ATLANTA GLIDES INTO DETROIT WITH HOME-COOKING IN MIND

I’d like to start off by apologizing for my absence the last couple of days. I’ve been super busy with my paying gigs and I wanted to make sure I had the smile wiped off of my face first. Atlanta took New York’s milk money last Sunday and I enjoyed the hell out of it.

“Atlanta was very, very good today. We were very, very bad today.” That was Tom Coughlin after Sunday’s loss. Talk about understatement of the year. Atlanta crushed the Yankees in every facet of the game. Period. Hey coach! You had me after the second, “good.”

Of course the media continues to make excuses for the poor performance New York displayed last week. Heath Evans, former “Saint” and NFL Network analyst, even went so far as to say the reason Atlanta won was because the Giants were without their emotional leader Ahmad Bradshaw. Heath Evans is an idiot. Joe Montana couldn’t have beat Atlanta last week. The Birds were that good.

So now we travel to Detroit to play a Lions’ team that can still score points despite their 4-10 record. While they may not have much to play for, I’m sure the team is rallying around Calvin Johnson and his shot at breaking Jerry Rice’s single season receiving yards record. They’re going to throw the ball at 81 often and expect to see a lot of vertical routs. That’s what I’d do anyway.

Defensively Detroit is still stout up front with Suh and Avril, but they still seem to make bone-headed plays at in opportune times, often blowing coverages ending up in big plays. Matt Ryan and company should be able to move the ball fairly well if the offensive line can equal it’s performance against New York. The return of Joe Hawley from his Aderall punishment should add depth to a line that seems to be gelling at the right time.

The Falcons need to take advantage of this momentum and clinch home-field Saturday night. It’s a prime time game on ESPN, which means Jon Gruden will be calling the game. You always want to play well in front of Chucky. Julio, Roddy, and Tony all go over 100 yards. The Matural throws 4 TD’s and gets his name back in the MVP race. Turner, Snelling, and Rodgers combine for 150 yards and Atlanta locks up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. This I command! I mean hope… Birdies 42, Kitties 31. Merry Christmas everyone. Hug your kids tight this holiday. Go Falcons.