The Falcons have placed CB Chris Houston and RG Harvey Dahl on the Injured Reserve List ending their seasons.  Houston has a hamstring injury and Dahl has ankle and achilles injuries.  Houston played in 12 games for the Falcons this season and he has 47 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, defensed 9 passes and he has 1 INT.  Dahl played in 11 games (all starts) for the Falcons this season.  He has played in 28 games (27 starts) in his three years with the Falcons.  If this were earlier in the season the Falcons would really miss these guys.

27-year old punter Michael Koenen is likely done for the year after suffering a concussion last weekend.  He has played in 15 games for the Falcons this season and he has punted the ball 58 times for 2,493 yards (43.0 avg).  Koenen only has 3 touchbacks (5.2%) and he has pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 18 times (31%) this year.  The Falcons won’t likely have to punt much this weekend against the Bucs.

The Falcons have lost 33-year old WR Brian Finneran for the year due to a torn left PCL.  Finneran played in 10 games for the Falcons this season and he caught 11 passes for 111 yards (10.1 avg).  It’s a shame to see Finneran get hurt again as it seems like he has been rehabbing more than playing the last few years for the Falcons and it has also hurt the team as he is a good player when healthy.

The Falcons have placed 30-year old linebacker Tony Gilbert on the Injured Reserve List with a hamstring injury.  Gilbert played in 12 games this season for the Falcons and he had 4 tackles and forced 1 fumble.  The Falcons won’t miss Gilbert too much as he was basically just a special teams player.

Starting QB Matt Ryan won’t be playing at home against the Eagles this weekend.  Ryan has started all 11 games for the Falcons this season and he has completed 206 of 347 passes (59.4%) for 2,291 yards with 16 TD passes and 12 INTs (80.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 27 times for 48 yards (1.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  32-year old veteran Chris Redman will replace Ryan in the starting lineup.  He has played in 2 games this season for the Falcons and he has completed 23 of 41 passes (56.1%) for 243 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs (89.8 QB Rating).  The Falcons will miss Ryan some but they are lucky to have a solid back-up like Redman and he should do a good job.