2008 Astana season
Astana changed drastically between the 2007 and 2008 seasons, with its former manager Marc Biver replaced by Johan Bruyneel from the dissolved Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. Following Bruyneel to Astana were several riders from that team, including Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer, who had finished first and third, respectively, in the 2007 Tour de France for Discovery. Numerous riders also left the team, including Matthias Kessler, Andrey Kashechkin, and Alexander Vinokourov, who had all tested positive for doping.


2008 Astana season
The team's biggest successes in 2008 were the overall victories by Contador in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España. As the team was barred from competing in the Tour de France that year, as well as other events organized by the Amaury Sport Organisation, Contador was unable to defend his championship from the year before.


2008 Astana season
Just as the team's competitive season was nearing its end, Lance Armstrong announced that he planned to return to competitive cycling in 2009 after a four-year absence. As Bruyneel was Armstrong's team manager for all seven of his Tour de France victories, there was much speculation immediately that Armstrong would sign with Astana in his comeback, which he eventually did.


2008 Astana season, One-day races, Spring classics
By their own admission, Astana does not aim for the classics. The team first participated in Omloop Het Volk on March 1, with Dmitriy Muravyev in 31st their best-placed rider. Sergei Ivanov's 7th in the Amstel Gold Race proved to be one of the team's best results all season, as in the other spring races in which they competed, Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, the Tour of Flanders, and Gent–Wevelgem, they did not have a rider place higher than 13th.


2008 Astana season, One-day races, Spring classics
Due in part to the ban imposed by the Amaury Sport Organisation from participating in races they organized, the team did not compete in Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, or other races in which a team of their caliber would normally take part. In March, Tomas Vaitkus earned the team's lone one-day victory of the spring season, winning a sprint finish to the Ronde van het Groene Hart.


2008 Astana season, One-day races, Fall races
The team entered the Clásica de San Sebastián in August, with Contador in 26th their highest-placed finisher. Contador, like many riders in the event, rode it as preparation for the road cycling events at the 2008 Olympic Games. Astana also took part in Vattenfall Cyclassics, the Coppa Sabatini, Paris–Bourges, the Giro dell'Emilia, the Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli, Milano–Torino, and the Giro del Piemonte in September and October, but did not obtain a place higher than 11th (by Janez Brajkovič in the Giro dell'Emilia). In August, Leipheimer and Contador took the top two spots in the Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama, a race they rode as preparation for the Vuelta a España.


2008 Astana season, One-day races, Fall races
In the Giro di Lombardia, Astana's final race of the season, they were more successful than they had been most of the season, attaining a fourth podium finish in a one-day race on the year. While Damiano Cunego had broken away from the field with 15 kilometers left to race to win the event, Brajkovič won a sprint over Caisse d'Epargne's Rigoberto Urán for second, and reacted as though he won the race. Chris Horner was also highly placed in the event, finishing seventh.


2008 Astana season, Stage races
Astana attended the Tour Down Under for the first time in 2008, as it was the first year the event was part of the UCI ProTour. The team was not very competitive in the event, with a fifth place in a sprint finish to Stage 2 from Aaron Kemps as their best stage result. They also led the teams classification after that stage. The team's best-placed rider in the final overall classification was José Luis Rubiera, ranked 31st. The team then attended the Tour of California in February.


2008 Astana season, Stage races
Leipheimer was the team leader for the event, as he was the defending champion from 2007 with Team Discovery. Leipheimer assumed the race lead after Stage 3, having worked with Rabobank rider Robert Gesink to gain time on the peloton with Gesink claiming the stage win and Leipheimer the overall lead. Leipheimer padded his lead by winning the individual time trial in Solvang two days later and held on to win the Tour itself for the second straight year.


2008 Astana season, Stage races
While the Tour of California was ongoing, Astana sent another squad to the Volta ao Algarve, with Tomas Vaitkus claiming a win in Stage 2. Rubiera was the victor in early March of the queen stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, a stage which the peloton almost refused to race because of the weather and safety conditions.


2008 Astana season, Stage races
With the team disinvited from Paris–Nice and Tirreno–Adriatico, their next stage race was the Volta ao Distrito de Santarém, a race which neither Astana nor Discovery Channel had participated in the year before. The team did not win any stage, though Andreas Klöden finished on the event's final podium, in third. Astana next entered the Vuelta a Castilla y León with a squad that was thought to greatly outclass the squads entered by other teams. Contador won the opening time trial and the mountainous fourth stage en route to winning the race overall. Leipheimer also showed well, finishing 4 seconds off Contador's winning time in the time trial, and falling only on Stage 4, where he rode in support of Contador, to finish in fourth overall.


2008 Astana season, Stage races
In April, the team achieved great success in the Vuelta al País Vasco, with Contador winning the opening stage, which had seven categorized climbs, and the final individual time trial, to win the race overall. Just after the tour of the Basque country was the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey, an event in which Astana won a stage with Grégory Rast and the points classification with Assan Bazayev. Later in the month, the team sent a squad headed by Leipheimer and Chris Horner to the Tour de Georgia.


2008 Astana season, Stage races
They did not win any stage, but Leipheimer took third overall, and Antonio Colóm fourth. The team was greatly successful at the Tour de Romandie later in the month, with Maxim Iglinskiy and Klöden both winning stages, and Klöden the race overall. In the Volta a Catalunya, which was concurrent to the Giro d'Italia, the team did not win any stage, with Janez Brajkovič's second in Stage 2 their closest result, though they did win the teams classification.


2008 Astana season, Stage races
At the Tour de Luxembourg in June, Rast entered as defending champion and was considered among the favorites, but the team did not win any stage or finish on the podium. Leipheimer won the prologue time trial to the Dauphine Libéré later in the month, and wound up finishing third overall in the race. Klöden next took second overall in the Tour de Suisse, later in June.


2008 Astana season, Stage races
The following month, Leipheiemer and Horner raced as Astana (though they were the only Astana riders in the event) at the Cascade Cycling Classic, and Leipheimer was able to take the overall win there, largely thanks to a convincing victory in the third stage time trial. On the same day, René Haselbacher won a stage in Tour of Austria. Later in the month, Sergeui Ivanov won the Tour de Wallonie, without winning a stage.


2008 Astana season, Stage races
The team sent squads to the Tour de Pologne, Tour de l'Ain, Tour of Ireland, and the Eneco Tour, but did not obtain a stage win, classification win, or podium finish in any of them.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Astana was at first not invited to the Giro. Six days before the race began, RCS Sport (the organizers of the Giro) went back on the decision to exclude Astana and extended them a late invitation. This change of heart was at least partly contingent on Contador, Leipheimer, and Klöden participating in the race.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Having thought for two months prior that they would not compete in the Giro, most of Astana's riders had planned to take a break during the Tour of Italy, and Contador was actually vacationing on a beach when Bruyneel called him to tell him the team was headed to the Giro.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
The team mostly lay low in the race's first week and a half, with only fourth in a sprint from Assan Bazayev in Stage 4 and fifth in Stage 6 by Maxim Iglinsky from a breakaway to show for themselves through nine stages. Contador and Klöden both showed strongly in the Stage 10 individual time trial, with Contador missing the stage win by just 8 seconds (Klöden was third, 20 seconds off Marzio Bruseghin's winning time) and moving from eighth to fourth in the overall classification.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
The high mountain Stage 14 into the Italian Alps saw Contador rise to second overall, just five seconds behind race leader Gabriele Bosisio. The next day, Contador finished twelve minutes ahead of Bosisio and took the race leader's pink jersey. His main rival at that point was Riccardo Riccò, who had gained 16 seconds on him that day and was only 33 back overall. Contador padded his lead over Riccò slightly in short time trial in Stage 16, and stayed out of trouble in Stages 17 and 18, stages where the contenders all finished together.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
The long and mountainous Stage 19 saw Riccò and Danilo Di Luca both put time into Contador with late attacks, but not enough to take the jersey from him. Di Luca found himself effected the next day, losing over five minutes and falling from contention, but Contador and Riccò finished together and were separated by just 4 seconds entering the Stage 21 time trial. Riccò was unable to challenge Contador in the Giro's finale, finishing 68th on the stage and losing close to two minutes to Contador, who was 11th. Though neither Contador himself nor anyone from the team won any stage in the Giro, Contador took the overall victory in the General Classification.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Astana entered the Vuelta with Contador as a big favorite to win the overall title and complete the career sweep of the Grand Tours. Astana's Vuelta actually began with a disappointment, an 8th-place finish in the Stage 1 team time trial, which either they or CSC–Saxo Bank had been thought likeliest to win. After staying out of trouble in sprinters' Stages 2 through 4, Leipheimer won the Stage 5 individual time trial and Contador was fourth, 49 seconds back of him. This gave Leipheimer the race leader's golden jersey by a margin of 2 seconds over Sylvain Chavanel. It was not a lead that Astana intended to defend the next day, however, as Chavanel's Cofidis team drove the peloton to catch the morning breakaway in Stage 6 so Chavanel could get bonus seconds in intermediate sprints to take the jersey, which he did.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
The next stage, after the first rest day, was the longest in the Vuelta and contained numerous mountain climbs. It was made even more difficult by a consistent downfall of rain and cold temperatures. Contador and Leipheimer both marked the competition and finished well on the stage, third and fifth respectively, to maintain their high overall placings. Leipheimer regained the race lead the next day essentially by default, as Alessandro Ballan, who had won the difficult Stage 7, quickly faded on Stage 8.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Again Astana did not work to keep Leipheimer in the race lead, affording a breakaway that included Egoi Martínez sufficient time that Martínez took the golden jersey. The next day, several local newspapers criticized Astana for the move, as CSC–Saxo Bank and Caisse d'Epargne had tried to pull the peloton such that Astana would have no choice to defend the jersey, but were unable to force their hand. Martínez reacted to his assumption of the race lead as though it were a gift from his former manager Bruyneel.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Following several stages won by sprinters and breakaways, the next test for the riders was the legendary Alto de El Angliru in Stage 13. The morning breakaway was afforded over eleven minutes, but it was dropped to nothing on the ascent of what has been called the most difficult climb in all of professional cycling. Astana and Caisse d'Epargne both had many support riders in the leading group going up the climb, and they alternately tried to set paces to protect either Contador or Alejandro Valverde while isolating the competition.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
It was left to Leipheimer to pace Contador to the conclusion as the climb reached its hardest part, 7 kilometers from the finish. Contador indeed went on to win the stage, and took the race lead as well. Contador added another stage win the next day when only he and Leipheimer could respond to the repeated attacks of Ezequiel Mosquera, and Contador won the sprint.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
The top ten in the general classification finished together in the next five stages, which were mostly friendly to sprinters and breakaways. Stage 20 was another time trial, one with an uphill finish. This time trial was won convincingly by Leipheimer, as only Contador and Valverde were within a minute of his winning time. This ride put Leipheimer 46 seconds off Contador's time.


2008 Astana season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
With the Vuelta's final stage flat and largely ceremonial, akin to the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, this stood as the final result, with Contador winning the Vuelta to complete his career triple; he also won the combination classification and its white jersey. Minor controversy followed the Vuelta; Contador alleged that Leipheimer was not being a team player by seeming to ride the Stage 20 time trial with the aim of winning the Vuelta, after Contador had apparently been decided as the team's leader, though the team had not firmly chosen a leader as the race began.


2008 Astana season, Away from competition, Exclusion from ASO races
On February 13, it was announced that the Amaury Sport Organisation would not invite Astana to any of their races that season, which included the Tour de France, Paris–Nice, and numerous one-day races. The decision was made because of the doping perpetrated by Astana in its previous seasons; chief among these scandals was the blood doping perpetrated by Alexander Vinokourov in the 2007 Tour de France. The team reacted with surprise and disappointment, particularly since the ban seemed to punish a team that no longer existed, and as a result Contador would not be able to defend his Tour de France championship.


2008 Astana season, Away from competition, Dismissal of Vladimir Gusev
On June 26, the team fired Vladimir Gusev for "irregular values" given in an internal doping check as part of the program run by Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard, proprietor of a noted anti-doping system previously used by Team CSC. Though the values did not by themselves confirm doping on Gusev's part, they were taken as an indication of it.


2008 Astana season, Away from competition, Dismissal of Vladimir Gusev
The firing also caused Gusev to be removed from Russia's team for the 2008 Olympic Games, though he originally intended to sue the team in time to still take part in the Olympics.


2008 Astana season, Away from competition, Dismissal of Vladimir Gusev
On September 1, Gusev began his appeal of the firing, with the case eventually reaching the Court of Arbitration for Sport. On June 18, 2009, the CAS ruled that Astana was in the wrong regarding Gusev's dismissal and ordered the team to pay his lost wages, legal fees, and compensatory damages.


2008 Astana season, Away from competition, Return of Lance Armstrong
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine published on September 9 that he intended to return to competitive cycling in 2009, after four years of retirement. Aside from trying to win an eighth Tour de France, his goal would be to raise public awareness and money for cancer research. He would ride for no salary.


2008 Astana season, Away from competition, Return of Lance Armstrong
It was speculated immediately that Armstrong would return with team Astana, as it was now headed by Armstrong's sporting director from each of his seven Tour de France victories, Johan Bruyneel.


2008 Astana season, Away from competition, Return of Lance Armstrong
Though spokespeople for the team first denied any plans to sign Armstrong, Bruyneel commented two days later during the then-ongoing Vuelta a España that he had spoken to Armstrong about his return, and could not imagine him riding for any team but Astana. On September 24, Armstrong signed with Astana.


2008 Astana season, Away from competition, Return of Lance Armstrong
Armstrong's return was not well received by Contador, who asserted that he had earned the right to be a team leader and said he would consider leaving the team if he were relegated to a role supporting Armstrong.


2008 Astana season, Away from competition, Return of Lance Armstrong
The team gave Contador assurances in the offseason that he would remain Astana's team leader, and Contador remained with the team for 2009, though the controversy over who would in fact be the team's leader lasted well into the 2009 Tour de France.


2008 Astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Awards
The 2008 Astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Awards (simplified Chinese: Astro华丽台电视剧大奖2008; traditional Chinese: Astro華麗臺電視劇大獎2008), presented by Astro in Malaysia, was an awards ceremony that recognised the best Hong Kong television programmes that had aired on Malaysia's Astro Wah Lai Toi in 2008. The ceremony was televised live on Astro's Cantonese channel, Astro Wah Lai Toi.


2008 Astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Awards
The ceremony took place on 21 February 2009 at the Arena of Stars in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Winners were 100% based on results from popular vote. The voting period lasted from 17 January 2009 to 17 February 2009.


2008 Astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Awards
The biggest winner was Heart of Greed, winning nine awards including My Favourite Actor, My Favourite Actress, and My Favourite Drama.


2008 Atlanta Braves season
The 2008 Atlanta Braves season was the 43rd in Atlanta and the 138th overall. The Braves attempted to  reclaim a postseason berth for the first time since 2005. They were once again skippered by Bobby Cox, now in his 19th season (of his second stint) managing Atlanta. As a result of John Schuerholz taking the position of team president, the Braves entered the offseason with Frank Wren as their general manager.


2008 Atlanta Braves season
The team wore a patch on the right sleeve "BEACH" in honor of former Braves player and bench coach Jim Beauchamp, who had died after the previous season ended.


2008 Atlanta Braves season
2008 saw the departure of two of the team's longtime radio and television announcers. Skip Caray died on August 3, while Pete van Wieren announced his retirement on October 21. Both men had been broadcasting for the team since 1976.


2008 Atlanta Braves season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


2008 Atlanta Braves season, Player stats, Pitching
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts


2008 Atlanta Dream season
The 2008 WNBA season was the first for the Atlanta Dream. The team name was unveiled on January 23, 2008, with the expansion draft held on February 6. The Atlanta Dream had seventeen straight losses. It was the longest losing streak to start a season in WNBA history.


2008 Atlanta Dream season, Offseason, Expansion Draft
The list of players selected in the Expansion Draft includes:


2008 Atlanta Dream season, Offseason, Expansion Draft
Additionally, Atlanta immediately orchestrated three trades involving players in the expansion draft.


2008 Atlanta Dream season, Schedule, Regular season
The Atlanta Dream lost their first game in franchise history, 67-100. Their opponent was the Connecticut Sun; the Sun delivered a 32-8 run that stretched into the second quarter to open a 17-point lead. The lead exploded to 34 points. At the conclusion of the game, the Dream were outrebounded 53-29. For the Dream, Stacey Lovelace had 11 points, five assists and four rebounds.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season
The 2008 Atlanta Falcons season was the 43rd season for the team in the National Football League (NFL). Overcoming a disappointing 4–12 record, quarterback Michael Vick's dog fighting scandal and head coach Bobby Petrino's abrupt resignation in 2007, the Falcons, who were expected to be in a rebuilding phase, completed the regular season with a surprising 11–5 record and earned the #5 seed in the NFC playoffs under first-year head coach Mike Smith; however, the team fell to the eventual NFC champion Arizona Cardinals in the wild-card round of the playoffs.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season
Mike Smith was named 2008 NFL Coach of the Year, and quarterback Matt Ryan earned the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Offseason, NFL Draft
On February 22, prior the start of the NFL Combine, the Falcons won a coin toss that gave them the 3rd overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft in a gathering with the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs to break a three-way-tie. Each team finished 2007 with a 4–12 record. Some experts said that the Falcons should have used this selection to pick LSU Defensive Tackle Glenn Dorsey, but the Falcons used their first-round pick to draft Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan. The Falcons also traded two of their second-round picks (No. 34 and No. 48) and a fourth-round pick (No. 103) with Washington Redskins to move to No. 21 overall and select USC tackle Sam Baker.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Offseason, Minicamp
The Falcons opened the first mini camp of 2008 on Monday, April 14. The team had multiple "mini camp" sessions under new Head Coach Mike Smith before the start of training camp in late July. The team worked for three days before the NFL Draft and came back to Flowery Branch for another workout May 10–12. During the minicamp, the Falcons signed tender offers to punter Michael Koenen and defensive end Chauncey Davis.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Offseason, Training camp
For the fourth consecutive year, the Falcons held Russell Falcons Training Camp at the team's Flowery Branch headquarters. Atlanta's 43rd training camp was held from July 25 – August 15, with select morning and afternoon practices open to the public. The Falcons held 30 practices, which included 13 two-a-day sessions. Atlanta traveled to Jacksonville on August 9 for its first preseason contest followed by two home preseason games against Indianapolis the day after training camp breaks (August 16) and Tennessee Titans on August 22 .


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Offseason, Training camp
The Falcons concluded the 2008 preseason schedule with a meeting against the Baltimore Ravens on August 28 at M&T Bank Stadium . In 2007, Russell Athletic and the Atlanta Falcons announced an agreement that includes title sponsorship of the team's three-week preseason training camp at its in-season training facility in Flowery Branch, Ga. The four-year agreement designates Russell Athletic as an official sponsor of the Falcons.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Offseason, Thomas inducted into Hall of Fame
Falcons' assistant head coach Emmitt Thomas was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on February 2 during Super Bowl festivities in Phoenix. He was formally inducted into the Hall on August 2. Thomas was selected as a finalist for enshrinement by the Seniors Committee. He was selected to the Hall's Class of 2008 off a list of 17 players. He thus becomes the first Falcons player or coach to be placed in the Hall of Fame.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Preseason, Final cuts
On August 30, the Falcons made 22 roster moves to reach the NFL's 53-player limit.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Detroit Lions
The Falcons began their 2008 campaign at home against the Detroit Lions. In the first quarter, Atlanta immediately took flight at rookie quarterback Matt Ryan throws his first career NFL pass to WR Michael Jenkins for a 62-yard TD pass. Afterwards, RB Michael Turner (acquired from the Chargers) made an immediate impact as he got a 66-yard TD run and a 5-yard TD run. In the second quarter, the Lions responded with RB Kevin Smith getting a 5-yard TD run, while quarterback Jon Kitna completed a 21-yard TD pass to WR Roy Williams.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Detroit Lions
In the third quarter, the Falcons went back to work as kicker Jason Elam got a 50-yard field goal, while RB Jerious Norwood got a 10-yard TD run. Detroit tried to rally as Kitna completed a 1-yard TD pass to TE Casey FitzSimmons. Atlanta closed out their rout in the fourth quarter with Elam nailing a 25-yard field goal.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Detroit Lions
With the impressive win, the Falcons began their season at 1–0.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Detroit Lions
Quarterback Matt Ryan had a good rookie debut completing 9 of 13 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. RB Michael Turner had an outstanding Falcon debut, setting a single-game franchise record with 220 rushing yards. Ryan, who became the first rookie to start a season for the Falcons since Steve Bartkowski in 1975, finished with a solid 161 passing yards and 137.0 quarterback rating. Turner led a ground game that picked up a franchise-record 318 rushing yards 7.6 yards per carry. Game Notes.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Following their outstanding home win over the Lions, the Falcons flew to Raymond James Stadium for a Week 2 NFC South duel with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the first quarter, Atlanta trailed as Bucs QB Brian Griese completed a 5-yard TD pass to TE John Gilmore. In the second quarter, the Falcons continued to trail as former Falcons RB Warrick Dunn gave Tampa Bay a 17-yard TD run, along with kicker Matt Bryant getting a 33-yard field goal. Atlanta closed out the half with kicker Jason Elam getting a 32-yard field goal.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In the third quarter, the Falcons crept closer as Elam kicked a 27-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, Atlanta tried to rally as Elam nailed a 24-yard field goal. However, the Buccaneers pulled away as RB Earnest Graham got a 68-yard TD run. With the loss, the Falcons fell to 1–1. With Michael Turner running for a franchise-record 220 yards in his Falcons debut, Ryan only threw the ball 13 times against Detroit. Sunday, he had more attempts than that in the first half alone. The Bucs limited Turner to 42 yards on 14 carries.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
WR Joey Galloway, who did not play in the preseason because of a sore groin, sprained an ankle in the fourth quarter. Falcons rookie LT Sam Baker was hit in the head in the first half and did not return. A week after beating Detroit in his pro debut, Matt Ryan threw incompletions on his first nine passes before settling down to keep Atlanta in the game with three field goal drives that trimmed a 17-point deficit to eight with five minutes to go.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Michael Turner ran for three touchdowns and the Atlanta Falcons scored the first 24 points to beat Kansas City 38–14, giving the Chiefs their 12th straight loss.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Turner had scoring runs of 4, 1 and 2 yards, his first career game with three rushing touchdowns, while leading the Falcons with 104 yards rushing. Jerious Norwood added 75 yards rushing. Turner dragged Chiefs linebacker Pat Thomas for a few steps before breaking free and running through other defenders for a 38-yard run from the Falcons 8. A 30-yard pass from Ryan to Norwood helped set up Turner first touchdown run. Turner 1-yard scoring run in the second quarter gave Atlanta a 24–0 lead. Turner determined run helped to soften the Kansas City defense.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Ryan found Roddy White for a 70-yard touchdown pass on Atlanta's next possession, and the Falcons were on their way to a big early lead, ( Ryan 70-yard touchdown pass to White is the longest pass completion for the Falcons since 12/23/07 when wide receiver Laurent Robinson caught a 74-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Redman against the Arizona Cardinals in a Week 16 meeting) .


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
On Kansas City first offensive possession of the game, defensive end John Abraham logged his fifth sack of the season, which led to a Chiefs punt. Abraham tallied his second sack of the game at the end of the third quarter, which included a forced fumble. The two sacks gave Abraham eight in his last four games, 16 in his last 18 games and 73.5 for his career.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Entering the Kansas City game, he led the NFL with four sacks after three games, the forced fumble was the 29th of his career, which ranks fourth in the NFL from 2000 to 2008. Turner sparked an Atlanta scoring drive when he posted a 38-yard rush in the first quarter, he capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown, his third of the season. The Falcons drove 92 yards in six plays and also received help from running back Jerious Norwood on the drive who contributed with 45 combined yards (two rushes for 15 yards and one 30-yard reception).


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Atlanta 92-yard scoring drive, the first of the game, is the longest scoring drive since 12/3/06 at Washington when the Falcons drove 98 yards on six plays capped by a Norwood touchdown run. Kicker Jason Elam was successful on his long field goal attempt of 27 yards against Kansas City, improving his streak of consecutive field goals to 27. Elam also added five extra points for an eight-point day.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Tyler Thigpen, the third starting quarterback in three weeks for Kansas City, threw three interceptions in his first career start. The third interception, by cornerback Chris Houston, was returned 10 yards for a touchdown with 1:01 left in the game.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said during the week he would turn to veteran Damon Huard if Thigpen struggled. Thigpen played the full game and was 14-for-36 passing for 128 yards with one touchdown. Down 24–0, Thigpen led a 13-play scoring drive capped by his 15-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe with three seconds left in the first half.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs' 12th straight loss came 11 months to the day after their last win. They lost their last nine games in 2007 after a 12–10 win at Oakland on October 21, 2007. The Chiefs comeback continued when Larry Johnson's 48-yard run set up his 1-yard scoring plunge to open the second half, cutting Atlanta lead to 24–14. It was Johnson first rushing touchdown of the season. Johnson, who had 96 yards rushing in his first two games, had 24 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown. Johnson has 4,981 yards rushing for his career to pass Christian Okoye (4,897) for second place on the Chiefs all-time list.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Falcons had a quick answer to Johnson touchdown. Ryan, making his third start, had a 15-yard run and a 17-yard pass to White to set up Turner third touchdown, a 2-yard run. The Chiefs were forced to punt on their first five possessions. Their next two drives ended with interceptions by Erik Coleman and Brent Grimes, Coleman intercepted his first career pass in a Falcons uniform, which also gave him the eighth of his career, it was Coleman first interception since 11/12/06 against the New England Patriots .


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Coleman pieced together a stellar performance against the Chiefs which included 10 tackles to lead the team and one forced fumble, and Grimes intercepted his first career pass when he stepped in front of a Tyler Thigpen pass in the second quarter. Grimes returned the interception 25 yards, which led to a Falcons touchdown. The Falcons defense allowed only 14 rushing yards in the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs, continuing their trend of holding opponents to under 15 rushing yards over the first three contests of the season.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Against Tampa Bay in Week 2, Atlanta held the Bucs to two rushing yards in the opening 15 minutes of play, which was the lowest total in the first quarter of a game since for a Falcons opponent since 12/14/03 (vs. Colts, two rushing yards). Below is a look at Atlanta opponent rushing totals in the first quarter of each game this season.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
The Falcons moved to 2–0 at the Georgia Dome on the season and gave Head Coach Mike Smith his second career win as a head coach.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Michael Turner became only the fifth Falcons running back in team history to register three or more touchdowns in a game, with the win over the Chiefs improved its record to 5–1 in its last six meetings against AFC West opponents.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: at Carolina Panthers
Coming off their home win over the Chiefs, the Falcons flew to Bank of America Stadium for a Week 4 NFC South duel with the Carolina Panthers. The Falcons found a way to stick around for three-quarters in Sunday game at Bank of America Stadium but injuries, dropped passes and untimely penalties filled the afternoon. Atlanta lost starting strong safety Lawyer Milloy in the first half after he took a shot to the ribs and played the entire game without starting left tackle Sam Baker.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: at Carolina Panthers
In the first quarter, Atlanta trailed early as Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart getting an 8-yard TD run. The Falcons responded with kicker Jason Elam getting a 33-yard field goal. In the second quarter, the Falcons crept closer as Elam kicked a 44-yard field goal. However, Carolina answered with quarterback Jake Delhomme completing a 56-yard TD pass to WR Steve Smith. Atlanta closed out the half with Elam getting a 44-yard field goal. The Panthers (3–1, 1–0) lost starting offensive tackles Jordan Gross and Jeff Otah in the game to injury and also went several series without starting cornerback Ken Lucas.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: at Carolina Panthers
But that didn't stop the NFC South leaders from imposing their will on both sides of the ball and put up more than 400 yards of total offense. For the fourth consecutive game this season, the Falcons defense held their opponent to 16 rushing yards or less in the first quarter of play after the Panthers managed only 16 yards on six carries. John Abraham blocked his first career punt in the second quarter, which led to Elam second field goal of the day.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: at Carolina Panthers
The blocked punt was the first for Atlanta since the 2004 season finale when Demorrio Williams blocked Seattle first kick of the game at Qwest Field. Running back Jerious Norwood posted his second longest rush of the season with a 40-yard scamper in the second quarter. The rush was four yards shy of his season high (44), which he set against Kansas City in Week 3. Norwood has now posted five rushes of 40 yards or more in this three-year career, punter Michael Koenen booted his longest punt of the season with a 60-yard kick in the second quarter.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: at Carolina Panthers
The punt is the longest for Koenen since December 16, 2007, when he nailed a 63-yard punt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, running back Jason Snelling earned his first career start while tight end Justin Peelle started his first game in a Falcons uniform. Brian Finneran caught his first pass of the 2008 campaign on a five-yard reception in the second quarter. The catch was the first for Finneran since the 2005 season finale when he caught four passes for 45 yards against the Carolina Panthers. Roddy White led the Falcons in receiving with seven catches for 90 yards. He continues to remain on pace for a 1,000-yard season. In his fourth career start, rookie quarterback Matt Ryan completed passes to eight different receivers, a season-high for the Boston College graduate, Ryan finished the game having completed 21 of 41 passes for 158 yards and a 60.8 passer rating


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: at Carolina Panthers
In the third quarter, the Panthers increased their lead with kicker John Kasay nailing a 44-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, Carolina sealed the win with Delhomme completing a 36-yard TD pass to WR Muhsin Muhammad. The first-year head coach Mike Smith made a concise list in explaining the problems that plagued his offense in Charlotte.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
Hoping to rebound from their divisional road loss to the Panthers, to Falcons flew to Lambeau Field for a Week 5 duel with the Green Bay Packers. Entering Week 5, the Falcons led the league in first quarter scoring with 38 points. Atlanta added to that total with 10 points on a touchdown and field goal. The Falcons have also outscored their opponents in the first quarter by a 48–14 margin.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
Michael Turner posted his third 100-yard game of the season after finishing with 26 carries for 121 yards and one touchdown. Turner score came at the 3:35 mark in the fourth quarter to give Atlanta a two-possession lead (27–17) which sealed the victory. In the first quarter, Atlanta took flight as rookie quarterback Matt Ryan completed a 1-yard TD pass to TE Justin Peelle, along with kicker Jason Elam getting a 42-yard field goal. In the second quarter, the Packers responded with quarterback Aaron Rodgers completing a 44-yard TD pass to WR Donald Driver.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
The Falcons closed out the half with Ryan completing a 22-yard TD pass to WR Roddy Whiteto give the Falcons a 17–7 advantage. The catch was his sixth of the day giving White 115 yards in the first half at that point. White contributed with 67 first quarter receiving yards, falling three yards short of his career-high in the first 15 minutes of play (70), which he set on September 21, 2008, against Kansas City.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
White also finished the first half with 132 yards, which is the most in two-quarters of play for the four-year veteran in his career and the second highest total since Terance Mathis posted 136 on November 19, 1995. On Atlanta first play of the game, Quarterback Matt Ryan completed a 37-yard pass to White crossing into Packers territory.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
Ryan completed two more receptions to White on the drive for a total of 64 yards, the three completions led to an Atlanta touchdown, which marked the second occasion this season the Falcons scored on their first drive of the game (Week 1 vs. Detroit) and the first time they scored on their first possession of the game on the road, Ryan started the game having completed six of six passes for 72 yards and one touchdown pass, also compiled the best half of football in his rookie career thus far when he completed 13 of 18 passes for 154 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 135.0 passer rating.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
Ryan finished the game with a season-high 194 passing yards. The Falcons posted a touchdown on their first offensive possession of the game when Ryan led the team 81 yards on 10 plays and completed a one-yard touchdown strike to tight end Justin Peelle, his first as an Atlanta Falcon and the eighth of his career. Center Ben Wilkerson saw his first action of the season at the center position when he briefly replaced Todd McClure on Atlanta first offensive drive of the game. Wilkerson was at center when the Falcons scored their first touchdown in the first quarter.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
Defensive tackle Grady Jackson logged his first sack of the season and the 34.5th of his career when he dropped Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Green Bay first offensive play of the game, the sack led to a Green Bay punt. Following the first quarter of play the Falcons recorded eight first downs opposed to the Packers who finished the opening 15 minutes of play with zero. Atlanta also racked-up 147 net yards to Green Bay's 10 in the quarter.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
At the 6:02 mark in the second quarter, Ryan tallied his second touchdown pass of the day when he found White in the end zone for a 22-yard strike to give the Falcons a 17–7 advantage. The catch was his sixth of the day giving White 115 yards in the first half at that point. White pieced together his second 100-yard receiving game of the season and the ninth of his career after catching eight passes for 132 yards and one touchdown.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
Following the two-minute mark in the second quarter, defensive end John Abraham notched his seventh sack of the season, dropping Rodgers. The sack was the ninth in his last six games, the 17th in his last 20 contests and the 74.5th of his career. The sack forced a Packers field goal attempt and following an offensive holding call on a converted attempt, Green Bay missed a re-kick.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
In the third quarter, Green Bay answered with kicker Mason Crosby getting a 50-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Packers tied the game with Rodgers completing a 25-yard TD pass to WR Greg Jennings, Michael Boley intercepted his first pass of the season and the fifth of his career when he stepped in front of an Aaron Rodgers pass late in the fourth quarter. The INT led to the game-sealing touchdown by Turner, yet Atlanta replied with Elam nailing a 41-yard field goal and RB Michael Turner getting a 2-yard TD run.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Green Bay Packers
Fullback Ovie Mughelli carried the ball nine yards on his first rush of the season in the fourth quarter. Following a Packers touchdown to tie the game at 17, running back/kick returner Jerious Norwood returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards into Green Bay territory, marking the second-longest kickoff return of his career, Norwood return set up a Falcons game-sealing touchdown. Green Bay tried to rally as Rodgers completed a 4-yard TD pass to TE Donald Lee, yet the Falcons' defense stiffened for the win.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
Coming off their road win over the Packers, the Falcons went home for a Week 6 duel with the Chicago Bears. In the first quarter, Atlanta took flight as kicker Jason Elam got a 29-yard and a 48-yard field goal. In the second quarter, the Falcons increased their lead as Elam kicked a 32-yard field goal. The Bears responded with kicker Robbie Gould getting a 36-yard field goal. Entering Sunday game with the Bears, the Falcons led the NFL in first quarter scoring with 48 points. After posting two field goals for a 6–0 lead following the first 15 minutes of play against Chicago, Atlanta has now outscored its opponent in the first quarter by a 54–14 margin.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
A chance at a touchdown came with 9:16 remaining in the first half after a curious turn of events near the goal line. A third-down run by Jerious Norwood came up short and ended with a fumble. Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris recovered but lost the ball before he was touched down. Jason Snelling recovered the ball for the Falcons, who got a fresh set of downs. Following the first half of play, the Falcons defense held the Bears to 20 first half rushing yards. The 20 yards are the fewest given up in the first half of a game by Atlanta's defense since October 1, 2006, against Arizona (two yards).


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
In the third quarter, the Falcons continued to add onto their lead as Elam got a 41-yard field goal, yet Chicago answered with RB Matt Forté getting a 3-yard TD run. In the fourth quarter, Atlanta replied with rookie quarterback Matt Ryan completing a 3-yard TD pass to WR Roddy White. Defensive end Jamaal Anderson paced a defense that fed off the crowd's energy. He finished with four tackles (two for loss) and the first sack of his two-year career. Anderson also had two pass deflections on the Bears' first drive of the second quarter.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
The Falcons offense started the second half with a no-huddle offense and added another Elam field goal to take a 12–3 lead. Chicago stuck with the running game and added a touchdown from Forte with 2:24 remaining in the third quarter. Chicago drove within inches of the end zone, but Matt Forte was stuffed on fourth down as he attempted to leap across the line. Michael Boley came in low to trip up the runner, then Lawyer Milloy and Keith Brooking finished him off.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
The Bears took the lead with Gould getting a 32-yard field goal, along with quarterback Kyle Orton completing a 17-yard TD pass to WR Rashied Davis. The Falcons got the last laugh as Elam nailed the game-winning 48-yard field goal. The 16-year veteran's celebration was interrupted by a swarm of teammates near midfield. It was his fifth successful kick of the day but just moments before, he missed a kick that could have iced the game. Chicago came off the miscue with a 77-yard touchdown drive to take a 20–19 lead with 11 seconds to play. But a 9-yard return off a short kickoff by Harry Douglas and a 26-yard strike from rookie quarterback Matt Ryan to Michael Jenkins set Elam up for the game-winner with 1 second left.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
"I'm really happy that one went through", Elam said. "Our guys have been fighting so hard for so long. I hate to even mention what happened last year but to hear some of the stories I know the guys are really hungry to get some wins on the board and show our fans what we're all about." With time to throw Ryan thrived. The rookie found five different receivers and performed regular Houdini-like acts to find open players down the field for third-down conversions.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
Fellow rookie Douglas caught five passes for 96 yards including a 47-yard strike on third down that set up a 3-yard scoring toss to White with 13:25 remaining. Ryan opened the game 8-of-8 for 107 yards and captained nearly identical scoring drives in the first quarter, leading the team on 48- and 49-yard marches that ended with field goals. "I think everybody is excited with the win", Ryan said. "I thought we played a very good Chicago Bears team today. They played an entire 60 minutes and we did the same thing. We just had the last punch.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
We were able to make a couple big plays at the end of the game with Elam clutch kick being the biggest one. This win is a great story heading into the bye week." Bears CB Nathan Vasher (wrist) missed his second straight game, and the other starting corner, Charles Tillman, went out in the first half with a shoulder injury. Backup FS Danieal Manning left, too, with an injured hamstring., White went over 100 yards receiving for the second week in a row, Forte led the Bears with 76 yards rushing.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
With the win, Atlanta entered their bye week at 4–2.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears
Not only did Matt Ryan (22/30 for 301 yards and a touchdown) pick up his first-ever 300-yard day, but he acquired the best record for a rookie quarterback in his first six games as a starter since 1998 (4–2), besting Kyle Orton in '05 and Kyle Boller in '03 (both with 3–3).


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
Coming off their bye week, the Falcons flew to Lincoln Financial Field for a Week 8 duel with the Philadelphia Eagles, as rookie quarterback Matt Ryan (a native of the Philly suburb of Exton, Pennsylvania) took on his hometown team. Ryan threw for 277 yards in his seventh career start but also had a pair of interceptions. The defense held the Eagles after the first turnover but Ryan's second mistake came in the end zone, eliminating a red-zone scoring chance.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
After a scoreless first quarter, Atlanta finally took flight in the second quarter as Ryan completed a 55-yard TD pass to WR Roddy White with 8:56 remaining in the first half when he threaded a pass between two Eagles defenders. White scampered toward the end zone for a 55-yard score and a 7–0 lead. "We had worked on that fade pass all week in practice and Matt threw it up there and really I should have batted the ball down", said White, who had 113 receiving yards. "I think on that play, I had the responsibility to help him out.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
We thought we were going to put some points on the board and we let it get away from us. I put that play on myself, because I really should have knocked that down." White tallied his third consecutive 100-yard game after catching eight passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns. White has now posted four 100-yard games this season and 11 for his career, the 55-yard strike is the third longest pass for the rookie quarterback this season. The second score came on an eight-yard pass in the fourth quarter, Ryan returned to the sight of first collegiate touchdown pass at Lincoln Financial Field against the Temple Owls on November 20, 2004.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
But Philadelphia responded with 20 unanswered points, including scoring drives of 60, 70 and 69 yards. Twice McNabb scrambled for key first downs. The Falcons did not record a sack in the second half. The Falcons run game sputtered and suffered from untimely penalties. Starting left tackle Sam Baker missed the game with a hip injury and was replaced by Todd Weiner. Weiner left with an injury and was replaced by Quinn Ojinnaka. Michael Turner rushed for 58 yards on 17 carries.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles took the lead with quarterback Donovan McNabb getting a 3-yard TD run, along with kicker David Akers getting a 36-yard field goal. McNabb turned from prolific passer to game-manager as the afternoon progressed, finding openings in the Falcons zone defense for short to medium gains and handing the ball off to Westbrook, the All-Pro rushed for 63 yards on 10 carries in the first half and finished with 22 carries for 167 yards. He also had six catches for 42 yards, one of six Eagles receivers with two or more catches.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
The Falcons spent much of the first half keeping McNabb and the Eagles high-flying offense on the ground. Atlanta didn't allow a first-quarter-point for the fifth time this season and picked up two sacks, a forced fumble and a turnover in the first 30 minutes  In the third quarter, the Falcons continued to trail as RB Brian Westbrook got a 16-yard TD run. In the fourth quarter, Philadelphia increased its lead with Akers nailing an 18-yard field goal.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
Brian Finneran tied his season-high in receptions (three) and contributed with two catches on third down to convert a new set a downs for the Falcons on both occasions in the first half. Jerious Norwood posted his second-highest receiving total when he caught five passes for 55 yards, he set his career-high of 57 yards against the Saints last season Atlanta tried to rally as Ryan hooked up with White again on an 8-yard TD pass, but the Eagles flew away as Westbrook got a 39-yard TD run.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
A late goal-line stand held the Eagles to a field goal and kept it a two-possession game with 7:57 remaining. Ryan led a no-huddle offense into the red zone on the next series and found White with a second touchdown with less than four minutes to play. Trailing 20–14, the Falcons defense stepped up with a key three-and-out but an odd turn of events kept the Birds offense from getting a shot at the win. Return man Adam Jennings decided at the last second not to field the punt after the Eagles' three-and-out drive.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
Officials ruled Jennings touched the ball and the muffed punt was recovered by the Eagles. The Falcons did not have a timeout left and, by rule, could not challenge the play. Replays in the press box showed Jennings did not touch the ball. Three plays later Westbrook rushed over the left side for a 39-yard, game-clinching touchdown. Defensive end Jamaal Anderson posted his second sack of the season when he dropped Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb for a six-yard loss in the first quarter, the sack stalled an Eagles drive, forcing a punt.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles
Anderson has now totaled one sack in two consecutive games. Rookie Curtis Lofton earned his first career sack when he dropped McNabb for an eight-yard loss in the second quarter while forcing a fumble. The ball was recovered by defensive end Chauncey Davis. "It never felt like we were out of the game, even when we didn't get that touchdown when we needed it, it still felt like we stopped them to get a chance to put some more points on the board and that's what we did", defensive end John Abraham said. "Like I said, it's part of the game and everybody played well, it was a tough fought game. I think everybody got a lot of bumps and bruises from the game, but it definitely was a good game." With the loss, the Falcons fell to 4–3.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 9: at Oakland Raiders
Hoping to rebound from their road loss to the Eagles, the Falcons flew to the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum for a Week 9 interconference duel with the Oakland Raiders. In the first quarter, Atlanta took flight as rookie quarterback Matt Ryan completed a 37-yard TD pass to WR Michael Jenkins, while RB Jerious Norwood got a 12-yard TD run. In the second quarter, the Falcons added onto their lead with Ryan hooking up with Jenkins again on a 27-yard TD pass, along with kicker Jason Elam nailing a 48-yard field goal. From there on out, Atlanta cruised towards its easy win, as they greatly outgained the Raiders in time of possession (45:15 to 14:45) and total offensive yards (453 to 77).


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. New Orleans Saints
Coming off their shutout road win over the Raiders, the Falcons went home for a Week 10 NFC South duel with the New Orleans Saints. In the first quarter, Atlanta took flight as rookie quarterback Matt Ryan completed a 16-yard TD pass to WR Roddy White. The Saints responded with kicker Garrett Hartley getting a 24-yard field goal. In the second quarter, the Falcons increased their lead as RB Michael Turner got a 2-yard TD run. New Orleans answered with Hartley making a 44-yard field goal. Atlanta closed out the half as kicker Jason Elam got a 22-yard field goal.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: vs. New Orleans Saints
In the third quarter, the Falcons got the period's only points as Elam nailed a 27-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, Atlanta continued to soar as Ryan completed a 67-yard TD pass to RB Jerious Norwood. The Saints tried to rally as quarterback Drew Brees completed a 15-yard TD pass to RB Deuce McAllister, yet the Falcons flew away as rookie CB Chevis Jackson returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown. New Orleans closed out the scoring with Brees completing a 32-yard TD pass to WR Lance Moore.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. Denver Broncos
Coming off their win over the Saints, the Falcons stayed at home for a Week 11 interconference duel with the Denver Broncos. In the first quarter, Atlanta trailed early as Broncos FB Peyton Hillis got a 7-yard TD run. The Falcons answered with kicker Jason Elam (a former Bronco) getting a 46-yard field goal. In the second quarter, Atlanta took the lead as Elam made a 36-yard field goal, while RB Michael Turner got a 9-yard TD run.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. Denver Broncos
In the third quarter, Denver retook the lead as Hillis got a 2-yard TD run. In the fourth quarter, the Broncos increased their lead as kicker Matt Prater nailed a 20-yard field goal. The Falcons tried to rally as Turner got a 28-yard field goal, yet Denver replied with quarterback Jay Cutler competing a 9-yard TD pass to TE Daniel Graham. From there on out, the Broncos' defense stopped any other possible comeback attempt.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. Denver Broncos
With their first home loss of the year, Atlanta fell to 6–4. This was the first of only two home losses suffered by Matt Ryan in the NFL through December 27, 2010. The second was to the New Orleans Saints on December 27, 2010, the final Monday Night Football game of the 2010 season.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Broncos, the Falcons stayed at home, donned their alternate uniforms, and played a Week 12 NFC South rematch with the Carolina Panthers. In the first quarter, Atlanta took flight as kicker Jason Elam got a 23-yard field goal, while rookie WR Harry Douglas got a 7-yard TD run. In the second quarter, the Falcons increased their lead as RB Michael Turner got a 1-yard TD run. The Panthers closed out the half as kicker John Kasay got a 23-yard field goal.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
On his third carry of the game, Turner rushed for a six-yard gain and eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing plateau this season. He became the first Falcons running back to reach 1,000 yards in a campaign since 2006 when Warrick Dunn had 1,140 and the 20th running back in franchise history to reach 1,000 yards in a season. Turner's career day continued after he tied a team record with four rushing touchdowns of T. J. Duckett posted on December 12, 2004. It was also the second career three-score game and the fourth multiple-touchdown game of his career.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
Turner first found the end zone on a one-yard rush in the second quarter, scored for the second occasion on a four-yard run in the fourth quarter, logged his third TD on a one-yard run with 7:13 remaining and tallied his last on a 16-yard scamper in the fourth quarter to seal a Falcons 45–28 victory. With four scores, Turner became the third player in Falcons history to post 13 or more rushing touchdowns in a season. Turner finished the game with 24 carries for 117 yards and four touchdowns, which marked his eighth career 100-yard game. Matt Ryan and the offense faced a quick third down on the next possession, but the quarterback found rookie wide receiver Harry Douglas on a 69-yard pass play to the Panthers 6. Four plays later Turner got his key, fourth-down touchdown.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
The Panthers faced an energized defense and a raucous crowd on the next possession. Chauncey Davis recorded his second sack of the day and back-to-back false start penalties backed Carolina into the shadow of its own goal line. The Panthers punted from the end zone, giving Douglas a chance for a big return. The rookie brought the kick back up the middle 61 yards for a touchdown. Delhomme found Muhsin Muhammad for a touchdown on the next series but the Falcons had already done plenty of damage.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
Still, Turner found the end zone for a final time with just 54 seconds to play. Eric Weems caught his first career pass in the first quarter for a four-yard gain. The reception led to a Falcons touchdown. Douglas scored his first two career touchdowns; he first found the end zone on a seven-yard end around in the first quarter to give the Falcons a 10–0 lead; Douglas then became the 10th player in Falcons history to return a punt for a touchdown and the first since 2004 when Allen Rossum returned a kick 61 yards in the fourth quarter.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
Douglas's return was the longest in his career, topping the previous mark of 33 yards against New Orleans in Week 10; along with a 61-yard punt return, Douglas totaled career-highs in offensive touches with six (two rushing, four receiving and all purpose yards 188, which included 3 rushing, 92 receiving and 93 yards on punt returns), he also became the Falcons' third rookie this season to account for a touchdown; along with Douglas's run and punt return, quarterback Matt Ryan has thrown 11 touchdown passes and cornerback Chevis Jackson returned an interception 95 yards for a score against New Orleans in Week 10, Douglas posted a career-long reception with a 69-yard catch in the fourth quarter.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
He finished the game with 92 receiving yards, which led the team and fell four yards short of his career high ( 96 yards vs. Chicago, October 12 ). Roddy White caught Ryan first pass of the game for a 30-yard gain, marking the 11th reception of 20-plus yards, White finished the game with four receptions for 70 yards and is 27 yards shy of a 1,000-yard season. Atlanta outscored Carolina in the first quarter by a 10–0 margin, marking the seventh time this season a Falcons opponent was held scoreless in the opening 15 minutes of play.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
Atlanta outscored its opponents in the first quarter by an 88–24 mark and led the NFL in first quarter scoring entering Sunday's game. Following the first quarter of play, the Falcons offense posted 162 net yards of offense compared to zero by the Panthers . Brian Finneran caught one pass for nine yards on a third down in the second quarter, giving the Falcons a new set of downs. In his career, the nine-year veteran has caught 127 of 187 receptions that have gone for a first down or touchdown (67.9 percent).


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
John Abraham logged his 12th sack of the season and stalled a Carolina two-minute drive at the end of the second quarter; the sack is the 14th in his last 12 games, his 22nd in his last 26 contests and has now recorded 79.5 for his career. In his tenure with the Falcons, Abraham has posted 26 sacks in 34 games played. Abraham's 12 sacks through 11 games this season already ranks tied for the fifth most in a single season in Falcons history.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
Atlanta defense held Carolina to three-consecutive three and outs to start the game while allowing only eight net yards; entering Sunday's game, the Falcons ranked fourth in the NFC and eighth in the NFL in opponent three and out drives. Jason Snelling caught a 27-yard pass in the first quarter and broke a tackle to take the ball into Carolina territory, the reception is a career-long for the second-year running back, topping his old mark of 18 yards, which he set earlier in the season at Philadelphia.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
In the third quarter, Carolina began to claw their way back into the game as RB DeAngelo Williams got a 5-yard TD run, while Kasay nailed a 21-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, Atlanta answered with Turner getting a 4-yard TD run. The Panthers replied with quarterback Jake Delhomme getting a 12-yard TD run (along with Williams' 2-point conversion run), yet the Falcons struck right back with Turner getting a 1-yard TD run, while Douglas returned a punt 61-yard field goal.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers
Carolina tried to rally as Delhomme completed a 16-yard TD pass to WR Muhsin Muhammad, yet Atlanta flew away as Turner got a 16-yard TD run. "It was great to get off to a good start and score 17 points", said Ryan, who managed the game with 259 passing yards on a 94.5 passer rating. "For the most part, we were able to maintain our ebb and flow on the offensive side of the ball. Our defense stepped up and did a heck of a job keeping Carolina from making big plays. I didn't think we would score 45 points, but I’ll take that any day."


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at San Diego Chargers
Coming off their divisional home win over the Panthers, the Falcons flew to Qualcomm Stadium for a Week 13 interconference duel with the San Diego Chargers. In the first quarter, Atlanta took off as kicker Jason Elam got a 35-yard field goal. The Chargers responded with RB LaDainian Tomlinson getting a 3-yard TD run, yet the Falcons stayed close with Elam getting a 40-yard field goal. In the second quarter, Atlanta regained the lead as rookie quarterback Matt Ryan completed an 18-yard TD pass to TE Justin Peelle, along with their defense forcing opposing quarterback Philip Rivers to commit intentional grounding from his own endzone, giving Atlanta a safety.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at San Diego Chargers
In the third quarter, San Diego answered with safety Eric Weddle returning a fumble 86 yards for a touchdown (with a failed two-point conversion). In the fourth quarter, the Falcons replied with Ryan completing a 5-yard TD pass to rookie WR Harry Douglas. The Chargers tried to come back, as kicker Nate Kaeding nailed a 28-yard field goal. Atlanta's defense stiffened for the victory.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: at New Orleans Saints
Coming off their west coast win over the Chargers, the Falcons flew to the Louisiana Superdome for a Week 14 NFC South rematch with the New Orleans Saints. Atlanta trailed fairly early in the first quarter as Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to RB Reggie Bush. In the second quarter, the Falcons continued to trail as kicker Garrett Hartley got a 26-yard field goal. Atlanta responded RB Michael Turner getting a 5-yard TD run, yet Hartley gave New Orleans a 46-yard field goal. The Falcons struck back with rookie quarterback Matt Ryan completing a 2-yard TD pass to WR Brian Finneran, but the Saints closed out the half with Hartley's 25-yard field goal.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: at New Orleans Saints
Atlanta got the third quarter's only points as kicker Jason Elam nailed a 23-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, New Orleans tried to pull away as Brees completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to RB Pierre Thomas, yet their 2-point conversion attempt failed. The Falcons then took the lead as Ryan got a 12-yard touchdown run, followed by a 2-point pass to wide receiver Michael Jenkins. However, the Saints got the last laugh as Thomas got a 5-yard TD run.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 15: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Michael Turner rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown, and Jason Elam kicked the winning 34-yard field goad at 10:56 of overtime to give the Falcons (9–5–0) a much-needed division victory. The Falcons overcame two Matt Ryan interceptions and some sloppy play. The victory over the Buccaneers (9–5–0) kept them in the hunt for a playoff spot, and guaranteed the Falcons first winning season since 2004. Also with the win, the Falcons managed to knock the Saints out of playoff contention. Turner's touchdown was his 15th for the Falcons this season, breaking the record of 14 set in 1998 by Jamal Anderson.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Minnesota Vikings
Coming off their divisional home win over the Buccaneers, the Falcons flew to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome for a Week 16 battle with the Minnesota Vikings. Atlanta got an early first quarter lead with running back Michael Turner getting a 1-yard touchdown run. The Vikings responded with quarterback Tarvaris Jackson completing a 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. In the second quarter, the Falcons regained the lead as rookie quarterback Matt Ryan completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to running back Jerious Norwood, followed by kicker Jason Elam getting a 22-yard field goal.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Minnesota Vikings
Atlanta added to their lead in the third quarter as Ryan tried to run into the endzone for a touchdown, fumbled the ball into the endzone, and offensive guard Justin Blalock recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Minnesota tried to come back as kicker Ryan Longwell nailed a 29-yard field goal, along with Jackson hooking up with Shiancoe again on a 17-yard touchdown pass. The Falcon defense stiffened for the win.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: at Minnesota Vikings
With the win, not only did Atlanta improve to 10–5, but they also clinched a playoff berth for the first since 2004.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. St. Louis Rams
With the playoffs on the horizon, the Falcons closed out the regular season at home in a Week 17 duel with the St. Louis Rams. Atlanta took off in the first quarter with kicker Jason Elam making a 39-yard field goal, but the Rams responded with running back Steven Jackson getting a 4-yard touchdown run. The Falcons answered in the second quarter with a 9-yard touchdown run from running back Michael Turner. St. Louis answered with quarterback Marc Bulger completing a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Donnie Avery, yet Atlanta took the halftime lead with running back Jerious Norwood's 8-yard touchdown run.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. St. Louis Rams
In the third quarter, the Falcons added to their lead with quarterback Matt Ryan completing an 18-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Roddy White. The Rams closed out the period with kicker Josh Brown making a 31-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, St. Louis got the lead again as Jackson got a 2-yard touchdown run, followed by Brown nailing a 27-yard field goal. Atlanta then took the lead for good as Norwood got a 45-yard touchdown run.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: vs. St. Louis Rams
With the win, the Falcons closed out the regular season at 11–5 and due to Carolina's victory over New Orleans, earned the NFC's #5 seed.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Postseason, NFC Wild Card Round: at Arizona Cardinals
Entering the playoffs as the NFC's fifth seed, the Falcons began their playoff run at the University of Phoenix Stadium against the #4 Arizona Cardinals. Atlanta trailed early in the first quarter as Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner completed a 42-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The Falcons responded in the second quarter as kicker Jason Elam got a 30-yard field goal, but Arizona answered with Warner completing a 71-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Anquan Boldin. Afterwards, Atlanta took a halftime lead as running back Michael Turner got a 7-yard touchdown run, followed by rookie quarterback Matt Ryan's 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Justin Peelle.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Postseason, NFC Wild Card Round: at Arizona Cardinals
In the third quarter, the Cardinals retook the lead as safety Antrel Rolle returned a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown, followed by running back Tim Hightower's 4-yard touchdown run. The Falcons' postseason run was fading in the fourth quarter as Ryan was sacked in his endzone by defensive end Antonio Smith for a safety. Afterwards, Atlanta tried to rally as Ryan completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Roddy White, but Arizona's offense ran out the clock for the win.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Postseason, NFC Wild Card Round: at Arizona Cardinals
With the loss, the Falcons' season ended with an overall record of 11–6.


2008 Atlanta Falcons season, Postseason, 2009 Pro Bowl selections
Michael Turner and Roddy White were named to the 2009 Pro Bowl NFC squad as reserves. It will be his first trip to Hawaii. White and Turner are the 112th and 113th Pro Bowl selections in team history, they are the second Falcons RB and WR duo to be voted to the Pro Bowl in the same year (first since 1980). White is the fourth Falcons wide receiver to earn Pro Bowl accolades and the first since Terance Mathis in 1995. Turner is the eighth different Falcons runningback to earn Pro Bowl honors. Matt Ryan finished second amongst rookies in fan Pro Bowl voting, Ryan (416,468 votes) was the top rookie quarterback in the category but ranks behind Titans running back Chris Johnson (534,170 votes).


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak
A destructive and deadly tornado outbreak affected the Southeastern United States on March 14–15, 2008. The most infamous tornado of the outbreak occurred on March 14 when an isolated, but strong, EF2 tornado caused widespread damage across Downtown Atlanta, including to the CNN Center and to the Georgia Dome, where the 2008 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament was postponed. Other buildings that were damaged include the Georgia World Congress Center, Philips Arena (during an Atlanta Hawks game), and the Omni Hotel, which was evacuated after many windows were blown out. The Westin Peachtree Plaza suffered major window damage. The image of the building with all the windows blown out became famous and, for a time, was the symbol of the tornado. Centennial Olympic Park, SunTrust Plaza and historic Oakland Cemetery were also damaged.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak
One man was killed near Downtown Atlanta and 30 others were injured. Two other deaths took place on March 15, in the northern Atlanta suburbs, from the second, larger round of severe weather and tornadoes. In total, 45 tornadoes were confirmed over the 24-hour period from eastern Alabama to the Carolina coast, with most of the activity concentrated in the Metropolitan Atlanta area, the Central Savannah River Area and the Midlands of South Carolina.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis, Atlanta tornado event
In their 9:00 pm EDT outlook, the Storm Prediction Center issued a slight risk of severe weather across portions of the southern United States from Oklahoma to Georgia, with a 2% risk area for tornadoes for the Atlanta area. A tornado warning was issued for Atlanta at 9:26 pm when the thunderstorm that caused the tornado was 6 miles (10 km) northwest of the downtown area, although no watches were in effect for the area due to the low probability and unusual isolated nature.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis, Atlanta tornado event
The tornado moved to the southeast, which is unusual as most supercells have a strong northward component along (or ahead of) a cold front. It also was unusual because it was not associated with such a squall line at all, but was an independent supercell well ahead of the main storm system.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis, March 15 tornado event
Another tornado outbreak struck the southeast the following day. A moderate risk for severe storms was issued early in the morning, and maintained through the afternoon. However, by mid afternoon, areas of east-central Georgia and central South Carolina were upgraded to a high risk of severe storms due to the tornado threat.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
CNN Center was severely damaged, including shattered windows. The Georgia World Congress Center also sustained serious damage, as was the Omni Hotel, especially the skywalk between the two hotel towers over Andrew Young International Boulevard. This complex alone lost 476 windows, making it necessary to close the south tower to guests. The facades of the Georgia Dome and a Philips Arena parking garage were damaged while hosting basketball games.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
Two of the giant columns in Centennial Olympic Park were knocked down, and insulation was stuck in trees. Trees on some other streets were blown completely down, despite being too early in spring to involve leaf drag. Glass was strewn across several streets, and Atlanta Police kept residents, hotel guests, and news crews away from buildings with falling glass, which continued to pose a danger into the night. Cars in the area were also damaged, and hotel and office furniture was found scattered about.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
The Ritz Carlton, Westin Peachtree Plaza, Georgia-Pacific Building, SunTrust Plaza (where more than 60 people had to be relocated out of their offices), Equitable Building, and Georgia State University also had windows blown out (300 at Equitable alone), as did The Tabernacle (a former church with stained glass that is now a concert venue). The windows of the Westin continued to fall for days after the tornado, forcing police to keep several city blocks and MARTA's Peachtree Center station closed to pedestrians.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
The Georgia World Congress Center also sustained flooding while hosting a JROTC event and the Hinman Dental Meeting; Fox Sports Net took footage of a staircase in the new section of the complex that looked like a fountain with water cascading down it. The annual Atlanta Home Show and all other events were cancelled for the weekend in the GWCC complex, as was the Atlanta St. Patrick's Day Parade scheduled for the next day.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
WRAS FM at Georgia State University was off the air for two days, though it was not stated whether its studio or tower sustained damage, or if this was due to security or safety concerns, or power outages. The historic Rialto Theatre at GSU also sustained roof damage, which caused water damage inside.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
Further east, Grady Hospital reported some damage to windows and a power outage. Many of the injured were taken there, and some walked there and were treated in the emergency room for cuts due to glass. The King Memorial MARTA station was damaged and was being bypassed by trains, with buses rerouted to the next station on each side. Oakland Cemetery suffered major damage to monuments and to its huge oaks and magnolias, and the caretaker found window blinds around the neck of a statue of a Civil War veteran buried there.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
In the nearby Cabbagetown area, a brick loft building (well known for the fire that occurred there in 1999, during its renovation from the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills, in which the crane operator was rescued by helicopter during live TV news coverage) lost part of its roof, and part of the top (fifth) floor. Another building at The Stacks on Boulevard was damaged; search and rescue personnel were unable to enter, but everyone was accounted for by the management within a few hours.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
When the tornado hit, a SEC tournament game between Mississippi State and Alabama which had just been sent into overtime minutes earlier by a shot from Mykal Riley, was in progress at the Georgia Dome and being broadcast live on television. The storm ripped panels from the exterior of the building and tore two holes in the roof of the Dome, causing insulation to fall and the scoreboard and catwalks suspended from the roof to sway; much of this was captured on camera, though the transmission from the arena was interrupted.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
Riley's shot was considered to have saved lives by keeping people safe inside the Georgia Dome. After a 64-minute delay, the game was completed, however the next scheduled game between Kentucky and Georgia was postponed. The remainder of the tournament games were played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Georgia Tech, with spectators restricted to team and conference personnel, media, team bands, and families of players only due to the much smaller size of the alternate venue. At the nearby Philips Arena, little disruption was noticed by the attendees during the game between the Hawks and the Los Angeles Clippers, even though damage occurred to the outside of the arena.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
Twenty-seven people were treated for injuries. In addition, over 20 homes were completely destroyed.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
All of CNN's TV networks remained on the air, but there was damage to the glass roof of the CNN Center atrium, flooding part of the food court. Additionally, blown-out windows in the ground floor CNN.com newsroom and the fourth floor videotape library caused minor damage. Live news coverage of the aftermath was carried on CNN International, in turn simulcast domestically on CNN until 1 am EDT.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
CNN resumed broadcasting from their main newsroom at 6 am EDT, showing several parts of the newsroom with computer stations covered with tarps, the damaged atrium of CNN Center, and staff using trash cans and buckets to collect dripping rainwater to the right of the anchor desk due to the damaged roof. When more storms moved in later in the day, the network was forced to move all Atlanta on-camera operations to the windowless CNN-I studio, while taped programming was shown for most of the day.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
The city received emergency assistance from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), Highway Emergency Response Operators (HEROs), Fulton and DeKalb counties (where Atlanta is situated), and surrounding cities and counties. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin also declared a state of emergency for the city  and Governor Sonny Perdue issued a state state of emergency declaration  for Atlanta enabling the city to seek disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). President Bush declared a major disaster on March 20.


2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atlanta, Georgia
At the time, it was the most expensive tornado in American history, in raw U.S. dollars, after the 1999 Oklahoma City tornado, costing a half-billion dollars.


2008 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2008 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Championship was held from May 21–24 at Campbell's Field in Camden, NJ. It featured the top six regular-season finishers of the conference's 14 teams. Second-seeded Charlotte defeated Xavier in the title game to win the tournament for the second straight year, earning the A-10's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament.


2008 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding and format
The league's top six teams, based on winning percentage in the 27-game regular-season schedule, were seeded one through six. The top two seeds, Xavier and Charlotte, received byes into the second round of play in the double elimination tournament.


2008 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding and format
In the tie for first place, the conference's tiebreaking procedures gave Xavier the top seed.


2008 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team. Charlotte's Rob Lyerly, one of four 49ers selected, was named Most Outstanding Player.


2008 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2008 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament was played at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey from March 12 to March 15, 2008. By winning the tournament, Temple received an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and was crowned Atlantic 10 Conference champion. Xavier and Saint Joseph's also received at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. Dionte Christmas of Temple was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.


2008 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeding
The seeding for the tournament is based on regular-season record during Atlantic 10 Conference play. Each team played a 16-game schedule. Charlotte, Richmond, and Saint Joseph's all finished with records of 9-7. Richmond won the tiebreaker by having a 2-1 record among the tied schools. Saint Joseph's came second from the tiebreaker with a record of 1-1. Also, La Salle and Dayton both finished with 8-8 records. La Salle won the tiebreaker by beating Dayton during the regular season. Lastly, Duquesne, Rhode Island, and Saint Louis all finished with records of 7-9.


2008 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeding
Since the teams were all 1-1 in games amongst each other, the tie was broken by record against the highest-ranked teams in the conference. In the end, Saint Louis won the tiebreaker as a result of a 1-1 record vs. Massachusetts. Duquesne (0-1 vs. Massachusetts) then got the tiebreaker over Rhode Island (0-2).


2008 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeding
The top four teams receive byes to the second round of the tournament. Because they did not finish in the top 12 in the Atlantic 10, George Washington and St. Bonaventure did not qualify for the tournament.


2008 Atlantic Championship
The 2008 Atlantic Championship season was the thirty-fifth Atlantic Championship season. It began on April 20, 2008 and ended on October 4, 2008. Despite the merger of Champ Car's premier series with the Indy Racing League, the Champ Car owners continued to own and operate the Atlantic Championship under a new legal entity, Atlantic Racing Series, LLC. Champ Car continued to sanction the first two events of the season at Long Beach and Laguna Seca with the remainder of the season running under IMSA sanction. The Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda Drivers' Champion was Markus Niemelä driving for Brooks Associates Racing.


2008 Atlantic Championship, Events
The original 12-race 2008 Atlantic Championship calendar, which featured many supporting runs during Champ Car World Series events, had to be scrapped as a result of the 2008 open-wheel reunification announcement. The Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Edmonton, Mont-Tremblant and Road America races, which had been part of the Champ Car schedule before reunification, remained in the calendar. The Road America races were changed, as the American Le Mans Series' Generac 500 weekend meet was changed from one to two races (a Saturday and Sunday race). The Edmonton race, now part of the IndyCar Series, also switched to a two-race format.


2008 Atlantic Championship, Events
The original races at Trois-Rivieres and Miller were not affected, since the Quebec race was part of the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres (which also features the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series), and the Utah race was conducted as part of the Rolex Sports Car Series Sunchaser 1000 weekend. On April 3 a revised post-reunification schedule was released featuring 11 races including the seven weekends that were kept (with two races at Edmonton and Road America), and two new races, one at New Jersey and a second Road Atlanta (as a support race to the Petit Le Mans).


2008 Atlantic Championship, Events, Television
The 2008 series was televised at 5 PM ET on Sundays starting on November 9, 2008 on Speed TV.


2008 Atlantic Championship, Drivers and Teams
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2008 Atlantic Championship season. All teams used the Swift 016.a chassis powered by a Mazda-Cosworth MZR 2.3 liter inline-4 engine and Cooper tires.


2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament was held at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida from May 21 through May 25. The #1 seeded University of Miami won the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record, earning the Atlantic Coast Conference's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. It was Miami's first conference championship in baseball after having played as an independent until joining the ACC during the 2004-05 academic year.


2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament
2008 was the second year in which the conference used a round robin tournament format, with the team with the best record in each group at the end of the three-game round robin advancing to a one-game championship.


2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding Procedure
The top two teams from both the Atlantic and Coastal divisions, as determined by conference winning percentage, in addition to the four teams with the next best conference winning percentage, regardless of division, will be selected to participate in the ACC Baseball Championship. The two division champions will automatically be seeded number one and two based on winning percentage in overall conference competition. The remaining teams will be seeded (three through eight) based on winning percentage in overall conference competition without regard to division. All ties will be broken using the .


2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football season
The 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football season was the 56th season that the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) participated in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college football. As a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conference, the ACC's constituent members competed within the framework of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).


2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football season
The media widely recognized the 2008 season as one of the most chaotic in the conference's history. At season's end, the ACC fielded an NCAA-record of ten bowl eligible teams from its twelve conference members.


2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football season
Virginia Tech secured its second consecutive conference championship when it won the 2008 ACC Championship Game against Boston College. Likewise, it was the second consecutive season that Boston College finished as the conference runner-up. Virginia Tech went on to represent the conference in its BCS game, the 2008 Orange Bowl, and, with a victory over Cincinnati, ended the ACC's eight-year BCS game slump.


2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football season, Honors, All-conference teams
Postseason awards are selected by the Atlantic Coast sports media association by votes


2008 Atlantic Coast Conference football season, ACC players in the NFL Draft
In the 2009 NFL Draft, 32 former ACC players were selected. The ACC was second only to the Southeastern Conference (SEC), which had 37 former players selected. The Big 12 and Big Ten each had 28 and the Big East had 27 former players selected. Of the ACC schools, Maryland and North Carolina tied for most former players selected at five. Clemson, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and Virginia each had four former players selected.


2008 Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2008 Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the 5th conference tournament in league history. It was played between March 7 and March 16, 2008. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while all 'Final Five' games were played at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York. By winning the tournament, Air Force received Atlantic Hockey's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.


2008 Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The tournament featured four rounds of play. Teams were seeded No. 1 through No. 10 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top five seeded teams each earned home ice and hosted one of the lower seeded teams. All quarterfinal matchups were best-of-three series with the top three remaining seeds receiving byes into the semifinal round and the lowest two remaining seeds playing in a four-vs-five match. All rounds after the quarterfinals were conducted as single-elimination games.


2008 Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The winner of the four-vs-five game would advance to the semifinals to play the highest remaining seed while the other two remaining seeds faced off in the other semifinal game. The winners of the semifinal games advanced to play each other in a championship game with the tournament champion receiving an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.


2008 Atlantic Hockey Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Conference Standings
Note: GP = Games Played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against


2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Melching Field at Conrad Park on the campus of Stetson University in DeLand, Florida from May 21 through 25. Lipscomb won its first tournament championship to earn the Atlantic Sun Conference's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Lipscomb joined the conference prior to the 2004 season.


2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding
The top six teams (based on conference results) from the conference earn invites to the tournament. Florida Gulf Coast, Kennesaw State, North Florida, and South Carolina Upstate were ineligible for the tournament due to NCAA rules after reclassifying to Division I.


2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Tournament, Results
* - Indicates game required 10 innings. † - Indicates game required 15 innings.


2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Tournament, All-Tournament Team, Tournament Most Valuable Player
Caleb Joseph was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Joseph was a catcher for Lipscomb.


2008 Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2008 Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball Tournament took place from March 5–8, 2008 at Allen Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.


2008 Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
The eight eligible men's basketball teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference receive a berth in the conference tournament. After the 16 game conference season, teams are seeded by conference record.


2008 Atlantic hurricane season
The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was the most destructive Atlantic hurricane season since 2005, causing over 1,000 deaths and nearly $50 billion (2008 USD) in damage. The season ranked as the third costliest ever at the time, but has since fallen to eighth costliest. It was an above-average season, featuring sixteen named storms, eight of which became hurricanes, and five which further became major hurricanes. It officially started on June 1 and ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin.


2008 Atlantic hurricane season
However, the formation of Tropical Storm Arthur caused the season to start one day early. It was the only year on record in which a major hurricane existed in every month from July through November in the North Atlantic. Bertha became the longest-lived July tropical cyclone on record for the basin, the first of several long-lived systems during 2008.


2008 Atlantic hurricane season
The season was devastating for Haiti, where nearly 800 people were killed by four consecutive tropical cyclones (Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike), especially Hurricane Hanna, in August and September. These four storms caused about $1 billion in damage in Haiti alone. The precursor to Kyle and the outer rain bands of Paloma also impacted Haiti. Cuba also received extensive impacts from Gustav, Ike, and Paloma, with Gustav and Ike making landfall in the country at major hurricane intensity and Paloma being a Category 2 when striking the nation. More than $10 billion in damage and 8 deaths occurred there.