NFC rankings: Falcons drop, Vikings hold, Saints (duh)
Mike Smith and Brian VanGorder need to find a way to stop the Saints. Good luck with that. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
We came very close to seeing the top four teams in our weekly NFC rankings all lose last week. But the lab creation from MIT that is the New Orleans offense outscored Miami, 22-0, in the fourth quarter and rallied to defeat the Dolphins, 46-34, as the rest of the league collectively slapped its forehead.
Now it’s the Falcons’ turn to try to stop an offense that is averaging 39.7 points, 427.3 yards and 112.7 blown fuse boxes per week.
Behind the Saints, Minnesota, New York and the Falcons all lost. And that means some signifcant changes in this week’s rankings . . .
1. (1) NEW ORLEANS (6-0): A win means the Saints start 7-0 for the second time in franchise history. Earlier this week, running back Reggie Bush said on a radio show that the team was capable of going 16-0. I’d say that kind of statement can fire up a Falcons’ defense. The problem is they have to catch New Orleans first before they knock them down. Drew Brees actually had a bad game against Miami (three interceptions, five sacks) and he still threw for 298 yards and led a comeback win.
2. (2) MINNESOTA (6-1): The Vikings lost last week at Pittsburgh but they’re still easily the second-best team in the conference. The big question is whether Good Brett Favre starts to devolve into Psychotic Brett Favre. He had two turnovers — a fumble and an interception — in the fourth quarter that both were returned for Steelers’ touchdowns.
In case Packers fans needed more fodder, here's Brett Favre crying his crocodile tears.
3. (5) GREEN BAY (4-2): The Packers have beat up on Detroit and Cleveland (combined score: 57-3) since losing at Minnesota and now get their return shot at Favre and the Vikings. But for all the talk about Favre’s return to Lambeau Field, the key matchup is the Packers’ defense (12th against the run) vs. Adrian Peterson (second in the league with 687 yards).
4. (8) DALLAS (4-2): I’m still not sold on this team in the long run, but Tony Romo showed against the Falcons what he can do when a defense lets him get into a rhythm. Rhythm won’t be a problem against Seattle Sunday. That means Dallas will be 5-2 going into consecutive road games against the Eagles and Packers.
5. (10) ARIZONA (4-2): The Cardinals are coming off a road win over the Giants, have won three straight and are starting to look like the team that went to the Super Bowl last season, all of which makes those of us with Kurt Warner on our Fantasy League team happy, happy boys. This week, they will score 78 points against Carolina, and I’m being completely objective about that.
6. (6) PHILADELPHIA (4-2): Should be an interesting game against New York. In the playoffs last January, Donovan McNabb taunted the Giants in the late minutes of an Eagles victory when, after being run out of bounds, he picked up a sideline telephone that was wired up to the Giants’ coaches box. If dealing with New York’s anger isn’t enough, McNabb also may not have Brian Westbrook (concussion) to give the ball to. Oops.
Here's a picture of the Eagles' cheerleaders because, well, I dunno.
7. (3) N.Y. GIANTS (5-2): I’m not ready to make some grand declaration about the decline of the New York Giants. They’ve lost consecutive games to two good/great teams (New Orleans and Arizona). But you have to be somewhat concerned about a defense that allows 72 points and 10 touchdowns in two games, regardless of the opponent.
8. (4) FALCONS (4-2): They drop four spots in our rankings, not so much because they lost at Dallas, but because of the warning signs arising from how they lost at Dallas. Success of the offense is predicated on the running game, and something is off with Michael Turner. Defensively, they need to either cover better with the spare parts they have or get some semblance of a pass rush. Neither happened against the Cowboys. And now they face the best offense in football.
9. (7) CHICAGO (3-3): Jay Cutler’s leadership issues notwithstanding, the Bears’ defense just isn’t the same without Brian Urlacher. They saw the Bengals roll up 45 points last week and Carson Palmer go 20-for-24 with five touchdowns, which tells you he wasn’t feeling much pressure.
10. (9) SAN FRANCISCO (3-3): The 49ers, coming off a loss to Houston, have switched back to No. 1 draft pick Alex Smith at quarterback. But nobody should rush to claim him in their Fantasy drafts. Isn’t there a reason he wasn’t the best option to begin with?
11. (11) CAROLINA (2-4): I figured John Fox would make it through the season. But owner Jerry Richardson just saw his team lost to Buffalo, and he’s not a terribly patient man. And look at the rest of the schedule: Cardinals, Saints, Falcons, Dolphins, Jets, Bucs (OK, that one’s easy), Patriots, Vikings, Giants, Saints. How many wins are in that bunch: two or three?
12. (12) SEATTLE (2-4): Fresh off a bye, the Seahawks play Dallas this week. Then they have Arizona and Minnesota in November. How’s that Greg Knapp offense working out for you? Twenty-third.
13. (13) DETROIT (1-5): The Lions were off last week. In that sense, they separated themselves from the next three.
14. (14) WASHINGTON (2-5): Dan Steinberg, who writes the always entertaining “D.C. Sports Bog” for the Washington Post, has a hilarious summation of the Ugly Sign Police at Monday night’s loss to Philadelphia. Among the reported incidents: Two fans wearing “Dumb” and “Dumber” shirts with photos of owner Dan Snyder and VP Vinny Cerrato claimed security guards made them invert their shirts. The Redskins might be the worst organization in the NFL now, and I’m including the Raiders.
15. (15) ST. LOUIS (0-7): The Rams’ long snapper, Chris Massey, was injured covering a punt return in a 42-6 loss. If he’s out for the season, he’ll feel like he hit the lottery.
16. (16) TAMPA BAY (0-7): The Bucs lost to New England, 35-7, in London. Several fans met them at the airport. And refused to let them deplane.
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128 comments Add your comment
Matt "Choke" Ryan
October 30th, 2009
4:11 pm
Grinch
This an Atlanta blog – if you want to talk about Vick go to the Philly blog
DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER – FACTS ARE FACTS
DJ Sniper
October 30th, 2009
4:16 pm
Can somebody please tell my why this numbnut who calls himself Matt “Choke” Ryan(among other things) is still allowed to post here? This guy offers nothing relevant to these blogs at all.
Chris Murphy, Atlanta, GA
October 30th, 2009
4:19 pm
Talking about Falcon’s quarterbacks is getting to be like ‘discussions’ on the election for mayor.
TigerBait
October 30th, 2009
4:21 pm
W&Ws, right now I am talking about this year! This year, and you can vouch for this as a Falcon’s fan, is the BEST SAINTS TEAM to ever play! Now, I do realize that is not saying a whole lot but that is why I am so excited!
Donna Outlaw
October 30th, 2009
4:25 pm
Geaux Saints! Falcons are going to be GUMBO just like UGA was Tigerbait!
WAC Ryan #2
October 30th, 2009
4:27 pm
Enter your comments here
Ok now….Al you falcon Haters back off!!! Just because me arm is not strong enough to complete more than a couple passes a game over 15 yards and I am forcing the ball to my HOF tight end that has never won a playoff game, doesn’t mean that I am not a nice guy. We may not win anything, But I sure look good sitting on the plane on the Airtran commercial. Plus I can read defense!!! I don’t know how to beat a good one, But i sure can read em!!!
benchwarmer
October 30th, 2009
4:27 pm
Hey Choke, Vick was never anything more than a set of extraordinary reflexes. No throw, no work, no brain and certainly no loyalty. If he’s you franchise player than your team is the “mutts”.
W&Ws
October 30th, 2009
4:31 pm
Don’t get me wrong, TigerBait – I love this rivalry. Hat’s off to you.
Paul From Milton
October 30th, 2009
4:34 pm
Hey Choke. Maybe you haven’t had a chance to watch ole dogkiller #7 play this season. He stinks. He is a shadow of what he used to be and Philly will let him go after the season.
gdg73
October 30th, 2009
4:35 pm
So it’s all Turner’s fault Schultz. What about Matt Ryan being locked in on Gonzalez every 3rd and long play? What about the lack of deep strikes down the field? Funny how Matt Ryan has become the “Teflon Don” of NFL signal-callers. When Vick was sacked he was accused of holding onto the ball too long. The offensive line protection break-downs were attributed to the offensive lineman not knowing where he would be in the pocket (comical).
Anyway, I even heard radio personalities (790 after the game) blaming the Dallas sacks on our oline, saying the left side is made up of journeyman free agents. These same journeyman (Dahl and Clabo) have been above average for all of there career here in Atlanta. Now, let them tell it, they need upgrading. Give me a break. They also said that Roddy and Jenkins need to do a better job of getting open. Like all of a sudden after two 1,300 plus seasons and a 9 catch 200+ yard game this year, Roddy doesn’t know how to shake free. Are you serious? Everybody is getting blamed except for the man charged with leading the offense. Incredible, just incredible!!!
U-no
October 30th, 2009
4:38 pm
Jeff,
What I observed against the Cowboys was painful, at best. Without a running game Matt Ryan can’t have much success in the air. I think Dallas saw from earlier efforts that our running game was suspect, and determined to put as much pressure on Matt as they could. Their strategy worked, in large part, due to the lack of being concerned about defending the run.
I see nothing that would indicate the Saints game hold any better promise for the Falcons. Until Michael Turner wakes up and starts finding holes and making like a gazelle we don’t have a chance to open a defense up and make the passing game effective. The Saints will just pin the ears back and blitz like crazy and Ryan will spend more time picking himself up off the turf than he ever has to date. With Norwood out and Turner in a fog, the offense will be spotty at best.
The defense is in question too. Our pass defense is horrid. The corners looked overmatched and, at times, clueless against Dallas. Also, we are outsized at the corners and that doesn’t help at all. With little or no pressure against Roma there was plenty of time for the Dallas recievers to get open and make yards and points. Brees,without a doubt will have a field day against us and it may get ugly, in a hurry.
I am hoping for the trend that has been developing the past couple of games to change on Monday, and maybe it will. But, if we don’t bring our A game to New Orleans we may be carrying our butts in a sling back to Atlanta. Stranger things have happened and this is the NFL, but right now I am sweating what may happen.
Jeff Schultz
October 30th, 2009
4:47 pm
DJ Sniper — Haven’t gone to practice this week and haven’t seen what Ledbetter wrote today, but I know there’s at least 1 report that Tye Hill may get a look. Can’t imagine they’ll stick with Grimes but I guess you never know. Really won’t matter if team can’t get a pass rush.
DJ Sniper
October 30th, 2009
4:51 pm
I haven’t seen any updated info for DOL, so I’ll check out his blogs and see what I can find.
BTW, did anybody else notice that Matt “Choke” Ryan and all of his other aliases were noticebaly absent when we beat the 49ers and Bears, but just so happened to show up when we lost to the Cowboys? So typical.
Jeff Schultz
October 30th, 2009
4:53 pm
GDG73 – Did I write it was all Turner’s fault? No. I’ve only written that he’s clearly having an off season and so much of the Falcons’ success is predicated on the running game. It was last year and it will be this year.
As far as Ryan goes, he’s had two mediocre-to-bad games the last 2 weeks. Referencing him as “Teflon” would be overstatement.
As for Vick, I’m not going to get into a debate about him because I know where that’ll end up. I’ll just restate what I’ve always said: Michael Vick has won in this league and any deficiencies he may have as a quarterback he can make up for with his athletic skills because he can make plays. His downfall was all of the intangibles—work ethic, character, leadership, etc. If those things are fixed, he’ll be fine.
gdg73
October 30th, 2009
4:54 pm
Our running game problems are nothig new. Just look at the later part of last season. Teams brought the extra guy down into the box and dared Ryan too beat them with his arm. As of today,10/30/09, he has yet to make defenses pay on a consistent basis. Until he does, get used to the extra defender in the box. Tony Gonzalez was to help open up our offense and the middle of the field. Tony is a blessing and a curse. Even though he is sure handed and dependable, Ryan has favored him over our true homerun hitter (Roddy White), to the detriment of the offense. Tony is an oustanding red zone threat, but is what gets us down the field to the red zone. Finding a way to make teams pay for the extra man in the box is what the coaching staff should be concentrating on doing. Until then our offense will constantly be in 3rd and long situations, which we haven’t been good at converting.
Jeff Schultz
October 30th, 2009
4:54 pm
U-no: Without a running game, almost NO quarterback can have success in the NFL. Even one of the greatest passers of all time, Dan Marino, was limited in wins and losses.
BravesFan79
October 30th, 2009
4:59 pm
Don’t agree with this list. I still think the Falcons are better than both the Packers and Eagles, and think they can beat both out for a wildcard spot.
Hey Author Blank…. buy the Braves!! please!
Wildebeast
October 30th, 2009
4:59 pm
We needs us some Ovie somethin’ fierce!
Vick Supporter
October 30th, 2009
5:04 pm
Ryan 19/35 Cmp%53.4 198yds 2td 2 int QB Rating: 66.1
Falcon “fans”,
I agree that Turner isn’t having the year he had last year….but for you people to blame him for the season is consistence to what you’ve doing for years. Ryan is getting paid 72 million dollars. This is the NFL. you guys had him “annointed” as the next P.Manning after 3 games into his career. I told ya’ll that you shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up so quickly. Ryan will have better games this year, no doubt about that, but this is what you’re going to get with him. When the game falls on his shoulders, he can’t consistently carry the team against good teams. If you look back at his losses,, they were all against good teams when he had to take over the game. Say what you want about Vick, but he could take over games. Someone have some balls on here and tell the truth. Yeah, he f-ed up, big time, but I just come on here and debate on football, then you come back and call me a thug,lol. Just from a football perspective, I would pick Vick over Ryan anyday.
“Vick will shine again”
gdg73
October 30th, 2009
5:04 pm
Jeff, Vick was used as a reference, not a talking point in my post. Don’t want to go into detail about him, enough said. It does, however, appear that Turner is catching alot of flack for our ground game woes. Some of it is indeed warranted. But Ryan has not received, in my opinion, enough criticism for his lackluster performances. Based on some of the comments from the local media and fans, they have turned a blind eye to his recent play. I also believe the offensive braintrust should do a better job of putting players in positions to excel. So far, Mularkey and company get a B minus. He has weapons but doesn’t know how to use them. How are you be able to neutralize Roddy and bracket Tony Gonzalez and still be able to bring an extra guy down to stop the run game? Something is not adding up.
Vick Supporter
October 30th, 2009
5:07 pm
Jeff Schultz: “As for Vick, I’m not going to get into a debate about him because I know where that’ll end up. I’ll just restate what I’ve always said: Michael Vick has won in this league and any deficiencies he may have as a quarterback he can make up for with his athletic skills because he can make plays. His downfall was all of the intangibles—work ethic, character, leadership, etc. If those things are fixed, he’ll be fine.”
great post man. nailed it right on the head
FalconUGAFan
October 30th, 2009
5:09 pm
@Matt “Choke’ Ryan I gotta admit it you are entertaining, misguided but entertaining. I’m really starting to like you. You are quite the student of misdirection. Have you considered a career as an OC?
Vick Supporter
October 30th, 2009
5:10 pm
gdg73…great posts man. I totally agree. I haven’t heard very much negative on Ryan
Ted Striker
October 30th, 2009
5:13 pm
Me sleepy. See the party folks around 11 pm.
BravesFan79
October 30th, 2009
5:18 pm
HOW is Farve a pathetic human being?? Farve is a living legend, a guy i watched growing up and someone that demands respect as a true leader. Has he ever pulled a Vick or a Jasuckis Rusell and thrown his team under the Bus? Has he had 11 kids by 11 women and then not be able to pay for them because hes just another idiot that spent all his $$ on “ice”?? (Travis Henry).
Screw all you Farve haters, you have your priorities screwed up if you think Farve is one of the bad guys in sports. Respect the mans skills and leadership. Go Falcons, go Vikings!
Beautiful Monte
October 30th, 2009
5:29 pm
Hey, Choke, don’t you have a liquor store to rob, or six illegitimate children to ignore?
Vick Supporter
October 30th, 2009
5:38 pm
Mike Vick beat favre in the playoffs
Frank Wren
October 30th, 2009
5:43 pm
Matt Ryan has been in the league 1 1/4 years. Is he going to make some mistakes sure. But he is the best QB weve ever had in ATL.
Again Tony Dungy says he is the next Manning. Now who knows more about football. A blogger here who probably never played in his life or a Superbowl winning HC.
Ill take Dungy’s opinion if its all the same to you.
Frank Wren
October 30th, 2009
5:50 pm
Mike Vick beat favre in the playoffs
Wow Favre must have played like crap.
farspice
October 30th, 2009
5:54 pm
the who dat’s seems to already won the game before it’s been played!!! I do believe it’s going to be tough to get the win but not impossible. we need to do a better job up front. throw the ball down field more and get some hits on the QB. hits on the QB QB QB QB. did i say hit the QB if you hit Mr. Brees I tell you what FALCONS WIN!!!!!
W&Ws
October 30th, 2009
5:58 pm
I don’t see the point of constantly belittling Ryan in favor of Vick. A) Vick, no matter how good he is, will never wear a Falcons uniform again, and B) the Falcons had to get a new QB, whether he be Ryan, Flacco, Shockley, or whomever. It is a completely pointless discussion.
DJ Sniper
October 30th, 2009
6:07 pm
W&Ws, you are exactly right. I liked Vick when he was here, and I’m glad he got a chance to get back into the NFL, but like you said, he’ll never play for this team again, so the only thing people can do is move on and hope the current regime can continue to push this franchise closer and closer to one of the elite teams in the NFL.
FalconUGAFan
October 30th, 2009
6:13 pm
I’ve tried to make that point on a number of occasions, but some people still want to belittle Ryan. He clearly has issues to work on, but so did Vick. They are two different QB’s. Not sure what it will take to move on, frankly.
Matt "Choke" Ryan
October 30th, 2009
6:23 pm
Beautiful Monte
October 30th, 2009
5:29 pm
Hey, Choke, don’t you have a liquor store to rob, or six illegitimate children to ignore?
“Send your sister over”
karl
October 30th, 2009
6:24 pm
Vick sucks. The truth is, he always sucked. Can’t read defenses. Can’t audible. Can’t find the second receiver. Without his foot speed he wouldn’t have even been an NFL starter.
DJ Sniper
October 30th, 2009
6:27 pm
Karl, I gotta disagree with you on that. It’s no big secret that Vick was not allowed to audible when he had Gregg Knapp as his OC. True enough, Vick did admit that he didn’t put in the amount of work he should have, but when your own OC puts that type of handicap on you, it makes it that much harder to succeed.
Alan
October 30th, 2009
6:28 pm
Vick Supporter-what a #$@&%* joke, thats you and Vick, Philly is really showing the world how good he is and I wonder what team will take a chance on him after the season.
GO FALCONS-GO SOUTHERN RUSH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
karl
October 30th, 2009
6:29 pm
Vick was never going to win a super bowl anywhere and you know it.
Matt "Choke" Ryan
October 30th, 2009
6:29 pm
TOP 5 SIGNS YOU ARE A BUST:
1. Can’t win when your running game is shutdown.
2. Your idea of stretching the field is a quick slant.
3. Your QB RATING vs Elite franchises is in the 60s.
4. You lose in the 1st round of the playoffs.
5. You can’t take a hit, without looking for “ghosts”.
This chump is a BUST if I ever saw one. It’s amazing that he took all the credit for the Falcons turn around, but doesn’t get the blame for this season’s failures against real defenses – obviously it’s because of his demographic.
Being ranked 14th in the NFL in passing is not Peyton-like, more Ryan Leaf-like.
Give this chump a 1-way ticket back to Boston “never won an A.C.C. Title” College
Matt "Choke" Ryan
October 30th, 2009
6:33 pm
Atlanta 27, Green Bay 7
Jan 5, 1:24 am EST
Preview | Box Score | Recap
PrintGREEN BAY, WISCONSIN (TICKER) —Michael Vick began building his playoff resume with a historic win.
In his postseason debut, Vick passed for a touchdown and created havoc with his feet as the Atlanta Falcons rolled to a 27-7 NFC wild card victory over the Green Bay Packers, who suffered the first home playoff loss in franchise history.
The NFL’s youngest quarterback at 22, Vick outplayed three-time Most Valuable Player Brett Favre, who had been 35-0 at Lambeau Field when the game-time temperature was 34 degrees or less. Saturday’s temperature was 28 and the contest was played through light snow.
karl
October 30th, 2009
6:37 pm
yeah, you’re right. Vick’s a much better quarterback than Brett Favre. What was I thinking?
Matt "Choke" Ryan
October 30th, 2009
6:41 pm
Damn – don’t you hate it when facts hurt
karl
October 30th, 2009
6:43 pm
pretty weak man. pretty weak.
DJ Sniper
October 30th, 2009
6:46 pm
MCR, your logic (and I use that term loosely) is absolutely ridiculous. It’s obvious that you don’t have s**t else to do with your time, so you figure out ways to manipulate stats to back up your argument, but all it does is make you look stupid. Vick had his time while he was were, but now he’s not, so get over it. Ryan has had his struggles, but he’s going to get better as time goes on. And for the love of all things black and holy, stop sounding like a broken record by calling Ryan a bust. Nobody in their right mind can label any player a bust after a season and a half, but then again, I must remember you’re not playing with a full deck over there.
Also, to touch on just one of your criteria for labeling players a bust: Peyton Manning lost in the first round of the playoffs for a few years before rising up to become one of the best.
Jeff Schultz
October 30th, 2009
6:48 pm
GDG73 – That’s fine. I’ve been conditioned to think every time somebody brings up Vick (especially in a non-Vick blog) it’s to stir up a debate. We agree the Ryan’s play has dropped off but the Falcons won the Bears game and I don’t believe he was the No. 1 reason they lost the Dallas game. I’d put defense, protection and running game ahead of Turner. The reason I wrote about Turner off the game was because he was an obvious issue that had been building, really, throughout the season.
Vick Supporter – Thanks.
Frank Wren – No, actually Vick outplayed Favre that game, but Favre didn’t play like crap, Vick just played better.
DJ Sniper
October 30th, 2009
6:48 pm
Karl, my post wasn’t to debate on whether or not Vick was better than Favre. I simply pointed out that he was not allowed to audible when he played under Jim Mora and Gregg Knapp. Had he put in the extra work, I’m sure he could have learned how to read defenses quite well, but that’s neither here nor there at this point.
Jeff Schultz
October 30th, 2009
6:49 pm
GDG72 — By the way, that should be “defense, protection and running game ahead of Ryan,” not Turner.
Jeff Schultz
October 30th, 2009
6:51 pm
DJ — A bigger issue to me than Vick not audiblizing was Vick not being allowed to free lance. That’s his strength. Making him a QB in the West Coast offense in retrospect was the worst possible decision because the offense is base on accuracy and a high-completion rate (which obviously isn’t Vick’s strength) and less down field pass (which is a strength).
Jeff Schultz
October 30th, 2009
6:53 pm
Sorry guys, my Smokin’ Hot Wife is making me leave now to go to the high school football game now. But I’ll check back later.
Pete
October 30th, 2009
6:55 pm
Falcons put Ain’ts in their place, 28-13, Falcons.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!