Atlanta, GA -- (Sports Network) - Michael Turner had an impressive debut for the Falcons, rushing for a franchise-record 220 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, and Atlanta began the Mike Smith era with a 34-21 victory over the Detroit Lions.

Turner, who signed as an unrestricted free agent on March 2 after spending the past four seasons as a backup to San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson, eclipsed the team record of 202 yards set by Gerald Riggs on September 24, 1984. Jerious Norwood added 93 yards on the ground for Atlanta (1-0), which finished a dismal 4-12 last season.

Matt Ryan, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 Draft, was solid for the Falcons, completing 9-of-13 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown.

"I'm very proud of our football team," Smith said. "To go out and play the way they did today, they had fun today playing the game. We ran the ball extremely well, which is something that we talked about doing from the very beginning. The team played extremely hard."

Jon Kitna connected on 24-of-33 pass attempts for 262 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for the Lions (0-1), who are coming off a 7-9 campaign in 2007. Calvin Johnson caught seven passes for 107 yards in the loss.

"They way I look at it, and I want to watch more film this week, I think the main problem was our tackling," Detroit head coach Rod Marinelli said. "It is on us completely. We just were not able to get that done. We have to do that to have a chance to win."

Atlanta dominated the first quarter, scoring on its first three possessions. The Falcons took the opening kickoff and needed only three plays to find pay dirt, with the Boston College product connecting with Michael Jenkins for a 62-yard TD on his first NFL pass attempt. After two runs by Turner, Ryan hit Jenkins down the left side of the field and he dashed untouched to the end zone. Turner then ran for touchdowns of 66 and five yards to give the Falcons a 21-0 lead with 3:20 to play in the opening stanza.

However, Detroit's defense tightened up and the offense came to life in the second quarter. Kitna directed a 12-play, 59-yard drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes of the clock, and rookie Kevin Smith's three-yard TD run put the Lions on the board with 4:06 remaining. Detroit went into halftime down 21-14 after Kitna threw a 21-yard strike to Roy Williams, who leaped up and snagged the ball in the right corner of the end zone, in the closing seconds. The play was upheld following a video review to determine if both feet landed inbounds.

Following the break, Atlanta added to its lead with Jason Elam's 50-yard field goal, and Norwood's 10-yard scamper into the end zone made it 31-14 with 5:57 left in the third quarter. The score was set up by a 46-yard pass from Ryan to Roddy White.

The Lions trailed 31-21 when Kitna found Casey Fitzsimmons for a one-yard score with 1:40 to go in the third frame.

Elam knocked through a 25-yarder in the fourth quarter to make it 34-21.

Game Notes:

Turner's 220-yard performance was also a career-high...Turner recorded the first multiple touchdown game of his career...Ryan became the first Falcons rookie signal-caller to start a season opener since Steve Bartkowski in 1975...Ryan became the first quarterback since New England's Michael Bishop in 2000 to throw a TD pass on his initial NFL attempt...Falcons defensive end John Abraham racked up three sacks despite leaving the game for a brief period with a minor injury...Lions linebacker Ernie Sims left with an ankle injury and did not return...Atlanta broke a team rushing record with 318 yards against Detroit. The previous record was set on September 17, 2006 against Tampa Bay (306 yards).