OAKLAND, Calif. — Even in the depths of the Michael Vick- and Bobby Petrino-inspired despair last year in Atlanta, the Falcons never sank as low as they sent the Oakland Raiders today.

Matt Ryan threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes to Michael Jenkins and the Falcons held the Raiders to negative yards and no first downs in the first half and their lowest yards total in 47 years in a 24-0 victory.

In a six-year stretch of losing, embarrassment and new lows in Oakland, Al Davis' once-proud franchise might have reached a new nadir this week in front of a half-filled stadium of fans who began booing the Raiders (2-6) just minutes in. Oakland finished with just 77 yards for its worst total since getting 58 in 1961 against the Chargers, when Davis was an assistant in San Diego.

The Falcons (5-3) scored on their first four possessions as Ryan had open receivers to pick from almost every time he dropped back, while Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood had big holes to run through.

Atlanta also posted its first shutout since 2002, preserving it with an interception in the end zone by Erik Coleman midway through the fourth quarter.

Ryan finished 17-of-22 for 220 yards, outplaying JaMarcus Russell in a matchup of the first quarterbacks taken in the past two drafts. Turner added 139 yards on 31 carries.

After suffering through the misery of 2007 that started with Vick's guilty plea to federal dogfighting charges and ended when Petrino fled town with three games remaining in his first season as coach is quickly becoming a distant memory.

Led by a rookie quarterback in Ryan and rookie coach Mike Smith, the Falcons have already surpassed last season's victory total by one at just the halfway point and are in the thick of the race in the NFC. Though it doesn't figure to be quite this easy the rest of the way.

Ryan beat former Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jenkins to cap the first drive. The two beat Stanford Routt with a corner route for a 27-yard touchdown on the third drive. Norwood added a 12-yard touchdown run and Jason Elam kicked a 48-yard field goal for Atlanta's other first-half scores that made it 24-0.

The Raiders finally got a stop in the final seconds of the half when Gerard Warren sacked Ryan and forced a fumble that was recovered at the Oakland 23 with 16 seconds remaining. But John Abraham brought down Russell with his third sack to end the half. The Raiders finished the half with minus-2 yards of offense, compared to 309 to Atlanta.

Even attempts at trickery didn't work for the Raiders, who sent in receiver Ronald Curry at quarterback on the first play of their fourth drive. Before they could even run a play, Robert Gallery was called for a false start and Russell returned.

Justin Fargas' 13-yard run with 9:26 to play in the third quarter gave the Raiders their initial first down of the game and led to mock applause from the frustrated crowd. The boos quickly returned when Russell lost a fumble three plays later.

Russell doubled Oakland's yardage total with a 24-yard scramble in the opening minute of the fourth quarter for the second first down of the game.

The loss was the third blowout in four games under interim coach Tom Cable, whose only win came in overtime at home two weeks ago against the New York Jets. Cable now has the same record that Lane Kiffin had when he was fired after four games.