Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but lost to the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, giving them a record of 2–1. The next week, the team came back and won their game against the Arizona Cardinals 32–10, with Jerious Norwood, a rookie RB from Mississippi State University, running for over 100 yards and Morten Andersen hitting all 5 of his field goals. Andersen, one of the most prolific kickers in NFL history and a member of the 1998 Super Bowl team, had been re-signed by the club September 19, ending punter Michael Koenen's audition as the sole kicker on the team (Koenen continued to placekick in long-yardage situations). The next week, the team had a bye and prepared to face the New York Giants. The Falcons would lose to the Giants 27–14. The only bright spot of the game was a 90-yard 3rd-quarter touchdown run by Warrick Dunn, the longest touchdown run in Atlanta Falcons history. The Atlanta Falcons hoped to bounce back the next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they did so with a huge game. In a shootout rivaling the following week's Indianapolis-Denver game, the Falcons beat the Steelers 41–38 in overtime as Morten Andersen kicked a game-winning 32-yard field goal. Falcons QB Michael Vick had a career-high 4 touchdown passes, including 3 to star TE Alge Crumpler. Both teams combined for 9 touchdown passes and 872 yards of total offense. With the win, the Falcons improved to 4–2. In week 8, the Falcons defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 29–27. Vick showed that the previous game was no fluke, going 19 of 27 for 291 yards and three touchdowns, as well as scrambling for 55 yards. A third-quarter touchdown pass to third-checkdown receiver, fullback Justin Griffith, chilled defensive coordinators league-wide and thrilled Falcons fans, as Vick demonstrated field awareness, patience, elusiveness, and precision passing under pressure. The 5–2 Falcons next traveled to Ford Field in Detroit to face the Lions, where they fell to 5–3. The Falcons suffered a similar fate to both the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens bringing their record to an even 5–5 on the season. The Falcons suffered another loss to the New Orleans Saints on November 26 (31–13) to cause their record for the season drop to 5–6, but more importantly to let their losing streak continue on to 4 games. The next week they defeated the Washington Redskins in an