The Falcons have signed 26-year old fullback Mike Cox.  Cox played in 7 games for the Chiefs last year and he caught 4 passes for 27 yards (6.8 avg).  He has now played in 39 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 4 times for 3 yards (0.8 ypc).  Cox also caught 22 passes for 125 yards (5.7 avg) so far in his career.  Cox was with the Falcons in training camp, so he will have to edge to start in place of Ovie Mughelli, who is done for the season.

The Atlanta Falcons have placed 31-year old, starting fullback Ovie Mughelli on the Injured Reserve List (ending his season) due to a knee injury.  Mughelli played in 7 games for the Falcons this year and he carried the ball 2 times for 1 yard (0.5 ypc).  He also caught 4 passes for 25 yards (6.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs and he also had 3 tackles.  Mughelli has played in 69 games in his five years with the Falcons and he has carried the ball 30 times for 70 yards (2.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 38 passes for 295 yards (7.8 avg) with 4 TD grabs so far for the Falcons.  Mughelli has also had 28 tackles in his time with the Falcons.  They are going to miss Mughelli.

The Falcons have signed 32-year old G/T Kirk Chambers.  Chambers has played in 67 games (14 starts) in his first six years in the NFL.  He should be able to help the Falcons out due to his versatility.  Chambers will replace 24-year old OG Mike Johnson, who has been placed on Injured Reserve (ending his season) due to an undisclosed injury.  Johnson played in 2 games (0 starts) in 2011, after not getting into any games as a rookie in 2010.  The Falcons won’t miss Johnson too much going forward.

The Falcons were hoping for more explosive plays out of the WRs in 2011, but it hasn’t happened yet.  Roddy White is leading the way out of this bunch with 39 grabs for 425 yards (10.9 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He is still an excellent possession receiver, but he doesn’t get down the field a whole lot.  Rookie Julio Jones was supposed to be the deep threat of the Falcons.  He has caught 25 passes for 358 yards (14.3 avg) so far this year and he has yet to catch at TD pass.  Harry Douglas has caught 17 passes for 199 yards (11.7 avg) this year as the Falcons continue to wait for him to step up.  Eric Weems has been so busy on special teams that the Falcons aren’t using him on offense as the has only caught 1 pass for 4 yards.  If the Falcons want to get back to the playoffs in 2011, these guys need to step up.

The Falcons played ball control on offense and solid defense yesterday which were the big reasons for the win.  Matt Ryan completed 20 of 34 passes for 218 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 2 yards (0.7 ypc) with 1 TD run in this game.  Chris Redman replaced Ryan when he dinged up his knee a little bit and he threw one incomplete pass.  Michael Turner was solid once again with 122 yards rushing on 27 carries (4.5 ypc).  TE Tony Gonzalez (5 rec, 62 yards), WR Harry Douglas (4 rec, 62 yards) and WR Roddy White (5 rec, 52 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Falcons yesterday.  The Falcons finished up with 129 yards rushing on 31 carries (4.2 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 35 passes (57.1%) for 199 yards as they had possession of the ball for 34:57.

The defense was very solid for the Falcons in this game.  LB Curtis Lofton led the way for the Falcons on D in this game with 10 tackles and 1 QB hit.  LBs Sean Weatherspoon (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit) and Stephen Nicolas (6 tackles) also played solid games.  The Lions finished up with 104 yards on 20 carries (5.2 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 32 passes (46.9%) for 159 yards.  The Falcons are now 4-3 on the year.

The Atlanta Falcons are 1-2 on the road this year, while the Lions are 2-1 at home.  The Falcons got a nice and very convincing win on the road against the Panthers last weekend, while the Niners were giving the Lions their first loss of the season.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Falcons have the ball:  The Falcons are likely going to have the same gameplan that they used last weekend against the Panthers.  They are going to feed the ball to Michael Turner against a Lions’ D that is giving up 129.5 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry.  As soon as the Lions creep up to help stop Turner, that is when Matt Ryan will take some shots down the field to Roddy White.  They will also likely use Tony Gonzalez heavily in this game.

When the Lions have the ball:  The Lions don’t have much of a running game anymore with Jahvid Best and Jerome Harrison out for a while.  The Falcons need DEs John Abraham and Ray Edwards to get after Matt Stafford, or they could be in for a long day.  That’s because the Falcons are giving up 282.8 yards passing per game so far this year.  Calvin Johnson, Titus Young, Nate Burleson and Brandon Pettigrew are going to give the secondary of the Falcons problems this Sunday.  Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams are going to split up the carries for the Lions this weekend and the Falcons’ front seven should be able to handle them.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 30, LIONS 27

The Atlanta Falcons need to run the ball more to help take some pressure off of QB Matt Ryan while at the same time keeping the Falcons’ D on the sideline.  29-year old Michael Turner is off to a great start this year for the Falcons.  He has played in all six games for the Falcons so far this year and he has carried the ball 111 times for 499 yards (4.5 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  Turner has also caught 7 passes for 98 yards (14.0 avg), which is pretty darn good for him.  Rookie RB Jacquizz Rodgers has played in 6 games for the Falcons so far also, and he has carried the ball 15 times for 68 yards (4.5 ypc) and he has also caught 7 passes for 68 yards (9.7 avg).  Jason Snelling has fallen down to #3 on the depth chart at RB for the Falcons.  He has played in 5 games for the Falcons so far this year and he has carried the ball 6 times for 24 yards (4.0 ypc).  Snelling has also caught 11 passes for 71 yards (6.5 avg) so far in 2011.  This is a pretty darn good trio of RBs that the Falcons have and they need to use them more.  The Falcons are averaging 110.0 yards rushing per game so far this year and 4.4 yards per carry.

The Atlanta Falcons scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to take down the Panthers today in Atlanta.  Matt Ryan was in game manager mode today as he completed 14 of 22 passes for 163 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 7 yards (2.3 ypc) with 1 TD run today.  Michael Turner had a monster game for the Falcons today as he carried the ball 27 times for 139 yards (5.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Fullback Ovie Mughelli carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards and he also caught 2 passes for 20 yards (10.0 avg) with 1 TD grab in this game.  WR Harry Douglas (2 rec, 57 yards), TE Tony Gonzalez (3 rec, 29 yards) and WR Roddy White (2 rec, 21 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Falcons today.  The Falcons finished up with 166 yards rushing on 35 carries (4.7 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 22 passes (63.6%) for 159 yards as they had possession of the ball for 30:34.

The defense really got into Cam Newton’s head today.  Safety Thomas DeCoud (8 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception), LB Curtis Lofton (7 tackles and 1 pass defensed) and CB Kelvin Hayden (6 tackles) led the way for the Falcons on D in this game.  CB Brent Grimes and DT Corey Peters each pitched in with 1 interception apiece in this game.  The Panthers finished up with 142 yards rushing on 25 carries (5.7 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 35 passes (60%) for 226 yards in this game.  The Falcons are now 3-3 on the season.

The Atlanta Falcons have alternated wins and losses so far this year, so they are in line to win this weekend at home against the Panthers.  The Panthers have lost two heartbreakers in a row to the Bears and Saints by a combined score of 64-56.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Falcons have the ball:  The Falcons should get back to feeding the ball to Michael Turner this weekend.  The Panthers have had serious issues at linebacker due to injuries as they are giving up 135.2 yards rushing per game and 4.9 yards per carry.  With Julio Jones out of this game due to a hamstring injury, Matt Ryan is going to settle for the shorter stuff in the passing game to Roddy White, Harry Douglas and Tony Gonzalez.

When the Panthers have the ball:  The front seven of the Falcons is going to have to deal with DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and Cam Newton in the running game while also applying pressure to Newton when he drops back to pass.  They should be up to the challenge of stopping the running game as the Falcons are only giving up 89.2 yards rushing per game and 3.5 yards per carry so far this year.  The Falcons need to give safety help to whichever corner is guarding Steve Smith.  That means that the rest of the corners will likely be on their own against Brandon LaFell and Legedu Naanee.  TEs Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen could give the Falcons trouble in this game.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 28, PANTHERS 27

The Falcons are going to be without rookie WR Julio Jones this Sunday against the Panthers due to a hamstring injury.  Jones has played in all five games for the Falcons so far this year and he has caught 25 passes for 358 yards (14.3 avg) without any TD grabs.  Harry Douglas will replace him in the starting lineup.  Douglas has played in all five games for the Falcons so far this year and he has caught 11 passes for 80 yards (7.3 avg) without any TD grabs.  Look for the Falcons to keep the passing game of the shorter variety this weekend against the Panthers without Jones active.