ATLANTA -- One year ago, the Falcons 0-4 preseason record set the stage for coach Mike Smiths first losing record in six seasons in Atlanta. Smith was more than ready for a positive start to Atlantas 2014 preseason. Matt Ryan was sharp in leading Atlanta to a touchdown on the teams first possession and the Falcons recovered a late fumble for the games only turnover to hold off the Miami Dolphins 16-10 on Friday night in the preseason opener for both teams. "Individually and collectively, I thought the first impression was good," Smith said. "We want to be a physical football team and I thought we showed that." Rookie quarterback Seth Lobato led Miami to the Atlanta 5-yard line with less than 3 minutes remaining before fumbling a shotgun snap. Defensive end Nosa Eguae recovered for Atlanta. "As a quarterback, I have to make that play and cant let the ball get on the ground in that situation," said Lobato, who took over after Ryan Tannehill opened the game with a touchdown drive. Tannehill was 6 for 6 for 62 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Gibson, to open the game. Ryan was just as strong, completing each of his seven attempts for 53 yards on Atlantas opening drive. Jacquizz Rodgers capped the drive with a 2-yard scoring run. Rodgers started as Steven Jackson continued to recover from a left hamstring injury. Ryan completed passes of 17 yards to Harry Douglas and 5 and 12 yards to Roddy White on the drive. Ryan called the opening possession -- 15 plays for 77 yards -- "exactly what you want for your first drive of the year." "We were able to run the ball pretty effectively, and when we did have the opportunity to throw, we were able to move the chains," Ryan said. "We were able to overcome a couple of penalties, we were able to keep going, and punch the ball into the end zone." Smith said it was important for Ryan to have a strong answer to Miamis touchdown drive. "I like the way our first-team offence came back and answered the opening drive the Dolphins were able to put together," Smith said. "We had three other opportunities in the red zone where we did not finish the drive. Those are things we definitely need to be addressing and talking about." Lobato, an undrafted rookie from Northern Colorado, completed 14 of 28 passes for 124 yards. "I felt really comfortable and thought the line did a great job protecting me," Lobato said. "I thought that we did some pretty good things as an offence and made some plays. We just didnt make enough plays." Matt Bryant closed the first half with a 21-yard field goal. Danny Hrapmann kicked a 42-yarder in the second quarter for Miami. Sergio Castillo added field goals of 21 and 34 yards in the second half for Atlanta. T.J. Yates, the favourite to win the job as Ryans top backup, looked poised in Atlantas two-minute offence to set up Bryants field goal. Yates completed 7 of 16 passes for 123 yards. Yates is competing with Sean Renfree, who led field-goal drives in the third and fourth quarters. Renfree, a second-year player from Duke, completed 6 of 15 passes for 108 yards. Falcons rookie running back Devonta Freeman had 10 carries for 50 yards and one catch for 57 yards. Another rookie, Bernard Reedy, caught two passes for 61 yards. Atlanta running back Antone Smith had two big plays negated by penalties. On Atlantas opening drive, Ryan dumped a short pass to Smith from the Miami 46. Smith took off for an apparent big gain to the Dolphins 11, but an illegal formation penalty brought the play back. In the second quarter, Smith broke free on what appeared to be a 76-yard touchdown run, but a holding penalty against Falcons rookie right tackle Jake Matthews wiped out the play. NOTES: Miami QBs Matt Moore (shoulder) and Pat Devlin (hamstring) were held out. ... Dolphins coach Joe Philbin said he had no update on RB Damien Williams, who was carted off the field with an undisclosed injury late in the game. ... Miami S Reshad Jones, who on Friday was suspended for the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances, played with the other defensive starters. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Free Shipping . Jets head coach Paul Maurice made the announcement Saturday following the morning skate and confirmed Al Montoya will start in goal against the Dallas Stars on Sunday. NFL Jerseys China . -- Michigan coach John Beilein is willing to give Nik Stauskas a little leeway when it comes to shot selection. https://www.chinajerseysnfl.us/. Levante, which had lost five straight including a Copa del Rey game last weekend, fell behind at its Ciutat de Valencia stadium when Ionut Sapanura opened the scoring for Elche in the 26th minute. Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap . -- Sami Salo joked that as the shootout went on and on, one thing went through his mind: "Youve got to tie up your skates. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China .com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills.SEATTLE - If this all seems familiar for the Seattle Seahawks, thats because it is.A season ago, the Seahawks beat the St. Louis Rams in Week 17 of the 2013 season to wrap up the NFC West title and home-field advantage throughout the post-season.Nearly the exact same scenario is in play this Sunday when the Seahawks close out the regular season hosting the Rams. A victory would give the Seahawks (11-4) their second straight NFC West title. And barring a rare tie between Green Bay and Detroit, a Seahawks victory would route the NFC playoffs through Seattle for the second straight season.Not a lot of people want to come to Seattle, so if we make everybody fly out to Seattle and come enjoy our wonderful weather and our great fans, I think they kind of enjoy it — a little bit, Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said.Seattle is riding a five-game win streak, mowing through Arizona and San Francisco twice and knocking off Philadelphia to put the NFC playoff race back under the Seahawks control. It was a significant turn from where Seattle sat after losing at Kansas City in Week 11 and falling to 6-4.Sitting there is the opportunity for home-field advantage and making the rest of the NFC come to CenturyLink Field, where Seattle is 23-2, including the playoffs, over the past three seasons.St. Louis (6-9) beat Seattle 28-26 in October, but hasnt beaten a team on the road with a winning record. A win over the Seahawks would throw the entire NFC playoff seeding into turmoil and give the Rams a third straight seven-win season.Its not about rocking their world and affecting their playoffs, its just trying to find a way to win the last game, St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher said.Heres what else to watch as the Seahawks and Rams meet in Week 17 for the fourth time in five seasons:WILSONS FINALE: Along with Seattles win streak has been some of the best play of Russell Wilsons young career. The Seattle QB has a passer rating of 106.2 during the five-game span, with seven touchdowns and one interception. Hes also averaging nearly 55 yards per game rushing during the span.With one more big game, Wilson could become the first quarterback in league history with 3,500 yards passing and 900 yards rushing in a single season. Wilson would need 58 yards rushing and 264 yards passing to reach those benchmarks.The best way to describe it is that hes an extra player on offence.dddddddddddd Theyre playing with 12 and thats very hard to defend, Fisher said.SACKS-A-PLENTY: The Rams pass rush was mostly silent the first five games of the season. The Seahawks served as a kickstarter.St. Louis sacked Wilson three times in October. That was just the start. Over the past 10 games, the Rams have 36 sacks, including eight against San Francisco, seven against Washington and six vs. Oakland. The Rams are now tied for 15th in the league.Its one you dont necessarily look forward to all the time because they do so many different looks, theyre physical, they know how to get to the quarterback, Wilson said.DEFENSIVE HISTORY: With another stellar defensive performance, the Seahawks could join a rare fraternity in NFL history as the best defence in the league for consecutive seasons. Seattle led the NFL in yards and points allowed last season and is in position to do it again. The Seahawks would become just the fourth team in league history to lead those categories in consecutive seasons. Seattle can also become the third team the lead the league in scoring defence in three straight seasons, the last being the Vikings from 1969-71.BEAST MODE: Marshawn Lynch likely wont set a single-season career high in yards rushing on Sunday. But he could cap off arguably the best all-around season of his career. Lynch has 1,246 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns, along with four TDs receiving. The 16 total touchdowns lead the NFL.Hes the hardest tackle in the NFL, in my opinion, St. Louis linebacker James Laurinaitis said.SPECIAL TEAMS DIFFERENCE: St. Louis won the first meeting largely because of its special teams. There was the 90-yard punt return touchdown by Stedman Bailey when the Rams duped Seattles coverage unit by running to the opposite side of the field of where the ball was kicked. Benny Cunningham had a 75-yard kickoff return to set up another score.The capper was punter Johnny Hekker, a Seattle area native, completing his second career pass against the Seahawks on a fourth-down fake punt with less than two minutes remaining in the game.Being able to play for a coach that does like to throw that kind of stuff in quite frequently is kind of fun, Hekker said. It throws the players a bone that sometimes doesnt get recognized.___AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '