One of the byproducts of Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez’s decision to return for the 2013 season was that he had a chance to become the second player in NFL history to catch a pass in 200 straight games.
Gonzalez accomplished that feat early in Monday night’s game against the Jets. Gonzalez caught a six-yard pass from Matt Ryan on the Falcons’ first possession of the game to join Jerry Rice as the only members of that club. Rice caught a pass in 274 games, so Gonzalez will have to settle for being No. 2 on that list unless he plans to waver on his vow to retire for a few more seasons.
The drive didn’t work out for the Falcons as Darrin Walls dropped what should have been an interception on a later third down and Antonio Allen blocked Matt Bosher’s punt to set the Jets up just outside Falcons territory. The Jets were able to take advantage for a field goal, with Geno Smith going 4-of-4 for 30 yards to move the team to the Atlanta four-yard line. The Jets lined up to go for it on fourth down, but wound up taking a delay of game penalty after getting set up with just a couple of seconds left on the play clock.
The Falcons declined the penalty, something we’ve never seen before, and Nick Folk’s 22-yard field goal has the Jets up 3-0 with 5:46 to play in the first.