, but it proved to be too little too late.

As if spreading the ball around for all to share, the Moose was Loose for a 8-yard bull-rush to make the final TD score early in the 4th quarter, putting the game out of reach.

After relenquishing the lead, Atlanta never seemed to get back into the game. The Dallas offense proved to be too much for them, and the defense appeared to be shored up by returning Darrin Smith and newcomer Deion Sanders.

Darrin Smith had 3 tackles and had a slow but steady performance his first game back. His cover skills in the middle of the field seemed welcome.

But the big story, as was anticipated, was the return of Deion Sanders to the Georgia Dome. He had few plays to his side (as usual) and was used on a post pattern that could have been caught for a TD, although he needed to stretch out for the catch, one that only a few WRs in the league could have made.

Dallas moves to 7-1, awaiting a showdown next Monday Night hosting the Philadelphia Eagles, who are 2 games behind Dallas.