The Falcons wanted to go defense heavy last April and with that in mind they selected 7 of the 8 players on that side of the ball.  DT Peria Jerry was the Falcons’ first round pick (#24 overall) out of Mississippi.  He only played in 2 games and he made 1 tackle before his season ended due to injury.  Strong safety William Moore was the 2nd round pick of the Falcons (#55 overall) out of Missouri.  He only played in 2 games making 2 whole tackles.  CB Chris Owens was picked in the third round (#90 overall) out of San Jose State.  He played in all 16 games for the Falcons and he made 29 tackles, defensed 2 passes and he had 2 interceptions as he was the Falcons’ best rookie last season.  DE Lawrence Sidbury out of Richmond (4th round, #125 overall) played in all 16 games for the Falcons last season but he only had 5 tackles and 1 sack.  CB William Middleton out of Furman was selected in the fifth round (#138 overall) by the Falcons.  He was cut before the year started and then he was signed by the Jaguars.  He played in 12 games for them last season and he made 20 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  OT Garrett Reynolds (5th round, #156 overall) out of North Carolina played in only 4 games (0 starts) for the Falcons.  But, they like his size as he is 6′7″, 317 pounds.  Inside linebacker Spencer Adkins out of Miami (Fla) was picked in the 6th round (#176 overall) by the Falcons last April.  He played in 5 games and made 3 tackles last season.  DT Vance Walker was picked in the 7th round (#210 overall) out of Georgia Tech played in 10 games for the Falcons last season and he finished up with 13 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 2 passes defensed.

GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON:  F

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  D

The Falcons should be happy with the set-up they have at QB right now.  24-year old Matt Ryan finished strong despite having a torn up toe.  He played in 14 games this season for the Falcons and he completed 263 of 451 passes (58.3%) for 2,916 yards with 22 TD passes and 14 INTs (80.9 QB Rating.  He also carried the ball 30 times for 49 yards (1.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Ryan has now played in 30 games in his NFL career and he has completed 528 of 885 passes (59.7%) for 6,356 yards with 38 TD passes and 25 INTs (84.3 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 85 times for 153 yards (1.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career.  Ryan’s career is off to a solid start but the Falcons are waiting for him to take the next step…..to the elite level.  That might come in 2010 if he can just stay healthy.

32-year old Chris Redman is a solid back-up QB for the Falcons.  He played in 5 games this season for the Falcons and he completed 69 of 119 passes (58%) for 781 yards with 4 TD passes and 3 INTs (78.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 6 times for 4 yards (0.7 ypc) this year.  Redman has now played in 22 games in his NFL career and he has completed 264 of 466 passes (56.7%) for 2,971 yards with 21 TD passes and 13 INTs (79.3 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 27 times for 32 yards (1.2 ypc) in his career.  Redman is the perfect back-up for Matt Ryan.

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 beat the Bucs 20-17 six weeks ago in Atlanta.  Both teams have two game winning streaks and will be playing for pride tomorrow afternoon.  The Falcons will likely be a run-first team tomorrow splitting the carries between Jerious Norwood and Jason Snelling.  They should both have success against a Bucs’ D that is allowing 156.5 yards rushing and 4.8 yards per carry so far this season.  If the Bucs try to sneak up to stop the run look for Falcons’ QB Matt Ryan to go up top to Roddy White who could have a huge game tomorrow.

Falcons’ linebacker Curtis Lofton better tighten up his chinstrap because the Bucs are going to be running the football tomorrow.  That is because they can’t afford to put the game in Josh Freeman’s hands because he is turning the ball over far too often.  The Falcons’ safeties will be challenged in this game as the Bucs will throw the ball to Kellen Winslow even if they are slanted towards the running game on offense.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 20, BUCCANEERS 17

The Falcons have signed 24-year old kicker Steven Hauschka.  Hauschka played in 9 games for the Falcons earlier this season and he made 9 of 13 field goals (69.2%) and 27 of 28 extra points good for 54 points.  The Falcons signed Hauschka because Matt Bryant might not be ready to go due to injury tomorrow against his old team, the Buccaneers.