The Chicago Bears came into Atlanta with a 3-2 record and leading the NFC North. Tonight they are leaving at 3-3.

 The Falconsnow hold a 4-2 record and are tied for 1st in the NFC southwith Carolina and Tampa Baywho played each other and ended with a Bucs win.

 Matt Ryan was the story of the game today leading his receivers down the field on what seemed like one amazing throw after another. Roddy White and Michael Jenkins seemed to catch everything that was thrown their way.

  The Bears secondary looked befuddled on almost every passing down while stuffing every rushing attempt that came their way. Michael Turner was held to 54 yards on 25 attempts (ouch!) but the Falcons balanced attack would not be stopped. The birds faced issues getting into the end zone but Jason Elam came through on field goals all the way until the 4th quarter when he missed a 33 yard attempt and the Bears came back to tie the game.

 :10 seconds………. That is how long the Bears held the lead in this game. Ryan throws to Jenkins. Elam comes out and kicks the game winner with 1 second on the game clock. I go nuts, I erupt like Mt. Vesuvius and the Falcons soar to match their entire win total of the ‘07 campaign.

                                                                The Bird Speaks!

Matt Ryan, Felix Jones, Johnathan Stewart, Steve Slaton, Jake Long are the nominees for week 5 and I give kudos to every one of them, But i will ask for special consideration for Matt Ryan. The guy wins his first regular season game in Green Bay no less. As much as there are some other worthy perfomers here, Ryan went to the shrine of professional football at Lambeau and beat a strong Green Bay squad that looked poised for a huge comeback win.   

                                                                    Vote Matt Ryan at NFL.com!

                                     This is the Dirtybird and I approve this message!

 My Uncle and his son are coming over they will be wearing their Urlacher jerseys and I will be wearing any number of falcons clothing. I am so excited to see Michael Turner run through that Bears line and evade those linebackers. To see my uncle get pissed as Ryan throws a big TD pass or as the Falcons defense intercepts Orton will be worth the cost of pizza and wings. There will be a lot of trash talking back and forth to be sure and that is what I am looking forward to. My team against their team….. with my team winning of course.

                                                                   The Bird Speaks!

  But it was the whole Falcons team that really contributed to this victory. Weather it was overcoming really bad officiating (it was god awful) or a Packers team that just simply would not lie down and lose, it was a good game. Michael Turner was strong running for over 100 yards and scoring his 6th TD of the season.

 Aaron Rodgers looked so darned good all day adjusting to the Falcons coverage schemes and evading a decent pass rush from John Abraham. I am really impressed with the way the Falcons have grown in the last 5 weeks. Both, rookies and vets just look to be coming together and I am very happy with how well we have executed. 

                                                               The Bird Speaks!

 Cleveland was supposed to be this great offensive juggernaut with Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards. The Browns have looked more like the stuff you scrape off of your shoe and not much like the football team they were supposed to be.

 The Cardinals hold a special place to me since I live in Phoenix. They are just so bad on so many levels and it makes a Falcons fan proud to know that at least we aren’t the Cardinals. Kurt Warner is my personal favorite story on this team, he is in his late 30’s and has taken the starting QB job from the 10th overall pick the golden child of college football, Matt Leinart. Warner is awesome but the team around him is so shaky and so cursed that nothing seems to work out for them. They sit at 2-2 as well but in a weak division like the NFC West they have the chance to make the playoffs. I hope for the sake of the their fans, and I know a lot of them here that they do make good on their potential but I will believe it when I see it.

   The Eagles, what can you say about their division that hasn’t been said before. The NFC East is just stacked. So much so that I feel that the NFC West should have to give up their playoff spot if they can’t match the record of a team in the East. Something that I feel will probably happen. Philly has talent all over the field except at wide receiver and the best part is that it doesn’t matter. I will go on record now and say that Donavan McNabb is one of the best, most gutsy win at all costs mofo I have ever seen play. 

 The Falcons may not win the NFC South this year. But I will say this, we are on a good track and I am pleased with our progress. And for a team rebuilding I say we are ahead of schedule.

                                                           The Bird Speaks!

 First off I will give a lot of respect to the Panthers, they played a great game and really disrupted everything we did. Matt Ryan was forced to throw the ball 41 times! Michael Turner found no room to run and did not score. Jerious Norwood was rendered useless as well. Carolina managed 2 sacks and I saw a strong offensive line in pass protection, Ryan was pressured but not terribly and for that I see something to be happy with.

 Carolina to be frank just played better. Steve Smith looked good and Muhsin Mohammed was the story of the game. The man they call “Moose” was making catches over Erik Colman and in spectacular fashion. Delhomme looked good going 20 for 29 for 294 yards.

                                                         Carolina rolls Atlanta loses to a better team,

                                                                              The Bird Speaks!

 Atlanta is not to be underestimated though as we feature the number one runnin back in the NFL through 3 weeks at 366 rushing yards and 5 rushing TDs, in Michael Turner. Jerious Norwood is the “lightning” to Turner’s “thunder” moniker and both should provide quite a handful for the Panthers run D.

 I look for Matt Ryan to control the ball and for the birds running game to wear on the Panthers defense allowing for passing lanes and completions down the field. The counterpoint to this plan is one Julius Peppers who is now playing the right defensive end  “weakside” position and this provides the key match-up issue for a Falcons victory as rookie tackle Sam Baker who is coming off a concussion suffered last week plays against Peppers. This will be quite a test for Baker and the coordinators will certainly look to exploit this weekness.

 I look for a Falcons win in difficult fashion. If the Falcons win they will need to blow the doors off of the D early and often and look to run the run defense down. If the Falcons offense can stay on the field then we have a shot. If the Panthers can disrupt Ryan and the Falcons potent runners then we are in for a very long day.

                                                              Falcons win 24-21

                                                                                         The Birds Speaks!

I try to keep on point with just football stuff usually but Paul Newman was just too good an actor not to say something. I remember the first movie I saw of his was Harry & Son and then a few yearss later, The Color of Money with Tom Cruise. Newman was so cool in that part as “Fast ” Eddie Felson and I really started to understand why both of my parents loved the guy so much.

 I grew up as an only child to two really huge film fanatic parents and always at the top of the Mt. Rushmore of actors was Al Pacino, Robert De Niro , Marlon Brando, and Paul Newman.

 My personal favorite role of Newman’s was of Sully Sullivan in Nobody’s Fool. A smaller movie that I still enjoy 13 years later. Newman plays an older man who skipped out on his family years ago who reconnects with his adult son and grandson. I won’t attempt to run down the guys career here but I really liked the guy and I recommend pretty much all of his movies. If you haven’t seen it try Nobody’s Fool just because it is really entertaining and pretty darned funny and still touching.

 Newman was a true cinematic legend and I for one will miss him.

                                                                   The Bird Speaks!