I paid a lot of attention to the Falcons this past sunday as they soared in their throwback uniforms past the Carolina Panthers to a 2-0 start.
Leaning heavily on tight end Tony Gonzalez and wide receiver Roddy White, Ryan went through a stretch where he completed 13 consecutive passes. He finished with 21 completions in 27 attempts for 220 yards and three touchdown with one interception. His quarterback rating of 122.2 was the fourth-best in 19 NFL starts.
“It was a good rhythm,” Ryan said. “I didn’t know it was 13 (straight). We did a good job of getting opening, running our routes at the right depth. Protection was very good. It was detailed.”
I'm not going to lie. I like a lot of things about this humble team. They take after their coach Mike Smith. Whom I knew so little about that I thought he was black until the middle of last season. As Peter King of SI points out, they're humble and effective at sneaking up on their opponent.
7. Atlanta (2-0). Talk about a team sneaking up on the league. The Falcons are the quietest 2-0 team in football, and maybe the quietest team period.
It wasn't all smiles for the Falcons in this one as they lost top pick DT Peria Jerry for the year. This is particularly interesting because the Falcons travel with a 2-0 record now to face what was considrered an offensive juggernaut in the New England Patriots. This is a game I'd absolutely love to have TiVo'd or be at the sports bar for.
I like Matt Ryan especially. I like Micheal Turner. I like Jonathan Babineaux and John Abraham. While this team may be short on flamboyance, they show up and play the game the right way. They're my darkhorse team right now to really make some noise in the NFC. We'll see how they fare in New England, as it could be a pretty good shoot out and give Ryan a heck of a test. I don't see Belicheck getting beaten two weeks in a row by a young QB, especially at home. It will be a tough draw for the Falcons.
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