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

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 (5-3) are on the road against the Carolina Panthers (3-5) Sunday.  Quarterback Matt Ryan has been struggling a bit lately, but I am expecting him to have a solid performance against the Panthers.  The Panthers defense is holding teams to 182 passing yards per game, but Michael Turner has been running the ball great lately and I think he will open things up for Ryan and the passing game.  In his last two games, Turner has rushed for 3 touchdowns and 317 yards on 38 carries.  The Falcons should have no problem winning if Turner has another big day.  Ryan needs to do a better job of taking care of the ball though.  He has thrown at least one interception in his last five games with the total being nine picks in that time.

The Falcons defense will need to focus on stopping the running game, as that is the only thing the Panthers offense has really got.  Jake Delhomme has been a turnover machine for them this year, so they limit him and hand the ball off a lot.  DeAngelo Williams is their top running back and has been having some big games lately.  He went for two touchdowns and 149 yards rushing on 21 carries last week.  Jonathon Stewart also gets about 10-15 carries a game and averages about 4.4 yards per carry.  Delhomme has been limiting his turnovers lately, so the Falcons really need to make sure they slow down the running game.  The Falcons are the better team, so they should win this game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Atlanta Falcons 30, Carolina Panthers 21

The Washington Redskins need to get something going on offense if they are to start winning some games.  The Atlanta D will give the Redskins a lot of opportunities to get back on track as they are allowing 121.7 yards rushing and 256.4 yards passing per game this season.  Personally, I would just come out and pound the Falcons’ D with Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts until the Falcons prove they can stop it.  That would make things a lot easier on Jason Campbell who has not had his best year so far.  Still, look for TE Fred Davis to be big part of the offense in this game for the Redskins this week on the short stuff over the middle.  If the Redskins indeed establish a good running game then they will likely go up top to Santana Moss.

The Falcons will have to deal with a solid Redskins’ D that is only allowing 283.5 yards of total offense (118.6 rushing, 164.9 passing) per game this season.  With that in mind look for the Falcons to continue riding the hot hand which belongs to Michael Turner.  The Redskins are only allowing 3.9 yards per carry despite giving up 118.6 yards per game on the ground.  The Falcons’ O-Line has only allowed Matt Ryan to be sacked 9 times this season but they will have their hands full with DE Andre Carter who has 6.5 sacks.  Tony Gonzalez likely has the chance to have a big game here as the Redskins will no doubt try to take WR Roddy White out of this game.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 23, REDSKINS 20

This game will likely be much closer than the “experts” think.  The Falcons will likely try to get Michael Turner started in this game as he is having an off year.  The Saints are allowing 92.3 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry so Turner could have some success if the Falcons stick to the running game to try to control the clock.  More than likely though this game will turn into a shootout and the Falcons have the weapons to trade punches with the Saints.  Tony Gonzalez, Roddy White and Michael Jenkins have the speed to stretch the field and Matt Ryan has only been sacked six times this season so he will likely have time to throw the ball downfield.  Ryan must account for wherever Darren Sharper of the Saints is because he has six interceptions this season (3 pick sixes).

The Saints will likely run the ball quite a bit in this game with Mike Bell, Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush against a Falcons’ D that is allowing 117.7 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  The Saints will also be throwing the ball down the field to Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Devery Henderson.  Drew Brees will also be targeting TE Jeremy Shockey on shorter passes over the middle giving him some working room.  The Falcons allow 250.7 yards passing per game so Drew Brees should have a good game.

PREDICTION:  SAINTS 33, FALCONS 30