Giants quarterback Eli Manning had his best game of the season, passing for almost 400 yards against the Falcons. (Associated Press).

Teams with above average to great quarterbacks are going to feast on the secondary.

Falcons coach Mike Smith won’t single out the secondary, but tighter and more instinctive coverage would probably get more passes batted down or defense.

“We gave up a lot of passing yards,” Smith said. “That’s very obvious. Way too many passing yards. It’s team defense. It’s not just the secondary. It’s a combination of the secondary, linebackers and defensive (linemen). We’ve got to make plays on third down. We continue to struggle on third down. It’s a combination of a number of things. But we can not give up, those type of yards in the passing game and expect to have the success that we want to have.”

Domenik Hixon pulls away from the Falcons secondary. (Associated …

The normally quiet Michael Boley is the latest ex-Falcons to run some smack at the team. He didn't like being told he wasn't aggressive enough when he got benched for Coy Wire last season.

THE BRANCH – Can’t find any prognosticators who are picking the Falcons to fly up to New York and hand out a smackdown to Eli Manning and the New York Giants.

Even the great Swami Schultz has the Falcons losing, but covering the 6½.

In SportingNews Today on Thursday, all seven members of their panel picked the New York Football Giants. All seven –  Vinnie Iyer, Steve Greenberg, my main man Clifton Brown, Todd Wright, Real Scouts, Russ Lande and Dennis Dillion – had the NY insigna under their names.

Ken Moll of Scouts, Inc. has the Falcons losing 24-20. He gives the Falcons position advantages at wide receiver, linebacker, defensive back and special teams. He gives the coaching advantage to Tom Coughlin and the quarterback advantage to Manning.

That’s usually when things are most …

Michael "The Burner" Turner's right wheel needs to heal. We'll get an update on his status today.

THE BRANCH –- The Falcons need to fully disclose the nature and extent of Pro Bowl running back Michael Turner’s ankle injury today when they release the injury report or risk catching the wrath of the league office again.

Understandably, head coach Mike Smith doesn’t want to give the New York Giants a competitive advantage, but the fans, fantasy owners and the league office wants accurate injury information disseminated to the public.

It’s no secret that teams manipulate the injury reporting policy so as not to give the opposition information that they believe would lead to a competitive advantage.

Smith has been awesome with the injury report and has released information above and beyond what’s required by the league policy. But this year as the injuries have mounted, some of that information has started to dry up.

Norwood could be back at practice today and on the field …

Carolina's Richard Marshall (31) came down with Matt Ryan's high pass that was intended for Michael Jenkins in the fourth quarter. (David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer).

ONE GAME FROM FIVEHUNDREDVILLE – The 28-19 loss to Carolina may be the low point for the Falcons under second-year head coach Mike Smith.

They have played hard in every game over the 26-game Smith era, but it may have been just the second time that they were defeated when they were favored. (You guys can look that one up, but I know they were favored to win on the road in Arizona for the playoff game last year.)

But the schedule doesn’t get any easier. They travel to rickety Giants Stadium for a showdown with Tom Coughlin and the G-men, who are 5-4 and have been stewing about it over their bye week.

When considering the Falcons schedule this season  — four games against teams coming off byes -– and the aftermath of the DeAngelo Hall incident, it doesn’t appear that the Falcons have many friends at …

Falcons to ride on charter buses to Charlotte for the game agaisnt Carolina on Sunday.

CONVOY TO CHARLOTTE – Just emptying the notebook today before Sunday’s kickoff against the Panthers  . . .

GET ON THE BUS: Fullback Ovie Mughelli is taking along his favorite pillow for the bus ride to Charlotte.

“I’ve got to have my pillow,” Mughelli said.

The Falcons are making provisions for the bigger players on the team for what should be a three hour and some change ride from Hall County.

“Coach said  — and I don’t know how he’s going to work this — that we are going to have four seats each,” Mughelli said.

It’s been a while since most of the players have taken a bus trip.

“We flew is college,” Mughelli said. “This bus strip is going to be a throwback. I haven’t had a bus trip since high school.”

By taking the buses, the Falcons should cut their travel time in half.  The three and half hour drive turns into a six to seven hour trip when they drive about an hour to the Airport, …

MID-SEASON AWARDS: Atlanta Falcons running back Michael Turner (33) had a slow start to the season, althought he's on pace to score 20 touchdowns. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

THE BRANCH – It’s mid-season award time and the Falcons are not getting much love.

With NFC South foe New Orleans off to an 8-0 start, they are the mid-season darlings.

Sportingnewstoday has quarterback Drew Brees as the mid-season MVP and safety Darren Sharper as the defensive MVP. Denver’s Josh McDaniels is the coach of the year and they have the Saints beating the Colts in the Super Bowl, 37-17.

Pro Football Weekly has it’s mid-season All-Pro team and there is not one Atlanta Falcon on the list.

Their team is led by Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, wide receiver Reggie Wayne, tight end Dallas Clark and defensive end Dwight Freeney.

PRO FOOTBALL WEEKLY’S MID-SEASON ALL-PRO TEAM

OFFENSE

QB Peyton Manning/Colts*

RB Adrian Peterson/Vikings*

RB Chris Johnson/Titans*

WR Reggie Wayne/Colts

WR Andre …

Falcons running back # 33 Michael Turner breaks away for a 58 yard touchdown and a 31-17 lead over the Redskins during 4th quarter action at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. The Falcons defeated the Redskins 31-17. Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com

THE BRANCH – The Falcons’ locker room was quite festive after the 31-17 thumping of the Washington Redskins.

Here’s what some of the players had to say:

DON’T RELAX: Middle linebacker Curtis Lofton thought the defense relaxed after the Falcons got that 24-3 lead against the Redskins.

“We have to keep the same intensity,” Lofton said. “They came out and played ball. We just have to come out and pick

Former Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall, now with the Washington Redskins, gets a warm welcome from Falcons assistant head coach Emmitt Thomas as he returns to the Georgia Dome as a rival during pregame warmups. Things would get messing later. Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com

up the intensity. We came out relaxed …

Will Washington's Jason Campbell become the 4th straight QB to pass for 300 yards or more against the Falcons defense on Sunday at the Georgia Dome?

THE BRANCH – After the last three quarterbacks have thrown for 300 or more yards against the Falcons, the pass defense ranking has dropped dramatically.

The Falcons give 256.4 yards passing per game, which is last in the National Football Conference and 31st overall in the league. Jay Culter passed for 300 yards against the Falcons. Tony Romo hit them up for 311 yards. On MNF, Drew Brees passed for 308 yards.

The Redskins are passing for 202.6 yards per game, which is 20th in the league. Their yards are so low because Jason Campbell won’t throw the ball down field. Some folks are starting to call him “Check Down Charlie” because he checks it down so much and too quickly.

“Jason (Campbell)  has completed 66 percent of his passes and they have a good group of receivers led by Santana Moss,” Falcons defensive coordinator Brian …

Will Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan get some good protection against Washington and Albert Haynesworth, the $100 million man? (CURTIS COMPTON/AJC).

THE BRANCH — The one thread that runs through the last three performances by Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is that the opposition  — Chicago, Dallas and New Orleans – brought the noise up front.

Coach Mike Smith said the one thing about Ryan’s seven interceptions is that he was being competitive and trying to make plays.

You can bet that offensive line coach Paul Boudreau is taking a closer look at the protections.

In the Chicago game, Alex Brown was a threat even though the Bears didn’t get any sacks or quarterback hits.

DeMarcus Ware had two sacks and made things rough on Matt Ryan. (V

In the Dallas game, Jay Ratliff and DeMarcus Ware put on Pro Bowl performances. The Cowboys had four sacks and three quarterback hits.

In the New Orleans game, defensive end Will Smith got jiggy with it. They had three sacks and seven …

This is not the goal post that Jason Elam missed twice. That one was at the other end of the Superdome. (D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER/AJC)

LUCYS RETIRED SURFER’S BAR – Lucy’s is the best bar in America.

Lucy's, a safe haven for retired surfers and sports writers.

Only the Slippery Noodle in Indianapolis is on par.

After the game –- because newspaper folks don’t charter out with the team like some of our TV/sponsor friends –- that’s where I retreated.

I did see Jeremy Shockey drop his Cadillac at the hotel and ask how much valet was for the night ($50). He hopped into the back seat of a cop car and rode off to his little celebration. I’m thinking the cop was his body guard for the night.

But here are the five things I came up with at Lucy’s  with the benefit of watching the ESPN replays while B52s and Rock Lobster were blaring in the background.

1. Vilma’s tip: If Jonathan Vilma doesn’t tip that pass, the Falcons win. Tony Gonzalez was open and set to gather in the go ahead …