No. 1 Pick Vick Passes First Test

After shaking off jitters, Michael Vick showed he’s not overmatched by the NFL.

Vick passed for 75 yards and directed a scoring drive in his pro debut Friday night, although the Pittsburgh Steelers rallied and defeated the Falcons, 17-16, in the league’s exhibition opener.

“I think I did well for my first game in the pros,” said Vick, the No. 1 pick in the draft. “I was kind of nervous on my first possession. Once I got that out of the way, I did well.”

Coach Dan Reeves promised to give Vick a majority of the snaps, which lured a larger-than-expected crowd of 44,275 to the Georgia Dome. Thousands of fans were in ticket lines at the start of the game.

Chris Chandler played the first series for the Falcons, guiding their lone touchdown drive ending with Jamal Anderson’s two-yard run.

Vick trotted on the field to a standing ovation when Atlanta got the ball back, but the cheers quickly turned to groans.

A false start by offensive tackle Bob Whitfield backed the Falcons up, and Vick overthrew Bob Christian with his first pass on a fourth-and-13 play.

Vick’s next series was spurred by a screen pass to Maurice Smith that turned into a 22-yard gain. Vick check off two receivers and dumped off another short pass to Christian, who rambled 17 yards into Pittsburgh territory.

After a short run by Smith, Vick passed to Terance Mathis, who took the slant pattern for a 24-yard gain. The drive stalled at the Steeler six after three runs, forcing Jake Arians to come on for a 29-yard field goal with 13:35 left in the second quarter.

Pittsburgh rebounded from a 13-0 deficit behind quarterback Tommy Maddox, who guided two scoring drives.