The Falcons will likely need to win out to make the playoffs and while that seems like a hard task it is far from impossible.  This week is the toughest one for the Falcons as the Saints are 12-0 after all.  But, in the first meeting between these teams the Falcons only lost by 8 points.  The Falcons then play the Jets in New Jersey, Buffalo at home and then they finish the season at Tampa Bay.  So if the Falcons can somehow win this week then the playoffs won’t be a pipe dream.

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.

39-year old kicker Jason Elam is having a rough time this season for the Falcons.  He has only made 6 of 10 field goals this season and he is 21 of 22 on extra points.  That means that Jason Elam has left 13 points on the field for the Falcons and that is way too many!  It appears that he is starting to lose leg strength and if he continues to miss nearly half of his field goals the Falcons will have to go out and sign a new kicker, period. 

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.