ATLANTA — Two weeks ago, Kenbrell Thompkins was on the receiving end of Tom Brady's wrath.
Sunday night, the rookie was on the receiving end of several big fourth-quarter pass plays, including an 18-yard touchdown and a crucial 26-yard reception on third-and-19. Both catches were instrumental in New England remaining unbeaten, as the Patriots (4-0) defeated the Atlanta Falcons 30-23 in the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons fell to 1-3 on the season, falling for the second straight week to an unbeaten team from the AFC East.
"I've still got a lot of work to do," Thompkins said, "but it feels great to make big plays to help our team win."
Thompkins finished with six catches for 127 yards.
"He's an impressive young player," said Brady, who was visibly upset with mistakes the undrafted free agent wide receiver made in a sloppy victory over the New York Jets in Week 2. "It's really rare to see a young player step in with that kind of confidence to make plays and make things happen out there."
Seemingly cruising to a convincing win, New England nearly blew a 30-13 lead.
Atlanta stormed back to threaten overtime, thanks to the recovery of an onside kick and a fourth-down fumble by New England. Trailing by seven with 1:50 to play, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan found wide receiver Julio Jones for a stunning 49-yard strike down the left sideline. But on fourth down at the New England 10-yard line, Ryan threw incomplete for Roddy White, and the Patriots held on for the victory.
Brady threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns after only completing five passes in the first half. With starting wideout Danny Amendola and tight end Rob Gronkowski inactive, Brady spread the ball around to eight different receivers, including seldom-used tight end Matthew Mulligan, who caught Brady's first touchdown pass, a 1-yard strike between two defenders.
"My job is to get open on the backside of the end zone," Mulligan said. "Everyone else was covered, so I got to make the play."
New England also got key sacks from reserve defensive linemen Joe Vellano and Michael Buchanan. The deeper pass rush rotation was necessitated by an injury to All-Pro defensive tackle Vince Wilfork in the first quarter. Wilfork limped off with what appeared to be right ankle injury and didn't return.
A two-play sequence to begin the fourth quarter was decisive. On third-and-19 from his own 12-yard line, with the Georgia Dome crowd at full blast, Brady found Thompkins on a deep seam route for 26 yards, a gain compounded by a personal foul on Falcons safety William Moore. Thompkins made a good mid-air adjustment to corral the throw.
"It was definitely a big play," Thompkins said. "It was a little underthrown. The ball was in the air and my job was to go up and catch it."
On the next play, running back LeGarrette Blount, yet another Patriots backup to make an impact on the game, ran up the gut, broke left and outraced the secondary for a 47-yard touchdown that put the Patriots ahead 20-10.
Atlanta knotted the game at 10 just before halftime on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Ryan to tight end Tony Gonzalez, who caught three passes for 46 yards on the 80-yard drive. Gonzalez eluded safety Tony Gregory along the right sideline and snuck into the corner for the score, his first of two touchdowns on the night to go with a career-high 149 receiving yards.
Ryan finished with 421 yards passing to go with the two touchdown passes and an interception.
"We're really, really disappointed in this one," Gonzalez said. "Our offense can only get better. It's got to get better. Sooner or later, it's gonna happen because we've done it before."
Good red zone defense kept New England in the game early on. Ryan started fast, completing his first seven passes. But the Patriots secondary tightened up, forcing a short 23-yard field goal by Matt Bryant.
Later in the half, the Falcons moved inside the Patriots' 10-yard line again, but on fourth-and-2, Ryan rolled left and threw incomplete for White. New England took over on its own 8-yard line, and a 49-yard completion to Thompkins, after a fake handoff and fake reverse, set up a 48-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski that put the Patriots ahead 10-3.
The Patriots used brute force to take the lead. After a 24-yard screen pass to Steven Ridley started the drive, New England ran the ball on ten consecutive plays, often out of two- and three-tight end sets. After grinding out 50 yards on the ground, powering the ball to the goal line, Brady hit Mulligan in between two defenders for a 1-yard touchdown on third-and-goal.
New England will try to stay undefeated when it travels to Cincinnati to play the Bengals next Sunday.
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