Dolphins fall to Falcons in preseason opener, 16-10

Written by Matthew Cannata | Twitter: @PhinManiacs
The Miami Dolphins kicked off their preseason with a 16-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons but before going further, realize that wins and losses mean absolutely nothing during this time and it's more about experimentation and development of young players. 

With that out of the way, the first team offense looked dominant while the second and third team offense struggled. On the defensive side, every unit struggled and will have a lot of work to do this coming week. The details from each unit are highlighted in the stories below this. 

Quarterback Seth Lobato, who played the entire game except the first offensive drive of the game, had the chance to lead the Dolphins to a win with the ball on the Falcons' five yard line with under three minutes to go. Unfortunately, he fumbled the snap and the Falcons recovered.

"As a quarterback, I have to make that play and can't let the ball get on the ground in that situation, Throughout the game, 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 offense and made some plays. We just didn't make enough plays."

The two starting quarterbacks both thought their units did well. 

"It felt good," Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. "It was a good start for us. I thought that we ran the ball effectively, had some short passing game and then the one vertical shot to Rishard. All in all I felt it was a good start for us. We had limited action, but I felt that we were effective the few plays that we were in."

"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," Falcons quarterback Matt 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."

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