Falcons Hit Quick, Hold On, 20-17 : Interconference: Miller’s two touchdown passes lead Falcons to 17-0 lead. Jets’ rally falls short.

ATLANTA —  Jerry Glanville and the Atlanta Falcons have a new game plan in the Georgia Dome.

Chris Miller, who threw a touchdown pass on the Falcons’ first play in their new home during an exhibition game last week, threw two touchdown passes to Michael Haynes in the first quarter Sunday and Atlanta held on for a 20-17 victory over the New York Jets.

“That’s not the way we usually do it,” Glanville said. “We’re usually the other way around. We are usually so far behind by the fourth quarter that we run and catch up.”

Norm Johnson kicked a 25-yard field goal the first time the Falcons had the ball and Miller passed 14 yards to Haynes for a score one play after Michael Reid recovered a fumble by Jet rookie quarterback Browning Nagle.

“Sometimes the exchange isn’t always clean and you have to overcome that,” Nagle said. “(Jim Sweeney) is a great veteran center and those things happen.”

Later in the quarter, Miller passed to Haynes for an 11-yard score, capping a 71-yard drive that included a 25-yard pass to Mike Pritchard.

“It was definitely good being up, 17-0,” Miller said. “Unfortunately, I think sometimes when you get in that situation you might coast a little bit. We got a little lackadaisical. I know I did personally and I think the offense did.”

After the Jets scored on Jason Staurovsky’s 43-yard field goal in the second quarter, Johnson’s 54-yarder made it 20-3.

Nagle, making his first NFL start, passed for 366 yards and two touchdowns to rally the Jets.

Rob Moore turned a pass from Nagle into a 41-yard gain, setting up a 15-yard scoring pass to Al Toon that made it 20-10 at halftime. The Jets cut the lead to 20-17 with 7:14 left in the third quarter when Nagle hooked up with Chris Burkett for a 37-yard touchdown.

New York had other chances, but Brad Baxter lost a fumble inside the Atlanta 10 and Staurovsky missed field-goal attempts of 42 and 41 yards in the second half.

“You got to believe that when we look at the film we are going to be upset that we won the game in a lot of ways,” Jet Coach Bruce Coslet said.