=8^O Wow.

That was an amazing win and one hell of a statement to the rest of the league. I didn’t thin we could overcome the Bears defense and win this game, but Ryan obviously had other ideas and I’m all the happier for it. Looks like my conservative pick of five wins is safe.

I know I was one of the loudest ones claiming that Ryan was a bad pick, but if Ryan continues to play like this the rest of the season then I will gladly chew on some rubber. I’m sure he will have some flop games, but it seems for now he is on a very successful path, as are the Falcons.

In fact, I think now is an excellent time to re-evaluate the schedule and adjust the win total.

8 Sun, Oct 26 at Philadelphia – W: If we can win against the bears, I see no reason why we can’t find a way to squek this one out. Philly has been down lately and we get an off week to prepare.

9 Sun, Nov 2 at Oakland – W: The only way we lose this game is if Al Davis is no longer running the show.

10 Sun, Nov 9 New Orleans – L: It’s possible to win this game, but Drew Brees is a beast and Bush is finally starting to look like the superstar he was supposed to be. I also believe this is the week they get some injured play-makers back.

11 Sun, Nov 16 Denver – W: I think this will be a tough match-up given that the Broncos seem to be scoring points by the dozens, but at the same time their defense is allowing just as many. Could go either way I suppose.

At this point I would take another break to re-evaluate the team and the opponents remaining, but for now I’ll throw some simple picks based on everything up to today.

12 Sun, Nov 23 Carolina – W
13 Sun, Nov 30 at San Diego – L
14 Sun, Dec 7 at New Orleans – L
15 Sun, Dec 14 Tampa Bay – W
16 Sun, Dec 21 at Minnesota – W
17 Sun, Dec 28 St. Louis – W

Basically, the season is gurther along, our guys have matured and are playing stronger than earlier and we get both Carolina and Tampa at home, so we win those. AD and Minn seemed to have lost their way and St.L is just horribad. NO and SD are going to be tough road losses.

By my count that puts us at 11-5 to end the season which makes me want to slap myself and scream to wake up. Maybe it’s my uncontrollable enthusiasm after a very exciting win, or maybe it’s really possible. I honestly think that we will end up a little lower that that, but if we do lose to Philly and Denver, that still puts us at 9-7 which is still way above what most of us or the experts picked to begin the season. Let’s say we lose to Carolina and Tampa again, we are still 7-9 and honestly, that’s better than last year.

So, officially I am sayign we land somewhere between 9-7 and 11-5. 10-6 maybe? Haha, who cares, GO FALCONS!

the notion of changing Ryan’s nickname from “Matty Ice” to “Matty Balls.”

We may then have to change Harry “Balls” Douglas’ nickname, I suggest the team adopted nickname of HD, like the TV.

Sam Baker is a good reason that ryan is calm in the pocket, plus he is probably best QB out of college last year. If you take your eyes off ball and watch big Sam dominate his man time after time you see what I mean.

Go falcons

That is always one the Falcons end up on the short side of. The field goal at the end gets blocked, the pass to Jenkins gets dropped, whatever. We’re used to getting the shaft when it comes to close games. For a moment there, with 11 seconds left, I saw the rest of the season in my head. A demoralizing loss, coupled with a shell shocked QB and overwhelmed coaching staff leads to the wheels falling off and the team packing it in by week 12. We’ve been there before. The season was done. I was slumped in my seat, listening to the Bears fans surrounding me whoop it up. For the length of a commercial break, I was devastated. But then, I did the one thing I could do. Despite years of being beaten down by this team, amid thoughts wondering why I couldnt have been born in Dallas or Pittsburgh so I could root for a winner, I stood up. I got back on my feet and I yelled for the impossible. I rooted for something that simply doesn’t happen to this team to occur. It did.

 I still can’t believe what happened. That felt like a playoff win, what with the jumping up and down in a group of strangers and high fiving everybody I could see on the way out. I haven’t heard the Dome like that while leaving since the playoff win against San Fransisco in ‘98. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, cause I still expect some rough patches this year, but that is the kind of win you can build off for years to come. We might be looking back in five years and say that the Chicago win started it all. We now know we have a quarterback. We have a coaching staff. We have an offensive line (!!!). We can stop the run. And we are young. For the first time, something special is happening here.

For the first time, I have total faith in this franchise. I believe in Mike Smith. I believe in Thomas Dimitroff. I believe in Matt Ryan. Never have I been happier to be so wrong about a player as I was about Ryan. I didn’t think he had the skills to be a #3 pick. I knew that this offensive line and this franchise would only exacerbate his problems. I was sure that he simply could not succeed in this environment. I was wrong. A lot of that is because of him, but a lot of the credit belongs to the coaches and the offensive line as well. All of them have already exceeded every possible expectation. There may be some more ups and downs to come, but get ready Falcoholics. We are about to go for one hell of a fun ride, and it may not be ending any time soon.

I was trying to study Greek and watch the game at the same time. And man, did I not get anywhere on that Greek for about the last 2 quarters. What an ending. Just like alot of people who follow college football, I was just completely unhappy with the Ryan pick. Looking at the Falcons, I saw at max 4 wins this season regardless of who played QB. Well, I was officially wrong. Dear Leader has proven me wrong, and I defer to his judgment in the future. Where we’d be with Glen Dorsey on the DL is most likely nowhere near where we’re at right now. Even if we don’t win anymore games we’re the underdog in, we’ve still overpreformed our expectations, and have created a solid base for next season. Some good draft choices in the secondary and some focus on shoring up the lines, and we could be a force to be reckoned with next season in the NFC.

I was listening to DaveFM/Magic 98/AM540 heading back to Montgomery from ATL (my fiancé’s a Georgia peach!). I was in full Falcon regalia: shirt, hat, shorts. When the Bears scored with 11 seconds to go, I threw my hat to the floor. “Same old Falcons.”

And then Ryan made the Throw. I screamed my head off, tossed my hands in the air, and scared a few people as I swerved. And then, The Kick.

I was beyond reason. I swerved to and fro, almost got hit by an 18 wheeler, stopped in the emergency lane, and screamed my head off.

Suffice to say, I’ll probably turn the radio off next time. I mean, I’d rather be alive and safe so I can enjoy the rest of the season!