Joey Harrington answered his critics last night by putting up impressive numbers in his team's 26-16 defeat of the Houston Texans, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Harrington threw two touchdowns to Michael Jenkins and completed 23 of 29 passes for 223 yards to give Bobby Petrino his first win as Atlanta's head coach.
Petrino threw down two coach's challenges in the fourth quarter to overturn big Texans plays, and Atlanta's defense did the rest. The embattled Falcons, still recovering from the loss of Michael Vick and less-than-extraordinary play by Harrington in the first two games of the season, need to "get used to that winning feeling," says Alge Crumpler. (More NFL stories.)