The Atlanta Falcons (2-1) are on the road this week facing the much-improved San Francisco 49ers (3-1).  The Falcons are coming off a bye week and this will be a good match-up between them and the 49ers.  The Falcons need to make sure their run-defense does a better job this week against the 49ers running game, and luckily for the Falcons the niners’ star running back Frank Gore is still out with an ankle injury.  Glen Coffee is no Frank Gore as he is only averaging 2.3 yards per carry, but the 49ers will keep giving him the ball so the Falcons better be committed to stopping the run.  The 49ers’ passing game is not that big of a threat, as their quarterback Shaun Hill has only thrown for 700 yards in four games (175 avg).

Matt Ryan has been pretty solid for the Falcons in there first three games.  He has thrown five touchdowns and only one interception, while going for 648 yards on 60/91 attempts (66%).  Michael Turner has been playing pretty well for the Falcons’ running game too, as he is averaging 3.5 yards per carry.  This is probably the best defense the Falcons have faced so far, and they do a great job of stopping the run (79 yards per game).  This should be a close game and could go either way, but since the 49ers are at home I am giving them a slight advantage over the Falcons.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Atlanta Falcons 21, San Francisco 49ers 24