What a win. I would've posted this sooner, but my dorm's flag football team just won its first game in four years...all of which I was captain for. Great day all around for me. But I digress.

A lot of people will seize on this to say that Vick answered his critics, but let's not overcomplicate things. The Falcons went out there and couldn't get the run going, so it came down to Vick's arm. After a terrible start, he went out slinging and got some help. Crumpler had a career day, and nobody's going to overlook how clutch he was on a day when Vick was treating him like Linus's blanket. Lelie posted a few nice catches, too, and even Oven Mitts himself got a redemption type TD catch late in the second quarter. Make no mistake, this was a terrific day for Vick. We're not going to see him chuck 4 TD passes all that often, so let's revel in it.

Obviously not a great day for the defense. We made Roethlisberger look like Marino, and Batch look like Roethlisberger. We allowed way too many points, and for once Vick had to bail the ship out himself. Given that the D was missing Abraham and Coleman and had difficulty pressuring either QB, this isn't all that surprising. Chauncey Davis's most useful play, sadly, was knocking Roethlisberger out of the game (which is never cool.) Our triumphant return to supremacy over Wee Willie Parker & Co. came with the price of 418 yards passing. If Palmer pulls that off again next week, it's going to be really tough to duplicate our offensive effort and match them. Let's just go ahead and say it won't happen again.

And whither special teams? Man, we're having problems with our kickers, aren't we? Koenen put a heroic effort in from the distance, but Andersen's really not getting much drive kicking with his walker, is he? In the end, we'll remember that he kicked the game winner, but let's not forget to be nervous sheep until he nails a couple tricky ones next week.

And everyone should bask in how good my predictions looked this week, because I'm not going to be able to duplicate it that often. Vick really was the key to this game, and if he can settle into a 55%/200 yard/2 TD groove for the rest of the season, he's going to be flipping a dirty bird to the folks who make a living off of questioning his QBhood (myself included). Let's see what happens next week against the Pumpkin Cats, shall we?

Game MVP(s): Vick and Crumpler.
Game Theme Song: Smiley Faces by Gnarls Barkley
One Thing to Take Away: If this team finds itself down in a critical situation, Vick CAN pull it off with some help. Let's remember this the next time we win an easy one and he throws for 100 yards.
Next Week: The Bengals, who are fresh off a squeaker against the Panthers.
Final Word: Falcons win a thriller in OT. Passing was great, rushing was good late, defense was rough, special teams was rough. Lot of room to improve, but a win's a win. 4-2, baby!