The Sports Xchange

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Atlanta Falcons found themselves down 14 points early Sunday afternoon to the Dallas Cowboys, but never flinched.

Instead, the Falcons hit back and remained undefeated three weeks into the NFL season.

“They have a lot of resolve to reset, come back out and finish like we did,” Atlanta coach Dan Quinn said of his team. “Clearly, we were punched in the mouth and were looking to respond.”

Wide receiver Julio Jones caught a pair of touchdown passes and backup running back Devonta Freeman scored three times for the Falcons, who finished the game with 25 unanswered points in a 39-28 victory over Dallas at AT&T Stadium.

Quarterback Matt Ryan was firmly in command, thanks to the combo of Freeman and Jones, who now lead the NFL with 34 receptions in three games.

The Cowboys (2-1) knew what to expect out of Jones, who came in with consecutive 100-yard receiving games. Freeman, on the other hand, was filling in for injured rookie back Tevin Coleman (ribs).

“I just believed,” Freeman said. “We all believe in each other.”

Jones finished with 12 catches for 164 yards and two scores, the second putting the game away with 3:09 left in the fourth quarter.

Freeman piled up career highs in yards (141) and touchdowns after totaling just 43 yards in the first two games. The second-year back out of Florida State had just two career scores before Sunday.

“There were demonstrations of toughness all over the field today,” Quinn said. “That’s what we’re looking to be: a team that has great effort, shows out toughness and knows how to finish.”

The Cowboys, in their first full game without injured quarterback Tony Romo and receiver Dez Bryant, had their highest scoring game of the season and several standout performances, but failed to push the ball downfield.

The defense simply failed to slow down Atlanta down the stretch.

Three things we learned about the Cowboys:

1. Next man up is good in theory, but hard in practice. Being without QB Tony Romo and WR Dez Bryant caught up with Dallas in the second half, as the offense grinded to a halt after a surprising 28-point first half. Romo and Bryant are both out until at least midseason.

2. QB Brandon Weeden needs to stretch the field if the Cowboys want to keep defenses honest. Dumping the ball off to backs and tight ends works for only so long. Cole Beasley was the only Dallas receiver to catch a pass Sunday.

3. The defense may not be as sturdy as advertised. After two standout performances against the Giants and Eagles, the Cowboys were gorged in the second half. Atlanta finished the game with 25 unanswered points and 438 yards of total offense.

Etc.

–QB Brandon Weeden completed 22 of 26 passes for 232 yards and an interception. It was only his second start since joining Dallas in 2014. “I thought it was an efficient day,” he said. “I have those guys a chance to run it after the catch and they did that.”

–RB Joseph Randle had a career day with three touchdowns and 87 yards rushing, but was shut down in the second half. Randle had each of his scores before halftime and had 92 yards at the break. Randle faced plenty of eight-man fronts in the second half.

–RB Lance Dunbar continues to be a force catching the ball out of the backfield. He had 10 receptions for a career-high 100 yards Sunday. The fourth-year pro has 21 catches for 215 yards this season.