WATCH: Falcons RB Caleb Huntley Scores 1st NFL TD vs. Browns

The Atlanta Falcons needed a jolt of life on offense, and second-year running back Caleb Huntley provided just that in his first series of the game.

After a fast start that featured 10 points in the first quarter, the Atlanta Falcons offense trudged through the next 30 minutes with little success and trailed 13-10 late in the third quarter.

Then, Caleb Huntley entered the game.

Elevated from the practice squad on Saturday, Huntley led a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in which he received eight carries for 54 yards, capping it off with a five-yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 17-13 lead.

Huntley became Atlanta's game-leading rusher, as Cordarrelle Patterson, who entered the game questionable due to a knee injury, has received just eight carries, six of which came in the first quarter.

The Falcons let Huntley use his 5-10, 229-pound frame to execute the wide-zone one-cut rushing style, largely running to the right behind guard Chris Lindstrom and tackle Kaleb McGary.

Huntley starred throughout the preseason but has spent much of the campaign on the practice squad, with the Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams marking his only other action. He saw just one carry for three yards in the contest.

With Patterson out of the game, Atlanta will be reliant on Huntley and rookie Tyler Allgeier to carry the ground game down the stretch. Quarterback Marcus Mariota is just six of 18 yards for 97 yards and an interception, with his struggles being the root cause of the Falcons' inability to move the football in the game's middle thirty minutes.

The Falcons started strong, and now will aim to finish strong, with a chance to reach .500 on the table.


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Daniel Flick
DANIEL FLICK

Daniel Flick is an accredited NFL writer for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Daniel has provided boots-on-ground coverage at the NFL Combine and from the Atlanta Falcons' headquarters, among other destinations, and contributed to the annual Lindy's Sports Magazine ahead of the 2023 offseason. Daniel is a co-host on the 404TheFalcon podcast and previously wrote for the Around the Block Network and Georgia Sports Hospitality Media.