Two teams who experienced different fates at the end of tight season openers meet Sunday at the Georgia Dome, where the Atlanta Falcons look for their first win of the season against the visiting Arizona Cardinals.
Arizona (1-0) held off Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams for a 17-13 victory in Week 1 when safety Adrian Wilson intercepted a Hail Mary on the game's final play.
Wilson led the Cardinals' defensive effort with two interceptions, a sack and a blocked field goal last week, becoming one of 10 players in NFL history with 20 or more sacks and 20 or more interceptions. Wilson had interceptions in each of the past two meetings with Atlanta, including one he returned 99 yards for a touchdown in the last meeting at the Georgia Dome.
Arizona's offense had mixed results in its first game without Kurt Warner at the helm, but Derek Anderson was solid, if unspectacular, in his debut as the Cardinals' starting quarterback, completing 22 of 41 passes for 297 yards and a touchdown. More important, he didn't throw an interception.
Steve Breaston was Anderson's favorite target, catching seven passes for a career-high 132 yards, and Larry Fitzgerald caught three passes for 43 yards, including a go-ahead 21-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Fitzgerald has caught a touchdown pass in four consecutive regular-season games.
The Cardinals played without running back Beanie Wells, who sat out with a knee injury. Tim Hightower started in his place, gaining 54 yards on 13 carries and scoring a touchdown but losing two fumbles. Wells is expected to play Sunday.
The Falcons (0-1) let a potential victory slip away last week in Pittsburgh when Rashard Mendenhall broke a 50-yard touchdown run in overtime to send Atlanta to a 15-9 loss.
Now Atlanta returns home, where quarterback Matt Ryan is 13-1 as a starter. Ryan threw for 252 yards on 27-of-44 passing last week; he threw an interception and did not connect on a touchdown pass.
The Falcons didn't have much more luck on the ground, as Michael Turner couldn't find running room against the Steelers, gaining only 42 yards on 19 carries.
There were some bright spots in Atlanta's passing game, though, as Tony Gonzalez became the first tight end in NFL history with 1,000 receptions and Roddy White caught a league-best 13 passes for 111 yards. White has 23 catches for 225 yards and a touchdown in his past two games against Arizona.
The Falcons have won four of the past five regular-season meetings, but the Cardinals won the most recent one 30-27 in overtime in 2007. Arizona also beat Atlanta 30-24 in the wild-card round of the 2009 playoffs en route to reaching the franchise's first Super Bowl.