Although the Atlanta Falcons (6-5) came out with the win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-10) on Sunday, they ended the day with two big losses.  Quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner both left the game due to injuries.  Ryan injured his toe early in the game, while Turner re-injured an ankle sprain he has been battling back from.  The good news for the Falcons is that backup quarterback Chris Redman played very well in Ryan’s absence.  Redman went 23/41 for 2 touchdowns and 243 yards, including a game winning pass with only 23 seconds left.  Turner left early in the 3rd quarter, but was still the leading rusher with 33 yards on 12 carries.

The Falcons defense did not play very well against the Bucs’ young quarterback Josh Freeman.  Freeman had his best game, throwing for 2 touchdowns and 250 yards on 20/29 passes.  They did do a good job slowing their running game down, holding them to 73 yards as a team, but they are one of the worst teams in the league so it’s nothing to be too proud about.  The Falcons’ also gave up a blocked punt, which led to an easy score for their offense.  That score gave the Bucs the lead and almost ended up being the go-ahead score.  Redman was able to lead the Bucs to a comeback though with his 5 yard touchdown pass to Roddy White with only 23 seconds left.  The Falcons should be happy to escape with a win in this one, but they need Ryan and Turner to get healthy if they want to keep their season alive.

The Atlanta Falcons (5-5) are happy to be back at home this week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-9).  The Falcons have been awful on the road, with a 1-5 record including two straight losses the past two weeks.  The Falcons are a different team at home though, and are looking to stay undefeated at the Georgia Dome this season.  It shouldn’t be too difficult of a task for Matt Ryan and the Falcons’ offense to put some points up against a weak Bucs’ defense.  Even though Michael Turner is questionable (ankle) for this game, I still think the Falcons should run the ball often.  The Bucs give up 169 rushing yards per game and Jason Snelling has proven he can make some plays at running back for the Falcons.  If the Falcons give him enough carries I think Snelling may get his first 100 yard rushing game of the season.

The Falcons’ defense needs to be prepared to stop the run.  The Bucs’ do not have a reliable quarterback in Josh Freeman, who is a rookie and has 11 turnovers in just three starts.  That means the Bucs will try and win the time of possession by handing the ball off as much as possible.  Cadillac Williams will get most of the carries, but the Bucs have been using as many as three running backs to attack defenses.  The Falcons give up 126 rushing yards per game, so the Bucs will likely have some success on the ground.  The Falcons need to limit that success and not let the Bucs hang around too long in this contest.  The Falcons should beat them easily and improve to 5-0 at home.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Atlanta Falcons 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13

Some “experts” criticized the Falcons for trading a second round pick last April for future Hall of Fame TE Tony Gonzalez but I wasn’t one of them.  I knew that Gonzalez would give Matt Ryan a safety net on passes over the middle that he had not had before.  Gonzalez has responded by catching 52 passes for 583 yards (11.2 avg) with 5 TD grabs so far this season.  Gonzalez is a gamer too so I think he will play even better than he already has down the stretch for the Falcons this year.

The offense played well for the Falcons today especially in the 4th quarter but the defense cost them again.  Matt Ryan was very solid for the Falcons in this game as he completed 26 of 46 passes for 268 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Both of his TD passes were thrown in the 4th quarter with one of them coming with only 28 seconds left in the game to send it to O.T.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 14 yards (2.8 ypc) today.  Jason Snelling did a solid job of filling in for the injured Michael Turner.  He carried the ball 25 times for 76 yards (3.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 3 passes for 13 yards (4.3 avg).  TE Tony Gonzalez led the way for the Falcons today in the passing game with 8 grabs for 82 yards (10.3 avg) with a TD grab.  Michael Jenkins pitched in with 6 catches for 76 yards (12.7 avg) today.  The Falcons finished up with 352 total yards on offense in this game (90 rushing, 262 passing). 

The defense was led by LBs Curtis Lofton (11 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss) and Mike Peterson (11 tackles).  Cb Brent Grimes pitched in with 10 tackles, 2 passes defensed and a INT.  The Giants finished up with 456 total yards in this game (88 rushing, 368 passing) today.  The Falcons are now 5-5 on the season.

Michael Jenkins has not improved one bit since joining the Falcons six years ago.  He just seems to be the latest of the overrated players from Ohio State.  He has played in 9 games this year for the Falcons and he has caught 27 passes for 310 yards (11.5 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  In six years with the Falcons, Jenkins has played in 86 games in which he has caught 212 passes for 2,682 yards (12.7 avg) with 17 TD grabs.  The Falcons need Jenkins to step up or he needs to sit down because he has not been a good WR in the NFL yet in his career.

The Falcons need Matt Ryan to pick up the pace as he needs to snap out of his sophomore slump.  Ryan has completed 178 of 298 passes (59.7%) for 2,008 yards with 14 TD passes and 12 INTs (78.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 22 times for 34 yards (1.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  I know that it’s not fair to single out Matt Ryan for criticism but with Michael Turner injured and the defense playing poorly the only way the Falcons are going to start winning again is by outscoring the opposition using the passing game.  And that means that Matt Ryan has to carry the team on his shoulders.

These are two teams falling on hard times as the Falcons have lost 3 of their last 4 games while the Giants have lost four in a row.  The problem for both teams have been defense recently as the Falcons have allowed 117 points in the last 4 weeks while the Giants have allowed 133 points the last four games.  So this should be a high scoring game in which the team with the ball last could be the winner.  The Falcons will likely come out throwing the ball due to the injury to Michael Turner which will likely cause him to miss this game.  That means that Matt Ryan will have to pick up his play against a Giants’ D that is only allowing 168.0 yards passing per game.  Look for Ryan to challenge the Giants short with Tony Gonzalez and deep often with Roddy White.  The Falcons will also run the ball some with Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood (if he’s healthy enough to play) against a Giants’ D that is allowing 104.3 yards rushing and 4.5 yards per carry so far this year.

The Giants will likely come out running the ball with Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw against a Falcons’ D that is allowing 130.3 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  That should set up Eli Manning with play action passing to his talented trio of WRs in Steve Smith, Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks.  The Falcons are allowing 240.7 yards passing per game this season so don’t look for much of a fight out of them when Eli Manning drops back to pass.

PREDICTION:  GIANTS 38, FALCONS 28

The Atlanta Falcons have lost starting RB Michael Turner for at least the next couple of weeks due to a high ankle sprain.  Turner has played in 9 games for the Falcons this season and he has carried the ball 165 times for 831 yards (5.0 ypc) with 10 TD runs.  He has also caught 5 passes for 35 yards (7.0 avg) so far this year.  Turner is almost impossible to replace but Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood will likely share carries while he is out of action.  Snelling has carried the ball 37 times for 183 yards (4.9 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this year.  He has also caught 14 passes for 132 yards (9.4 avg) with 1 TD grab this year.  He is a better receiver than Turner so the Falcons will probably throw the ball a bit more this year until Turner  is ready to return to action.  Jerious Norwood is also about ready to return to action after suffering a back injury earlier this year.  Norwood has carried the ball 19 times for 78 yards (4.1 ypc) and he has also caught 8 passes for 55 yards (6.9 avg) this year.  It’s now QB Matt Ryan’s turn to step up with Turner out as the Falcons will likely be depending on the passing game more.

Turnovers and injuries cost the Atlanta Falcons (5-4) the game on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers (4-5).  They lost their star running back, Michal Turner, who left in the second quarter with an ankle injury.  Turner was on his way to having a monster game, and had already rushed for 111 yards before leaving the game.  Quarterback Matt Ryan was very inaccurate all game and he was the main reason the Falcons found themselves down 21-10 at halftime.  Ryan had two costly interceptions too and finished the game with 224 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions on 22/41 attempts.  Ryan’s lone touchdown came early in the 4th quarter when he hit tight end Justin Peele with a 3-yard touchdown pass on 4th and one.  Ryan and the offense would fail to put any more points on the board though and the Falcons defense could not do enough to stop the Panthers.  Ryan really needs to pick it up and has now thrown at least one interception in six straight games.

Panthers’ quarterback Jake Delhomme has been having a pretty terrible season, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from this game.  The Panthers went with the no-huddle offense often, and it seemed to put the Falcons’ defense on their heels.  They didn’t give up a ton of yards in the passing game (only 195 yards) but they let Delhomme go 15/24 for two touchdowns and failed to get any turnovers.  They were horrible at stopping the run, letting DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart run all over them.  They combined for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns on 30 carries.  The Falcons are a better football team than what they showed on Sunday, but they missed Michael Turner in the second half.  Jason Snelling did a good job filling in for him, finishing with 61 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, but he is no Turner.  The Falcons are going to really miss him if he is out, but Matt Ryan needs to get back on track either way.

The Falcons have released 34-year old RB Aaron Stecker.  Stecker played in 2 games for the Falcons this season and he carried the ball 2 times for 6 yards (3.0 ypc) and he also caught 5 passes for 34 yards (6.8 avg).  Stecker’s phone number will probably be on speed dial with the Falcons’ GM if Michael Turner is going to miss some time after getting injured earlier today.

UPDATE:  The Falcons have re-signed Aaron Stecker and he will likely serve as the #3 RB behind Jason Snelling and Jerious Norwood until Michael Turner is ready to return to action.