What do Falcons do? I heard they rise up, and that is exactly what you saw if you were lucky enough to tune into last Sunday’s game from the Dome. The hometown Falcons ran into a few chiefs when they landed home and let’s just say the chiefs are sending warnings in the smoke to other teams in the league not to mess with us. It’s hard to find a place to start on what impressed me, but I will start with Juilo Jones: 6 receptions, 108 yards, 2 touchdowns; the defense was struggling to hold him all night. Hard to believe this kid is just a sophomore in the league. The Falcons rush game was alright as well. The stat sheet might lead you to believe otherwise with Michael “The Burner” Turner only having 32 combined yards; however he came up with crucial yards. He didn’t have any open field breaks, but his attempts were not wasted. If I had to choose one player on the Falcons offense to credit with Player of the Game, it would have to be Matt Ryan. During the course of the game, he connected on 23 of his 31 pass attemptswith 299 yards, threw three touchdowns, no interceptions, only 1 sac (however credit to the offensive line in that as well), and topped it all off with a rushing touchdown.

Ryan has had his issues in the post season these last few years, but I can honestly say even when I feel like Atlanta should have held on to Michael Vick, Ryan comes through with games like these that almost make me forget about number 7. On the defensive end, Sean Weatherspoon, Jonathan Babineaux, and John Abraham all came up with sacks. Stephen Nicholas led the defense in tackles and tackles assisted. Nicholas and William Moore each contributed with the game’s only interceptions. Personally I feel that if this is the falcons team I am going to see all season the first round will definitely not be the ceiling of their season. 

Before I let y’all go I cannot rest without speaking on the Superstar in the Superdome. Drew Brees? No I am talking about rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III who not only came into the superdome and left alive, but did it in style. Not only did he almost match Brees’ output, but he did it in half as many attempts with 2 touchdowns thrown on a 19/26 passing night for 320 yards. He also put up 40 points in the superdome as a rookie in his first NFL game. The Saints sent blitzes at him as if expecting the rookie to falter, but he systematically chose his spots, decided when to scramble and when to hang tight in the pocket. If this game is a sign of things to expect, I don’t see the need of waiting until the end of the season to vote for Rookie of the Year. He tweeted “Couldn’t have written the beginning any better To God Be The Glory.” You have to love this kid.

Luvert Allen, Former Editor of Sports