The Falcons took care of business last night and are now in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC South. Sure, there were a few rocky moments. And sure, if Matt Ryan can’t stop throwing interceptions, then I may eventually put a chair through my television. But there was a lot to like last night.

Let’s take a closer look at last night’s game, shall we?

Three Up

Julio Jones

Not only did he break Roddy White’s record for all-time receiving yards as a Falcon, Julio also nabbed two receiving touchdowns, including the game winner. He is without a doubt the best wide receiver in the National Football League, and we’re lucky he plays for the Falcons.

Desmond Trufant

It’s as if Tru reads everything random naysayers on the internet have to say about him. Because if there was some doubt about his value or his ability to intercept passes, he definitely didn’t hurt his cause tonight. Tru picked off 2 passes during the first half and was dominant in coverage. The Falcons are currently 1st in the NFL in passing yards allowed. Trufant is undoubtedly a big part of that.

Isaiah Oliver

Oliver stopped Eagles tight end Zach Ertz about six inches short of a first down late in the fourth quarter. This happened deep in Falcons territory. His solo tackle cemented the win after a hard fought game. And for what it’s worth, Oliver looked much better in coverage overall tonight. If you had any doubt about his role with the team or why the coaching staff likes him so much, Oliver probably addressed some of your concerns last night.

Three Down

Matt Ryan (Dirk Koetter)

I’m not sure why Ryan has 5 interceptions through 2 games, but something is amiss. If I had to guess, Ryan and Koetter are still trying to find their groove. In Ryan’s defense, Mohamed Sanu tipped one of his interceptions tonight and his audible during the Falcons’ last offensive play of the game cemented a Falcons win.

Kenyon Barner

Barner looked solid during the Week 1 loss to the Vikings. Unfortunately last night was a different story. He didn’t return any kicks. And he only returned 3 punts for a whopping 12 yards. Maybe Barner had some butterflies facing the team that gave him his first job in the NFL. (Don’t forget that he also won a Super Bowl with the Eagles.) But we’d all like to see last week’s version of Barner going forward.

Luke Stocker

Stocker finds himself on this list because there just weren’t a ton of bad performances tonight. Stocker fumbled after finding himself one-on-one in the flat with a defender. Meanwhile, on the play that led to Ryan’s third interception of the night, Stocker was wide open and couldn’t get a look from the franchise quarterback. Maybe that says something about how Ryan is perceiving Stocker as an option in the passing game. Maybe it doesn’t. But in any case, the fumble was a bad look.

All in all, there weren’t a lot of bad individual performances last night. There were, however, plenty of solid performances on both sides of the ball. Tonight’s win gives the Falcons a lot to build on going forward. What’s more, it hopefully addresses some of the concerns the fan base had going into the game.

Your thoughts, Falcoholics?