The Falcons have won two games in a row as they appear to be back on the right path.  The Texans have won five games in a row, but they are on their 3rd string QB, rookie Tyler Yates, who will be making his first NFL start this weekend.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Falcons have the ball:  The Texans have the best defense in the entire NFL, so the Falcons are going to try to have to be balanced and mix things up with the playcalling, including using more pass play on first down.  Michael Turner could have a surprisingly good game this weekend as the Texans are only giving up 92.5 yards rushing per game this year, but 4.2 yards per carry.  The Texans are a blitz heavy defense (35 sacks this year) and they force QBs into making mistakes (15 interceptions), so Matt Ryan is going to have to be careful with the football this Sunday.  Matt Ryan is going to have to get rid of the ball quickly this Sunday, while also being careful with the ball….and that’s often hard to do.  Roddy White, Julio Jones, Harry Douglas and Tony Gonzalez are going to have to catch short passes and make things happen after they get the ball this weekend.

When the Texans have the ball:  The Texans are likely to be run heavy in this game despite the Falcons only giving up 83.5 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry.  Arian Foster and Ben Tate are going to seriously challenge the front seven of the Falcons.  The Falcons will need to get a solid pass rush on T.J. Yates, because he has the weapons to throw to in order to have success with his right arm.  Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels are likely to be Yates’ top targets in the passing game, so the Falcons’ secondary will have to pay special attention to them.

PREDICTION:  TEXANS 20, FALCONS 17

The Atlanta Falcons will be without 28-year old CB Brent Grimes for the next few weeks due to minor knee surgery.  He has played in 11 games for the Falcons so far this year and he has 42 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception and 12 passes defensed.  Grimes has now played in 57 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 241 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 54 passes defensed and 13 interceptions.  The Falcons are going to miss Grimes a little bit as he continues to improve as a football player.

35-year old TE Tony Gonzalez continues to roll for the Atlanta Falcons.  He has played in 11 games for the Falcons so far this year and he has caught 59 passes for 630 yards (10.7 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  Gonzalez has now played in 233 games in his NFL career and he has caught 1,128 passes for 13,093 yards (11.6 avg) with 95 TD grabs.  He is #2 in NFL history in receptions with 1,128, which has him 441 behind Jerry Rice.  He is also #12 in receiving yards (13,093) and #9 in TD receptions (95) in NFL history.  Gonzalez is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down this year.

The Falcons pushed the Vikings around today at the Georgia Dome.  Matt Ryan had his best game of the year as he completed 27 of 34 passes for 262 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Michael Turner led the way on the ground for the Falcons in this game with 60 yards rushing on 19 carries (3.2 ypc).  WR Roddy White led the way in the passing game for the Falcons today with 120 yards on 10 grabs (12.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  TE Tony Gonzalez (9 rec, 69 yards), WR Harry Douglas (2 rec, 45 yards, TD) and TE Michael Palmer (2 rec, 8 yards, TD) also pitched in for the Falcons in the passing game today.  The Falcons finished up with 89 yards rushing on 29 carries (3.1 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 34 passes (79.4%) for 246 yards as they had possession of the ball for 34:39.

The defense was excellent for the Falcons today.  LB Sean Weatherspoon (10 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit), LB Curtis Lofton (9 tackles and 1 pass defensed) and safety James Sanders (8 tackles) led the way for the Falcons on D in this game. DE Lawrence Sidbury also had a solid game with 2 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss and 2 QB hits.  The Vikings finished up with 64 yards rushing on 24 carries (2.7 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 25 passes (68%) for 162 yards.  The Falcons are now 7-4 on the season.

These two teams are going in opposite directions.  The Falcons have won 4 of their last 5 games while the Vikings have lost four of their last five games.  That being said, the Falcons can’t overlook the Vikings this Sunday.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Falcons have the ball:  The Falcons are going to try to establish a running game this Sunday with Michael Turner.  Turner is going to have to fight for every yard he gets in this game as the Vikings are only allowing 3.7 yards per carry this year.  If Turner gets going early in the game, it will slow the Vikings’ impressive pass rush (31 sacks already this year) and give Matt Ryan the time he needs to attack the weak secondary of the Vikings.  Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez are in line to have big games this weekend.  Harry Douglas will also get his fair share of looks in this game.

When the Vikings have the ball:  The Vikings have been a run first team this year, but with Toby Gerhart starting in place of an injured Adrian Peterson, that might change this weekend.  The Vikings have allowed 30 sacks so far this year, so the Falcons are going to probably amp up the blitzing a little bit in this game.  Christian Ponder does have some solid guys to throw to in Percy Harvin (the only real deep threat on the team) and Michael Jenkins.  He also likes throwing to his TEs a little bit (Visanthe Shiancoe and Kyle Rudolph).

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 23, VIKINGS 21

26-year old QB Matt Ryan is heating up for the Falcons as of late.  In his last three games, Ryan has completed 65 of 108 passes (60.2%) for 942 yards with 6 TD passes and 2 INTs.  The Falcons aren’t going to get back to the playoffs without Matt Ryan playing at a high level.  He has now played in 10 games for the Falcons so far this year and he has completed 219 of 360 passes (60.8%) for 2,625 yards with 15 TD passes and 10 INTs (85.5 QB Rating).  Ryan has also carried the ball 27 times for 74 yards (2.7 ypc) so far this year.

The Atlanta Falcons played a complete game yesterday and the result was a nice home win over the Titans.  Matt Ryan was very solid for the Falcons yesterday as he completed 22 of 32 passes for 316 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Michael Turner was also very effective with 21 carries for 100 yards (4.8 ypc) with 1 TD run in this game.  WR Roddy White (7 rec, 147 yards), TE Tony Gonzalez (5 rec, 74 yards, TD) and WR Harry Douglas (4 rec, 51 yards) led the way for the Falcons in the passing game.  The Falcons finished up with 116 yards rushing on 36 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 32 passes (68.8%) for 316 yards as they had possession of the ball for 36:59.

The Falcons were awesome against the run and pretty good against the pass until the end of the game.  CB Chris Owens (7 tackles), LB Curtis Lofton (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed) and CB Dunta Robinson (3 tackles, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception) led the way for the Falcons on D yesterday.  The Titans finished up with 41 yards rushing on 14 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 44 passes (50%) for 257 yards.  The Falcons are now 6-4 on the year.

This is a pretty big game for both teams coming up this Sunday.  The Falcons are coming off a loss that really hurt, 26-23 at home in O.T. last weekend.  The Titans are coming off a huge road win, 30-3 over the Panthers last weekend.  The Falcons are 2-2 at home this year and the Titans are 2-2 on the road.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Falcons have the ball:  The Falcons are going to try to remain balanced in this game.  Michael Turner is likely going to have a heavy workload against a Titans’ D that is allowing 125.2 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry.  But, the Titans are also giving up 224.2 yards passing per game this year and they don’t have an imposing pass rush.  Matt Ryan should have time to throw the ball, so he should have success spreading the ball around to Tony Gonzalez, Roddy White, Harry Douglas and Julio Jones (if he plays).

When the Titans have the ball:  The Titans are going to try to run the ball with Chris Johnson, who finally broke out for them last weekend.  The Falcons have been strong defending the run this year as they are only giving up 90.3 yards rushing per game and 3.9 yards per carry so far this year.  The Falcons might have problems stopping the Titans’ passing game as Matt Hasselbeck has been rock solid this year.  WRs Damian Williams and Lavelle Hawkins have really stepped up lately for the Titans, giving them a couple of more weapons in the passing game to go with WR Nate Washington and TE Jared Cook.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 26, TITANS 23

23-year old LB Sean Weatherspoon only made it through 11 games as a rookie last year before his season was cut short to injury.  He is making up for lost time this year for the Falcons.  Weatherspoon has played in 9 games for the Falcons so far this year and he has 76 tackles, 2 sacks, 6 passes defensed and 6 tackles for a loss.  He has now played in 20 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has 118 tackles, 3 sacks, 7 passes defensed and 6 tackles for a loss.  Weatherspoon is quickly turning into the player the Falcons thought they were getting when they drafted him.

What was Falcons’ head coach Mike Smith thinking?  He went for it on 4 and 1 from his own 29-yard line in O.T.!  The Falcons didn’t get it and the Saints whacked a 26-yard field goal a few plays later to finish them off!  Matt Ryan had a solid game as he completed 29 of 52 passes for 351 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  Michael Turner led the way for the Falcons on the ground with 96 yards rushing on 22 carries (4.4 ypc).  Jacquizz Rodgers also got in on the action with 7 carries for 30 yards (4.3 ypc) yesterday.  Jason Snelling carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards but he also caught 2 passes for 25 yards (12.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  WR Harry Douglas stepped up and had a huge game with 8 receptions for 133 yards (16.6 avg).  TE Tony Gonzalez (6 rec, 71 yards, TD) and WR Roddy White (4 rec, 62 yards) also pitched in with solid games for the Falcons yesterday.  The Falcons finished up with 138 yards rushing on 32 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 29 of 52 passes (55.8%) for 343 yards as they had possession of the ball for 36:32.

The defense was excellent against the run, but very poor against the pass yesterday.  LB Curtis Lofton led the way for the Falcons on D, as usual, with 9 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss. Safety Thomas DeCoud (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and LB Sean Weatherspoon (6 tackles and 1 pass defensed) also pitched in for the Falcons in this game.  The Saints finished up with 41 yards rushing on 16 carries (2.6 ypc) and they also completed 30 of 43 passes (69.8%) for 322 yards.  The Falcons are now 5-4 on the season and they are 1.5 games behind the Saints in the NFC South.