As a rookie WR in 2008, Weems only caught 1 pass for 4 yards and he returned 1 kickoff for 19 yards.  With Jerious Norwood injured when the season started the Falcons needed someone to step up and Weems has certainly done that.  He has returned 10 kickoffs for 255 yards (25.5 avg) this season and he has also returned 7 punts for 49 yards (7.0 avg).  Weems has seemed to find a home for himself on returns and that has allowed the Falcons to get Jerious Norwood to focus on playing running back which should help the team.

The Atlanta Falcons (3-1) are at home against the Chicago Bears (3-1) Sunday.  These are two pretty evenly matched teams, as the Falcons offense gets about 40 yards more a game than the Bears offense, but the Bears defense holds opponents to about 50 yards less than the Falcons.  The Bears have had difficulty stopping the run at times this year, and the Falcons average 106 rushing yards per game.  They need to try and attack the Bears on the ground and open things up for quarterback Matt Ryan.  Ryan has passed for 977 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions, while completing 67% of his passes.  The Bears are holding teams to 226 passing yards, but also are great at getting turnovers.

The Falcons need to get to quarterback Jay Cutler, as he has a big arm with speedy receivers to throw the deep ball.  If they can pressure him, then he wont be able to go down field.  Bears running back Matt Forte had been struggling the first three games, but had some huge runs last game so the Falcons need to pay attention to him as well, especially since they are giving up 127 rushing yards per game.  This should be a pretty close game with two evenly match squads, but I think the Bears have the better defense so they will pull out the win.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Chicago Bears 30, Atlanta Falcons 24

The Atlanta Falcons had a great game on both sides of the ball in their big win over the San Francisco 49ers Sunday on the road.  They got a career-game from receiver Roddy White, with two touchdowns and a franchise record 210 yards on only eight catches (26.25 avg).  Matt Ryan had a great game for the Falcons too, throwing for 329 yards on 22/32 (69%) with two TD’s and one INT and one rushing TD.  Their running game was working great as well.  Michael Turner had 97 yards on 22 carries (4.4 avg) and had three of the Falcons six touchdowns.  Turner’s back-up Jerious Norwood did a solid job too, getting 44 yards on 12 carries (3.7 avg).

The Falcons’ defense forced three turnovers, getting two fumbles and an interception.  The 49ers were able to rush for 100 yards, but half of that came from 49ers’ quarterback Shaun Hill who did good job making things happen with his legs.  That was the only good part of the 49ers game Sunday and the Falcons completely dominated them.  They look to continue their success this Sunday night on the road against the Chicago Bears (3-1).

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

The Falcons have been concentrating on the underneath passing game and that is not Roddy White’s game.  White has caught 171 passes the last two seasons for 2,584 yards (15.1 avg) with 13 TD grabs.   This season though it appears that a lot of teams are double teaming White and keeping him in front of them.  Because of that White has caught 15 passes for only 119 yards (7.9 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this season.  For the Falcons to click on offense they need to get White more involved.  Hopefully during the bye week the Falcons can figure things out so that White is ready to rock against the 49ers next weekend.