The Falcons won this football game because of their defense on Thursday Night.  DE Kory Biermann led the way for the Falcons’ defense with 5 tackles and a sack.  Free safety Thomas DeCoud also had a solid game with 4 tackles and a interception.  The Ravens finished up with 88 yards rushing on 29 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 34 passes for 159 yards.

Matt Ryan had a off game against the Ravens as he only completed 2 of 7 passes for 17 yards.  Joey Harrington wasn’t any better as he completed 2 of 5 passes for 17 yards and he threw an interception.  D.J. Shockley was the best QB for the Falcons on this night as he completed 7 of 14 passes for 98 yards with a 20-yard TD pass to WR Brian Finneran.  Jason Snelling led the Falcons in this game with 88 yards rushing on 15 carries (5.9 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 22 yards (11.0 avg).  Michael Turner made a brief appearance in which he rushed for 18 yards on 4 carries (4.5 ypc).  WR Laurent Robinson was the leading receiver for the Falcons in this game with 3 catches for 40 yards (13.3 avg).  The Falcons finished up this game with 135 yards rushing on 32 carries (4.2 ypc) and they also completed 11 of 26 passes for 121 yards.  The Falcons finished up the preseason 2-2 and they looked like they might be a better team than most people expect them to be in 2008.

The Falcons have signed 36-year old TE Marcus Pollard to a 1-year contract.  Pollard will give the Falcons a pass receiving threat at TE which they didn’t have until now.  Pollard played in 14 games for the Seahawks last season and he caught 28 passes for 273 yards (9.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Pollard has had a solid NFL career having played in 183 games in which he has caught 349 passes for 4,280 yards (12.3 avg) with 40 TD grabs.  This was a good move for the Falcons.

The Atlanta Falcons looked pretty good on both sides of the football last night in a very impressive win.  Matt Ryan got the start and he looked really good completing 15 of 21 passes for 102 yards with a 1-yard TD pass to fellow rookie Harry Douglas.  Chris Redman finished up the game in the 2nd half and he also played well completing 9 of 11 passes for 83 yards.  Jerious Norwood led the way for the Falcons’ last night as he rushed for 53 yards on only 4 carries (13.3 ypc) against the Titans.  Jason Snelling was also pretty impressive with 46 yards rushing on 9 carries (5.1 ypc).  Rookie Thomas Brown pitched in with 29 yards rushing on 7 carries (4.1 ypc) including a 9-yard TD run.  WR Brian Finneran led the Falcons’ with 5 catches for 53 yards (10.6 avg) last night.  Michael Jenkins pitched in with 5 grabs for 44 yards (8.8 avg) last night.  Rookie WR Henry Douglas was also solid last night with 19 yards receiving on 4 catches (4.8 avg) including a TD grab from Matt Ryan.  The Falcons finished up with 145 yards rushing on 30 carries (4.8 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 32 passes for 175 yards.  The Falcons had possession of the football for 36:06 last night and that’s the way to win a lot of football games.

The defense was outstanding last night for the Falcons and it was led by rookie linebacker Curtis Lofton (6 tackles) and safety Lawyer Milloy (5 tackles).  The Falcons held the Titans to only 75 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 13 of 32 passes for 140 yards.  This is a nice win and the Falcons’ will hopefully build on it with the regular season only two weeks away.

The Atlanta Falcons have decided to go young at WR in 2008 and with that in mind they cut Joe Horn today.  Horn has been asking for a trade out of Atlanta and the Falcons just tired of his act.  The 36-year old Horn played in 12 games (all starts) for the Falcons last season and he caught 27 passes for 243 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Maybe a desperate team might give Horn a chance but he just as likely could have played in his last NFL game.

The Falcons did not look good at home against the Colts last Saturday Night.  Matt Ryan did not look as good as he did in his first game as he completed 8 of 16 passes for 62 yards with an interception that was returned 67 yards for a TD by Colts’ CB Kelvin Hayden.  Chris Redman followed Ryan and he didn’t play much better as he completed 3 of 4 passes for 56 yards but he also threw an interception.  Joey Harrington made a brief appearance in this game completing 2 of 3 passes for 17 yards.  D.J. Shockley keeps trying to pass his way off the Falcons’ roster as he only completed 2 of 5 passes for 24 yards and he threw an interception and lost a fumble.  Michael Turner was incredible for the Falcons agains the Colts as he carried the ball only 4 times for a ridiculous 113 yards (28.3 ypc).  Jerious Norwood pitched in with 25 yards rushing on 7 carries (3.6 ypc).  Rookie RB Thomas Brown rushed for 22 yards on 4 carries (5.5 ypc) for the Falcons in this game.  Laurent Robinson led the Falcons with 48 yards receiving on 3 catches (16.0 avg) on Saturday Night.  Michael Jenkins pitched in with 4 catches for 25 yards (6.3 avg) in this game.  The Falcons finished up with 166 yards rushing on only 24 carries (6.9 ypc).  They also completed 15 of 28 passes for 152 yards against the Colts.

CB Blue Adams led a decent effort by the Falcons’ defense in this game with 10 tackles.  The Colts finished up with 118 yards rushing on 35 carries (3.4 ypc) in this game.  They also completed 19 of 37 passes for 207 yards.