Vinatieri kicks Patriots to victory of Falcons 31-28

By John Palmer | Sunday, October 09, 2005 | ( 0 )

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Is Adam Vinatieri the most clutch kicker in NFL history? It's a good question, but I'm sure anyone in the New England Patriots organization would answer a resounding 'yes!". 19 times in his career he's booted a game winning field goal. His 19th defeated the Atlanta Falcons 31-28.

Atlanta, playing fast and loose with the NFL's injury report, finally declared that QB Michael Vick would not play today as he continues to rest his ailing right knee. Matt Schaub had to try and fill Vick's winged shoes and did an admirable job tossing 3 TD passes. He ended up 18 of 34 for 298 yards and had no turnovers.

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady also had a great day completing 22-of-27 passes for 350 yards, with 3 touchdowns and one interception. They ended the game with 483-yards of total offense. But what would a game featuring the Super Bowl champs be without injuries. RB Cory Dillon rushed for 106 yards before leaving late in the game with an undisclosed injury. Atlanta was also bitten and bitten hard by the injury bug, possibly losing LB Edgerton Hartwell and CB Chris Cash to season-ending injuries.

The Patriots (3 � 2) squandered a couple of leads, but avoided back-to-back losses for the first time in 3 years. Atlanta, also 3-2, tied the game at 28 when Schaub threw a 14-yard TD pass to Dez White with 3:52 left, and that included a 2-point conversion.

In an amazing lack of composure, the Atlanta Falcons embarked on a four-penalties-in-four-plays stretch on New England's game winning drive that gave the Pats a first down at the Falcons 44. Patriot receiver Deion Branch had 8 receptions for 107 yards, but was also the recipient of a blatant pass interference call on the Falcon's Allen Rossum in that last drive.

Atlanta narrowed the gap to 14-13 at halftime with two field goals in the last 1:25. The Todd Peterson nailed a 33-yarder, but it was the second that was a bit more interesting. At the New England 40, the Falcon's called their last timeout. Rookie punter Matt Koenen came on to try a 58 yarder because Peterson didn't have the range. His first try was wide right but New England called a timeout just before the snap. Koenen got another try. His second try went through with plenty to spare for his first career field goal and second-longest in Falcons' history.

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