ATLANTA — Michael Vick wobbled off the field with an aching neck late in the third quarter, all done in his return to Atlanta as a starting quarterback.
This is Matt Ryan's city now, and he led the Falcons back with their former quarterback sitting in the locker room.
Ryan threw a career-high four touchdown passes — two to Tony Gonzalez — shaking off all the hoopla over Vick coming back to face his old team, and rallied Atlanta from a 10-point deficit for a 35-31 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.
"It was a wild one, for sure, but we hung in there," Ryan said. "I think everybody hung in there and kept making plays, kept battling. Credit to guys on both sides of the ball — we never gave up."
Vick threw for a pair of touchdowns to Jeremy Maclin for the Eagles (1-1) but left with what coach Andy Reid later described as a concussion after getting spun by a Falcons rusher into Eagles lineman Todd Herremans. Vick staggered to the sideline and Mike Kafka came in for the first game of his two-year career. Kafka was 7 of 9 for 72 yards.
Notes
• Kansas City took another big hit to its offense when leading rusher Jamaal Charles left in the first quarter after twisting his knee awkwardly at Detroit's Ford Field. NFL Network reported that Charles tore his anterior cruciate ligament, an injury that would almost certainly sideline him for the season.
Tight end Tony Moeaki and safety Eric Berry are already on the injured-reserve list because of torn knee ligaments.
• Ryan Fitzpatrick found David Nelson wide open on fourth down for a 6-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds left to complete a wild fourth quarter in Buffalo's 38-35 victory over Oakland.
"I don't know what happened, but I think they misaligned to be honest," Fitzpatrick said, in noting how wide open Nelson was over the middle. "I was lucky enough to see it."
Buffalo scored touchdowns on each of its five second-half possessions as the teams traded the lead five times in the final 14:10.
• Carolina quarterback Cam Newton set more NFL rookie records. Newton passed for 432 yards against Green Bay, the most in a single game by a rookie.
• Detroit kicker Jason Hanson, the former Washington State Cougar, set an NFL record by playing in his 297th career game in the Lions' 48-3 win over Kansas City, marking the most games played by one player for a single team. Hanson surpassed Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews, who played 296 games for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans.
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