The reserves dominated playing time against Miami, and those reserves wanted to make a good showing. With a handful of exceptions, mission accomplished for Atlanta.
Despite the low scoring total for the Falcons, there were a few players who did quite well on offense, and the defense did solid work in the open field and excellent work in the red zone to clamp down on the Dolphins. That led to a low-scoring game that remained interesting despite the uneven performances on both sides of the ball right up until late in the fourth quarter, when a Dee Alford punt return touchdown and Breon Borders pick-six broke the game wide open and put Atlanta up by a huge margin.