The Falcons finished up this season with a impressive effort yesterday in Tampa.  Matt Ryan was solid in this game completing 23 of 35 passes for 223 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs.  Jason Snelling had by far the best game of his NFL career yesterday with 25 carries for 147 yards (5.9 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 21 yards.  Jerious Norwood pitched in with 9 carries for 27 yards (3.0 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 23 yards (5.8 avg).  WR Roddy White (6 rec, 66 yards, TD) and TE Justin Peelle (3 rec, 38 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Falcons yesterday.  The Falcons finished up with 397 total yards on offense in this game (183 rushing, 214 passing).

LB Stephen Nicolas (7 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit) and safety Erik Coleman (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) led the way for the Falcons on D yesterday.  CBs Chris Owens (5 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 1 INT) and Brent Grimes (2 tackles, 3 passes defensed and 1 INT) also pitched in with big plays for the Falcons yesterday.  The Bucs finished up with only 206 total yards (38 rushing, 168 passing) in this game.  The Falcons finished the season with a 9-7 record which gave them back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history.

The Falcons totally destroyed the Bills yesterday.  Matt Ryan had one of his best games in quite some time as he completed 18 of 35 passes for 250 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Jason Snelling led the way on the ground for the Falcons yesterday by rushing for 68 yards on 15 carries (4.5 ypc).  Jerious Norwood pitched in with 52 yards rushing on 13 carries (4.0 ypc) against the Bills.  Roddy White was outstanding for the Falcons yesterday with 8 grabs for 139 yards (17.4 avg) with 2 TD catches.  Marty Booker pitched in with 4 catches for 57 yards (14.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Falcons finished up with 391 total yards on offense (157 rushing, 234 passing) in this game.

CB Brent Grimes led a dominating effort by the Falcons on D with 9 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  DE Lawrence Sidbury returned a Fred Jackson fumble 11 yards for a TD yesterday.  The Bills finished up with only 178 total yards on offense (40 rushing, 138 passing) in this game.  The Falcons are now 8-7 on the year.

The Atlanta Falcons (7-7) were in a defensive battle to say the least against the New York Jets (7-7), and won a low scoring affair.  Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense struggled most of the game, but they came through when they needed them most.  With only minutes left, the Falcons offense had only 165 yards before Ryan led them on a 73-yard game-winning drive.  It ended with Ryan hitting Tony Gonzalez for an 16-yard touchdown with only 1:38 to go.  Ryan finished 152 yards and 1 touchdown on 16/32 passes.  Running back Michael Turner tried to play through an ankle injury, but he hurt it again on only one carry and may be out next week.

The Falcons defense did give up a lot of yards, but they picked off Jets’ rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez three times.  They gave up one big play to the rookie when he hit Braylon Edwards for a 65-yard touchdown and the Jets only score.  The Falcons also did a decent job containing Jets’ running back Thomas Jones.  Jones got 52 yards on 19 carries, but his backup Shonn Greene was successful getting 30 yards on 8 carries.  This was a nice spoiler win for the Falcons who were already eliminated from the playoffs, while the Jets were still clinging to their playoff hopes.

The Falcons fought hard today before falling to the Saints.  Chris Redman was on his game today completing 23 of 34 passes for 303 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Jason Snelling was a busy body for the Falcons today as he carried the ball 10 times for 37 yards (3.7 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 4 passes for 65 yards (16.3 avg).  Jerious Norwood pitched in with 33 yards rushing on 9 carries (3.7 ypc).  Michael Jenkins had one of his best games of his career today with 3 catches for 83 yards (27.7 avg) with a TD grab.  Tony Gonzalez pitched in with 6 grabs for 50 yards (8.3 avg) yesterday.  The Falcons finished up with 392 total yards on offense (89 rushing, 303 passing) despite only having the ball for 23:16!

The Falcons didn’t play too well on D in this game.  LBs Stephen Nicolas (9 tackles) and Mike Peterson (8 tackles) both had decent games for the Falcons today.  The Saints finished up with 391 total yards on offense today (95 rushing, 296 passing).  The Falcons are now 6-7 on the year.

In Michael Vick’s return to Atlanta, the depleted Atlanta Falcons (6-6) just could not get their offense going Sunday and they were crushed by the Philadelphia Eagles (8-4).  Vick was a major contributor to the Eagles’ win, running and passing for a touchdown.  Vick, who initially heard boos when he first came on to the field, was emotional in his return to Atlanta and fans were cheering and chanting his name by the end of it.  It was an ugly game for the Falcons, and perhaps Falcons fans still wished to see Vick in red and black in this game as Chris Redman was horrible in the place of the injured Matt Ryan.  Redman went 23/44 for 235 yards and 1 touchdown, but he threw two interceptions where one turned into an 83-yard touchdown return for the Eagles.

The Falcons’ defense kept the game as close as they could, but with no offensive support there was not much they could do.  It was 13-0 game at halftime, but the Eagles tacked on two touchdowns in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.  With Michael Turner out, the Falcons only managed 61 yards on the ground.  They at least avoided the shutout when they managed to score as time expired in the 4th quarter.  The Falcons are now two games back of the Eagles in the NFC Wildcard and they sorely missed Matt Ryan and Michael Turner in this game.  It would have been a much different game had the Falcons had their two star players.