Falcons Best All-Time Week 1 Win: Men in Black
The Atlanta Falcons haven't won a season opener since a second-year tight end named Austin Hooper took a Matt Ryan pass 88 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown that helped silence Bears in Chicago.
Hooper now plays in Cleveland, and the Falcons' Week 1 results reside in the dumpster.
Atlanta has lost its last three season openers, including a 38-25 setback to the Seattle Seahawks a year ago that sent 2020 spiraling into an 0-5 start. Without Julio Jones but with a new head coach in Arthur Smith a rookie tight end (Kyle Pitts) with the ability to also take one 88 yards, the Falcons try to start their season on a positive note by hosting the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday.
Not that the Falcons' all-time Week 1 history have been totally forgettable.
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In 1979, both the Falcons and rival New Orleans Saints amassed 500+ yards of offense before Falcons' special teamer James Mayberry produced one of the most memorable plays in franchise history by intercepting Saints' punter Russell Erxleben's frantic end-zone pass off a bad snap and walking in for a game-winning touchdown in overtime.
In 2005, tempers flared in the Monday Night Football rematch of the 2004 NFC Championship game, with Falcons' cornerback Kevin Mathis and Eagles' linebacker Jeremiah Trotter ejected during pregame warmups. Ryan found talented weapons in Jones and Tony Gonzalez in a 40-24 Week 1 victory in Kansas City in 2012, and kicker Matt Bryant made 50+-yard field goals at the end of regulation and overtime in 2014 as the Falcons rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat the Saints in overtime.
But for curtain-raisers, nothing tops the 1990 debut of head coach Jerry Glanville.
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After a horrendous three-year stretch going 13-35 under Marion Campbell, the flamboyant Glanville came to town and restored respect and excitement in one night. On Sept. 9, 1990. the Falcons - dressed in new all-black uniforms - took a 27-0 lead on Glanville's old team, the Houston Oilers. Touchdowns by running back Steve Broussard and defensive scores by Bobby Butler and Jessie Tuggle had the sellout at Fulton County Stadium going absolutely bonkers.
And when the Oilers attempted a furious rally, the Falcons put the game away with big-play touchdowns by newly acquired receiver Andre Rison and star cornerback Deion Sanders, who high-stepped his way to an 82-yard interception return.
The Falcons went on to only a 5-11 season. But for one night, all was right in Atlanta.
