Falcons owner and chairman Arthur Blank will be co-hosting the “Morning Drive” show on the Golf Channel from 7-9 a.m. ET Wednesday.

Check your local listings for the Golf Channel to tune in.

Head coach Mike Smith held his Monday press conference with the media after Sunday’s 30-17 win over Philadelphia. Here are some of the highlights:

• An update on Sean Weatherspoon’s injury status will come Wednesday. Spoon left the game in the second half and did not return.
• The weather on Sunday in Philadelphia was rough at times with Hurricane Sandy coming up the East Coast. Smith, however, knew the Falcons could play in whatever the elements threw at them: “There in the second half, it did get a little tough and I thought our guys handled it extremely well. … We handled the weather conditions. I don’t think we’re a ‘dome’ team. I think we’ve got some mudders on our team that can go out and play in the elements.”
• Rookie Peter Konz stepped in Sunday to play right guard with Garrett Reynolds out with a back injury. Active for the game, Reynolds was kept on the sideline as Smith went with Konz. The rookie performed very well as Smith was pleased with how he did. Smith said Konz took most of the snaps at RG during practice last week. The right guard position will be determined as the Falcons go through the week, but Smith added, “I know this: We’ve got a guy that can go in and play in a big ballgame that’s a rookie, and that’s a positive thing.”
• Smith was surprised at how the Falcons were able to take the usually hostile Lincoln Financial Field crowd out of the game early. The Falcons went up 21-7 in the first half and never looked back. Smith said it was important for the Falcons to get the crowd out of the game and added that it was more apparent in this game than any other that they had done that. “It got very quiet. After the first two series, I don’t think we had any issues with having to go to a silent count. We were able to communicate most of the day.”
• DT Corey Peters returned to action after being sidelined for the first six games of the season with a foot injury. Smith said he envisioned Peters to be on a 15-25 snap limit for Sunday’s game. Peters played 20 as the Falcons bring him along gradually.
• Game balls were given to Kroy Biermann and Drew Davis for their performances Sunday. Biermann had seven tackles and a sack. Davis caught the first touchdown of his NFL career against the Eagles.
• Smith had a great quote about depth here: “That’s the great thing about our locker room: We’ve got a great locker room. We don’t have 11 starters, and I’ve said that from the very beginning. We are going to be very multiple in what we do on all sides of the ball, including special teams, and it’s going to be dictated how we defend people and how we attack people by how they try and attack us.”
• Smith called Sunday’s run defense performance the best of the season and credited last week’s Monday practice on the basics of football as the reason why tackling and angle issues were shored up Sunday. Smith called it “remedial, 8th grade football,” but said it was necessary to go back to fundamentals last week and work on just the Falcons instead of trying to prepare for an opponent.

Head coach Mike Smith said he will have an update on linebacker Sean Weatherspoon’s injury status Wednesday, saying during his Monday news conference that he’d have a better idea of where he is later in the week.

Weatherspoon left Sunday’s game in the second half with an ankle injury.

“Sean is in the training room and we’ll have a more concrete idea of where he’s at after practice (Wednesday),” Smith said Monday. “He did sustain an ankle injury in the ballgame.”

Smith said Kevin Cone also suffered an ankle injury Sunday and will have an update on him, Weatherspoon and WR Harry Douglas — who missed Sunday’s game with a knee and ankle injury — on Wednesday.

UPDATE 5:25 p.m. – Head coach Mike Smith told D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Weatherspoon suffered a low ankle sprain.

The Falcons and Eagles have settled on jersey colors for this weekend’s game.

The Eagles will be wearing their black uniforms. The Falcons will be in their road whites, prepared and ready to go above.

Asante Samuel wasn’t even in the locker room yet when the media swarmed around his locker. As soon as he came in, he knew what was coming.

“I can run but I can’t hide, huh?” he said as he approached his surrounded locker.

As he positioned himself in front of the throng of media members, he turned his back and put his helmet on. When he turned around into the bright camera lights, the Pick Six Show was underway.

“It’ll be exciting,” Samuel said about the weekend’s trip to Philadelphia. “They’ll be happy to see me. Everybody’s gonna cheer for me.”

Samuel was at home in front of the media as he talked about his former team, directing the interview as best he could, saying he didn’t want to expand too much on any one topic.

The answer “next question” was commonly used as he held his trademark smile throughout the interview. Posed a question about Andy Reid’s interview with the Atlanta media from Wednesday, Samuel interrupted, saying “No decline in 22, right?”

“It’s kind of hard when 22 ain’t there,” Samuel said when asked about this year’s Philadelphia team. “You know 22 keeps things going for you, you know what I mean? You’ve just got to deal with it. You make your bed, you’ve gotta lay in it, you know?”

With a very productive career during his time in Philadelphia, Samuel expects a warm homecoming of sorts as he ended his interview by looking directly into the cameras to deliver a message:

“Oh, they’re about to cheer for me! They’re gonna cheer for me or we’re gonna have a problem right there in Lincoln Financial Stadium. All y’all fans, all I did for y’all, y’all better cheer for me. Deuce here got nothing but love for you.”

Watch Samuel’s entire interview with the media here

Join the Falcons and Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band on Nov. 3, 2012 at the Verizon Amphitheater at Encore Park in Alpharetta to help raise money to build Smart Homes in Georgia for wounded military veterans as part of the Building for America’s Bravest program.

The benefit concert will honor two American heros, CPL. Todd Love and SFC. Michael Schlitz as 100 percent of the funds raised will go toward Smart Homes for Love and Schlitz to be built in Georgia.

Love, from Acworth, Ga., lost both his legs and an arm in Afghanistan.

Schlitz, who lives in Columbus, Ga., was the only person to survive in his vehicle in Iraq. He was burned over 85 percent of his body and lost both his arms.

Click here to purchase tickets

The concert is being put on in a partnership between the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation — which was started by the family and friends of Siller, who was a firefighter killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center — and the Gary Sinise Foundation. Sinise, best known for his work as Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump, is closely involved in the project to build Smart Homes for wounded vets. He has helped build homes for five quadruple amputees and has offered to build 53 others for triple amputees.

William Moore’s phone lights up. A new text message appears.

On the other end is former Missouri teammate and current Eagles WR Jeremy Maclin.

The message on Moore’s phone is simple: “Y’all be ready.”

“You already know that I sent him the W.A.R text message — Willy Mo always ready,” Moore said Wednesday. “He already knows that, but J-Mac is a heck of an athlete. I know what he can do personally, but we’re prepared.”

This will be the third time the former Missouri Tigers have faced each other, along with linebacker Sean Weatherspoon. Maclin’s history against the Falcons is one the two defensive players would probably like to forget.

Last year, Maclin burned the Falcons to the tune of 13 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort at the Georgia Dome. The year before at Lincoln Financial Field, Maclin was good for seven catches for 159 yards and two scores.

“I think Jeremy has good size, good speed. He’s a real competitive guy,” Weatherspoon said. “I’ve known him for a while. He hates to lose. He really takes it personally, so I think that’s what makes him such a good player.”

Along with DeSean Jackson, Maclin provides a formidable offensive force the Falcons will have to contend with Sunday. Until then, the two former Missouri Tigers wearing black and red will have to contend with more of Maclin’s texts.

“I got a few texts. I don’t really want to really talk about it too much. It’s a personal game for me,” Weatherspoon said before carefully selecting his next words. “It’s a personal game. I look forward to going out there and competing.”

It was 24 hours ago when I wrote that I wouldn’t be surprised if the Falcons lost their top spot in the Power Rankings this week due to the convincing win by the Houston Texans over the Baltimore Ravens while Atlanta enjoyed a bye.

Much to my chagrin and elation, the Falcons held on to the top spot across the board as experts saw the undefeated Falcons during a bye as more worthy of the top spot than the 6-1 Texans after a big win.

We add a couple more rankings this week in the Power Rankings Roundup, including a power poll from NFL.com, FoxSports.com and a local poll from Macon.com.

NFL.com Power Rankings – Elliot Harrison has a point: “Considering they were on a bye, how could the Atlanta Falcons not stay No. 1? Two big reasons Atlanta is top dog: 1) Mike Smith’s team has committed the fewest penalties in the NFL. 2) The Falcons provide opponents with the worst starting field position in the league.”

NFL.com Week 8 Power Poll – A new poll here to the roundup, this one is voted on by a panel of experts and analysts at NFL.com. The Falcons earned a league-high 410 points with seven first-place votes.

ESPN.com Power Rankings – If you’re a Falcons fan, and I’m certain you are, you’ll enjoy this from ESPN.com: “Ten of the last 37 teams to go 6-0 and stand as the last unbeaten team won the Super Bowl.”

CBSSports.com Power Rankings – Pete Prisco points out that the Falcons have a tough matchup coming up in keeping the Falcons at No. 1: “They are the only undefeated team left, but face a tough road challenge coming off the bye against the Eagles.”

FoxSports.com Power Rankings – Brian Billick echos Priscos comments: “The Falcons are the only remaining unbeaten team but will have a test coming off the bye week with a three-game run versus the Eagles, Cowboys and Saints.”

Bleacher Report Power Rankings – Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller gives us our first Charlie Sheen reference here in the Rankings Roundup: “A bye week keeps the Atlanta Falcons as the only undefeated team in the NFL. With a road trip to Philadelphia on the schedule for Week 8, Atlanta will get one of its first big tests of the season. The job done by Mike Smith, Dirk Koetter and Mike Nolan has been remarkable this season. The Falcons have won close, they’ve won coming from behind, and they’ve won ugly. No matter how you look at it, winning is all the Falcons have done this year. Charlie Sheen should be jealous. The team’s first loss may come in Week 8, but the Falcons have a comfortable lead in the miserable NFC South and a home-field advantage that will be tough to beat in the playoffs.”

Macon.com Power Rankings – We go from a long-winded explanation to a man of few words as Macon.com’s Daniel Shirley has the Falcons at No. 1 in his poll: “Last week: Off”

Thoughts?

News came last week, when the Eagles were also into their bye, that head coach Andy Reid would be replacing defensive coordinator Juan Castillo with position coach Todd Bowles. As soon as that happened, a wrench had been thrown into the Falcons’s preparations for Philadelphia.

With six weeks of tape to comb over, the Falcons coaching staff had been preparing for Castillo and his tendencies. Bowles taking over means the Falcons will suddenly have some extra unknowns to get ready for.

“It’s harder to look at tape. You’ve just got to look at the guys for who they are and not necessarily the scheme, because some things might change,” running back Michael Turner said Monday. “You don’t expect them to change a whole lot, but we are going to expect some unscouted looks.”

That’s the sentiment that resounded throughout the locker room about the subject Monday. The Falcons will expect a few looks that they haven’t seen before on the tape they’ve got on the Eagles, but it isn’t much different from any other game.

The main unknown will be Bowles tendencies. Save for three weeks last year when he served as Miami’s interim head coach, Bowles hasn’t spent much time in positions of shot-calling during his career. Widely expected to be one of the NFL’s brightest up-and-comers in the coaching ranks, Bowles hasn’t ever called defensive plays, which means the Falcons can’t study his calls in different situations.

Still, there isn’t a ton of concern.

“Somebody asked me that the other day, and it’s a bit of a challenge, but there’s not a whole lot that somebody can come up with that’s new,” center Todd McClure said. “It’s football. You can only line up so many guys, but they’re going have some little things and it’s just like every game. They’ll come out with a couple things that we haven’t seen and we’ll make our adjustments on the sideline and be ready to go, but it definitely can present a little bit of a problem.”

Bowles coached last year with Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan and defensive backs coach Joe Danna with the Dolphins, so there is some familiarity there. For the Falcons, however, containing Bowles and his defense is much more about them than the new coordinator.

“Most of it is about us. We’ve got to go out, and we have to execute,” head coach Mike Smith said. “… We’ve got to be prepared for some unscouted looks, and I don’t think there will be a mass change in what they do philosophically because they’ve invested so much time into the scheme that they’re running.”

A sight that hadn’t been seen since last year occurred Monday afternoon when defensive tackle Corey Peters was on the field wearing a helmet and shoulder pads.

The third-year defensive tackle practiced for the first time in 2012 Monday as he makes his way back from an offseason foot injury.

“He practiced on a limited basis and we will up his participation as the week goes on,” head coach Mike Smith said after Monday’s session. “Again, by rule, we have 21 days to activate him, but it was very nice to see Corey Peters with a football helmet and shoulder pads, out on the field today.”

Smith wouldn’t say whether Peters would be available to play in Sunday’s game against Philadelphia. Because of his designation on the reserve/non-football injury list, Peters is eligible to participate in practice until Week 9 before he’d have to be activated to the 53-man roster or given another designation to save a roster spot.

Smith also said LB Stephen Nicholas and TE Michael Palmer returned to full practice Monday.

If you were to ask several Falcons on the current roster where they were the last time Atlanta earned a win in the City of Brotherly Love, what kind of answer would you expect?

“I was 3 years old,” safety Thomas DeCoud said Monday. “I probably still had my binky, because I didn’t give up my binky until I was about 5. I actually told my mom, ‘You can take my bottle, but you can’t have my binky,’ so we were probably having that conversation.”

Yeah, it’s been that long. Gas was $1.08 a gallon, stamps were $.22, Todd McClure was in third grade, Sean Weatherspoon wasn’t even a year old and Trapper Keepers were, like, totally rad.

It was 1988 when the Falcons last won in Philadelphia — a 27-24 victory on Oct. 30 decided by a Chris-Miller-to-Michael-Haynes 49-yard touchdown pass at Veterans Stadium.

The Falcons’ longest tenured member at the moment, McClure says he was 11 years old then.

“For the record, I wasn’t playing in 1988,” McClure said with a laugh. “It’s a tough placed to play and they’ve always got good teams. I think we’ve got the team that can go up there and get the win, but it’s going to be a challenge.”

The Falcons won’t be thinking about history during those 60 minutes come Sunday, but the victory drought in Philadelphia comes at an interesting time. The Falcons have done something they’ve never done before — started a season 6-0 — this year and they’ll be looking to keep that going Sunday. In turn, they could rewrite their unfortunate Philadelphia history.

“I love breaking barriers. We’ve been breaking barriers this year,” Weatherspoon said, 23 years older and wiser since the last win in Philly. “This is just another one. We want to go out there and take care of business.”

Several Falcons spoke during the media’s open locker room period Monday, and the hot topic was the Falcons’ tackling struggles against the Raiders before the bye. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:

• DT Vance Walker on his success this year: “I guess, I’d say just my experience. This is my fourth year and I see things a lot easier now. Everything’s kind of slowed down. Also, my training regimen, just training hard all offseason, which I had been doing the past couple of years, but everything is just falling into place for me. I think it’s just a testament to how hard I worked in the past.”
• RB Michael Turner on what the coaching staff communicated to the team after their self-scout: “It wasn’t just about the running game. It was about all sorts of things, all areas that we want to improve on. We’re 6-0 and we’ve still got room for improvement, so we’ll be fine.”
• DE Ray Edwards on the tackling issues: “All of us have been playing football since we were probably 10 years old. We know how to tackle. We’ve just got to do it.”
• C Todd McClure on the importance of time of possession in a hostile environment this weekend: “I think it’s really important. I think the bottom line is to score one more point than they do. But it is going to be a loud environment. They’ve got a great defense that can rush the passer, guys that love to do that. They love to put their hand down when it’s third-down-and-long and try to disrupt the passing game, so it’s definitely going to be a challenge for us and one that we’re ready for.”
• S Thomas DeCoud on having fewer missed tackles: “I think, now, we have the technique of tackling. Once we make contact, we know how to do that. But I think now it’s more so just our path to the ball. The speed of the game is a lot faster and it’s faster than it’s ever been before, so guys can eat up angles or make you wrong once you get on your way to the ball, so it’s more about the path to the ball and making sure we have the correct angles once we’re entering contact.”
• LB Sean Weatherspoon on the biggest point of emphasis against Philadelphia: “We’ve got to tackle. We’ll have the opportunities. We’ll be faced with some of the things that we’ve been faced with in the games previously, so they’ll watch tape and see things they think they can do against us and it’ll just be up to us to go out there and make sure we hit them whenever we have those opportunities.”

The Falcons enjoyed a relaxing bye week and came out unscathed, but could their top spot be in jeopardy as the Internet, no doubt, will be littered with power rankings come Tuesday?

Could be. Could be.

The Falcons, it’s true, are still 6-0 after the bye, but part of me thinks the experts will hop back on the Texans’ train after a convincing and crushing defeat of the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday to the tune of 43-13.

Power rankings mean about as much as style points in the grand scheme of things, but it’s nice to be at the top. It may take a sizey win over the Eagles to push the Falcons back into that top spot should they lose it Tuesday.

What do you think?

It’s a brand new week and the Falcons are back to work after the bye. Enjoy the following links for your reading pleasure:

• This just in: Asante Samuel has brought swagger to the Falcons. I kid, I kid. It’s been one of the biggest storylines of the year, but the attitude adjustment Samuel has brought to the locker room is palpable every single day in Flowery Branch. The Falcons are having fun on the field, and Samuel is a big reason why. He’s shown many of the younger guys how to have a passion for the game while also making it enjoyable, as the AP’s Paul Newberry sums up nicely.
• BloggingDirty.com has a look at the Falcons’ post-bye schedule, and it’s a doozy. With two potentially tough NFC East opponents back-to-back before the Falcons get back into their NFC South slate with a trip to New Orleans, the road to the end of the season has a tricky start after the Week 7 bye. How long can the Falcons maintain their unbeaten ways? We shall see, we shall see.
• Ever wondered what it takes to be an NFL owner? Falcons owner & chairman tells NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport exactly that in his Nine Random Things blog this morning.
• Which team is the biggest challenge to the Falcons down the line in the NFC? The NFL Network crew debated this point before the Thursday Night Football game last week. Let’s face it: The NFC is a tough conference, and while plenty of teams have shown flashes of greatness and signs of weakness, the usual suspects come to my mind: The Niners, Bears, Packers and Giants.
• Let’s go behind enemy lines once again and address the Eagles’ situation at defensive coordinator. During the bye week (yep, the Eagles had one, too), Philly fired defensive coordinator Juan Castillo and replaced him with Todd Bowles. You can learn more about Bowles from CBSSports.com, but I warn you: Don’t sleep on the defensive coach. He’s never called defensive plays before, but he’s from the Bill Parcells coaching tree and, word is, there’s plenty of potential locked in his young mind. There will be some growing pains, no doubt, but two weeks is enough time to get a handle on things and cause problems for the Falcons this weekend.

The Falcons have hovered around the top of the league in the power rankings all year, but now, they own the top spot across the board.

Take a look at our sampling of power rankings below:

ESPN.com – The Falcons swapped spots with Houston, owning the top ranking on ESPN.com: The resourceful Falcons keep finding ways to win even without playing their best.

NFL.com – This set of rankings had the Falcons at No. 3 last week. Now, they’re No. 1: The Atlanta Falcons barely have pulled out wins in three consecutive weeks against teams with a combined record of 5-11, but because they have indeed closed those games out, they deserve not only the sterling “6-0″ in the standings column, but top billing in our Power Rankings. Despite not having his best day against the Oakland Raiders, Matt Ryan drove the club down the field when he needed to, connecting with Tony Gonzalez, who has been the most reliable tight end in football this season at the ripe age of 36. (Yes, more valuable than Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski.)

CBSSports.com – Pete Prisco has been a Falcons believe, but despite having them at the top, he provides words of warning: They are still unbeaten, but they are making it hard sometimes. That has to change, or it will cost them.

Bleacher Report – An addition to our roundup is Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, who has the Falcons at No. 1: The NFL’s only undefeated team may not always win pretty, but they find a way to get the job done. At some point, what the Atlanta Falcons are doing goes beyond luck and starts to look a lot like talent.

Head coach Mike Smith updated the status of several key players during his Monday news conference and the outlook is largely positive:

• Smith said Asante Samuel was not injured on his 79-yard interception return for a touchdown in Sunday’s win over Oakland. Smith said Samuel is fine and stayed out a play or two of the next series to get his wind back.
• Linebacker Stephen Nicholas was questionable coming into Sunday’s game with an ankle injury he had suffered the week before at Washington. He missed two days of practice and was limited on the week’s lightest day of work, so Smith wanted to keep Nicholas rested as much as possible. The linebacker played only special teams against the Raiders, and “the decision was based on the next four or five weeks.” Nicholas was cleared to play, but Smith wanted to keep him on the sidelines as much as possible Sunday to ensure longevity.
• Harry Douglas suffered an ankle injury during the final offensive drive of Sunday’s game. Smith said Douglas “should be OK.”
• After Week 6, defensive tackle Corey Peters is eligible to return to the active roster after spending the first part of the season on the reserve/non-football injury list. Smith said Peters could be activated as early as next week or as late as 21 days from now. The Falcons have until Week 9 to determine what they’d like to do with him for the year. Smith said the biggest challenge is getting Peters into football shape, as he’s missed mini-camp, OTAs and training camp.

Back once again for your reading pleasure are some helpful links from around the webs. Read and enjoy:

• This is kinda cool and definitely worth checking out. NFL.com wants you to come up with a name for Harry Douglas’on-his-bum catch from Sunday’s game. Tweet out your suggestion for the name of the play and you could win a chance to become the president of Luxembourg, or a facsimile thereof. I dunno. Still, pretty cool that you have a chance to use that dry wit for some good for a change. Get to it.
• As the Falcons become the only unbeaten team in the NFL, ESPN.com NFC South blogger Pat Yasinksas delves into how the Falcons will handle the talk now. Head coach Mike Smith says he is confident that one look at the tape should provide a sobering look at the mistakes that need fixing by the team. After the game, in comments that appear in Pat Y.’s post, it appears the Falcons don’t need the film to prove there’s work left to do.
• The AJC’s Michael Cunningham asks safety Thomas DeCoud to grade the Falcons’ defensive performance, and the safety gives the unit a B-minus. Of the three phases Sunday, special teams definitely came out as the best executed, but the defense stepped up when it needed to and made the plays that counted. There were plenty of shortcomings, however, which explains DeCoud’s modest grade.
• SI.com’s Peter King has the Falcons at No. 1 in his Fine Fifteen poll. The Falcons will likely be sliding up all the power rankings this week into the top spot by default since the Texans lost to the Packers. CBSSports.com’s Will Brinson is a Falcons advocate, but admits there’s a shortage of excuses now that the team has had to fight through three straight close games. It remains to be seen how much respect the Falcons will receive by the national media, but I’ve said it all along, who cares? The 53 guys in the locker room sure don’t. To me, that’s all that matters.
• We’re just less than two weeks away, but we’ll go ahead and travel behind enemy lines anyway. The Falcons head to Philly for an Oct. 28 matchup against the Eagles — a matchup that certainly has its history. Nick Ferro of The Morning Call writes that there’s confusion in the Eagles’ secondary, which could cause them problems against the Falcons’ passing attack. The Eagles are coming off an overtime loss to the Lions after having a 10-point lead vanish late. From the tone, there aren’t many happy Eagles players right now and they’ll have the bye to stew on it as Philly is also on a rest this week.

We’re now six weeks into the season. It hasn’t been easy. At times, it certainly hasn’t been pretty.

But there’s no denying one fact about the 2012 Falcons at this point: They’re the only remaining undefeated team in the league.

The Falcons were able to edge past the Oakland Raiders 23-20 on Sunday after some late-game heroics by Asante Samuel and Matt Bryant. Later Sunday evening, the Houston Texans — the only other team in the league that was unbeaten coming into Week 6 — faced the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.

The Packers handed the Texans their first loss of the year, a 42-24 beating that put the Falcons in an elite class by themselves.

The Falcons will remain the lone unbeaten at least for one more week as they start the bye today. They’ll return next week to travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles on Oct. 28.

This is how this works. I solicit questions from fans on Twitter, then I bring some of the good ones over here and answer them. Easy!

For your reading pleasure, I present this week’s Fan Mailbag questions. To submit, follow me on Twitter.

Question: @kinglouie9: where did we find Robert McClain? What took him so long to finally get playing time? Our scouts find huge diamond in the roughs!

Answer: So true. McClain was signed in January, not long after the Falcons’ playoff loss to the Giants. Sorry to bring that up, but perhaps that’s the reason the signing was missed by most Falcons fans. McClain has been climbing the ladder quickly, going from a guy who looked to be just a number to fill the camp roster to competing for a 53-man roster spot, from being inactive the first week of the season to taking over the nickel position. His progression has been impressive. With Chris Owens back in the mix, McClain will likely see less time on defense, but the snaps he is in, he’s performing his job, and then some. Remember, at the end of camp, the decision on the coaching staff was between McClain and Dominique Franks. Franks ended up cut and then re-signed the following week, so McClain is a guy the coaches like. Could have a nice future here if he continues to progress.

Question: @Eddie_cook40: Are the Falcons thinking about starting someone else at MLB since thats a important position on the field stoping the run?

Answer: The Falcons’ run defense is a hot topic right now because, on a team with so many strengths, it seems to be the area of most difficulty. The issue, however, is not with the personnel at middle linebacker. Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan is a big proponent of nickel defense, and when that nickelback is on the field, the middle linebacker is on the sideline. The Falcons will run most of the game out of the nickel, so without the MLB, the Falcons are trying to figure out how to fit the run better. That’s what head coach Mike Smith has been stressing. It may take some time, but Nolan and the defense will get it figured out.

Question: @NickElliott65: Right now in the NFC, four teams are 4-1. ATL is slated to play only 1 of those four. With our remaining schedule, what are the chances ATL has the coveted perfect season?!?

Answer: I think it’s way, way, WAY too soon to even think about something like that. This is a team that’s focused on the next game, and that’s it. I think the 1972 Dolphins don’t have anything to get worried about right now. Of course, the goal is to win every single game, but until the Falcons are 15-0, there’s no reason to think about a perfect season.

Question: @HangNwitCoop: Looking at the schedule, with the Eagles, Cowboys, Saints, and Cardinals coming up, how important is it going into the bye with a victory?

Answer: Super important! Two weeks is a long time to fester on a loss, especially if it’s the first loss of the season. The Falcons, as you pointed out, have a bear of a schedule coming up after the bye, so any confidence they can take into that time off will be important. Under Smith, the Falcons are 3-1 the week before the bye week. They’re also 3-1 the week after the bye, so obviously, a win before doesn’t always equate to a win after, but I think making sure you don’t have the bad taste of a loss in your mouth for two weeks goes a long way toward preparing a team for what lies after the break.

Question: @bensharenko: Is the secret behind Matt’s success his black undershirt? (Hint: the answer is yes)

Answer: Yes.

View the Falcons Piedmont Healthcare Injury Report

FRIDAY
Did Not Participate
T Khalif Barnes – groin (Out)
TE Richard Gordon – hamstring (Out)
CB Shawntae Spencer – foot (Out)

Limited Participation
K Sebastian Janikowski – groin (left) (Probable)
DT Richard Seymour – knee (Probable)
DT Tommy Kelly – foot (Questionable)

Full Participation
TE David Ausberry – shoulder (Probable)
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey – concussion (Probable)
RB Taiwan Jones – shoulder (Probable)
RB Darren McFadden – shoulder (Probable)
TE Brandon Myers – shoulder (Probable)
C Alex Parsons – shoulder (Probable)

THURSDAY
Did Not Participate
T Khalif Barnes – groin
TE Richard Gordon – hamstring
CB Shawntae Spencer – foot
DT Tommy Kelly – foot

Limited Participation
K Sebastian Janikowski – groin (left)
DT Richard Seymour – knee

Full Participation
TE David Ausberry – shoulder
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey – concussion
RB Taiwan Jones – shoulder
RB Darren McFadden – shoulder
TE Brandon Myers – shoulder
C Alex Parsons – shoulder

WEDNESDAY
Did Not Participate
T Khalif Barnes – groin
TE Richard Gordon – hamstring
CB Shawntae Spencer – foot

Limited Participation
K Sebastian Janikowski – groin (left)
DT Tommy Kelly – foot
DT Richard Seymour – knee

Full Participation
TE David Ausberry – shoulder
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey – concussion
RB Taiwan Jones – shoulder
RB Darren McFadden – shoulder
TE Brandon Myers – shoulder
C Alex Parsons – shoulder

The Falcons steadily climbed the power rankings as the wins piled up, but now 5-0, the Falcons don’t have much higher they can go. With Houston also hanging onto its 5-0 record after beating the Jets on Monday Night Football, the Falcons don’t move an inch this week.

ESPN.com — The ESPN.com power rankings have the Falcons at No. 2 behind Houston: “The Falcons are 3-0 in games decided by TD or less. They were 1-2 in their final three such games last season.”

NFL.com — NFL.com is still going against the grain, calling the 4-1 San Francisco 49ers a better team than the Falcons. NFL.com has the Falcons No. 3 behind the Niners and Houston. Writes Elliot Harrison: “Atlanta eked out a win for the second time in as many weeks, with the Washington Redskins falling just short this time around. A win is a win, I suppose. Good to see Julio Jones haul in 10 passes after totaling 10 catches over the previous three weeks combined. Meanwhile, it appears Michael Turner has nine lives in the Atlanta offense. Every week we hear about the 30-year-old running back being phased out, but he still carried the rock 18 times and scored the winning touchdown with less than three minutes remaining. The Falcons will need him to continue closing out games.”

CBSSports.com — Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com has the Falcons at No. 2, the same position as last week: “Good teams overcome early mistakes on the road, which they did against the Redskins. The Falcons are rolling.”

Thoughts?

The Falcons play host to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, and they’ll begin preparations for the game Wednesday. Before we get to that, let’s take a look at the Raiders (and a couple of Falcons) by the numbers:

• 34:44: Number of average minutes the Raiders defense has seen the field this year. With the Falcons averaging 29.6 points per game, Matt Ryan and the offense could do some damage if they’re allowed to keep the ball that long against Oakland.
• 32nd: Where the Raiders rank in the league in stopping opposing offenses on third down. The Falcons are second in the league offensively in converting third downs.
• 28%: Speaking of third downs, the Raiders have converted just 28 percent of their third down attempts on offense.
• 26: The Raiders are one of the league’s least penalized teams this year, getting flagged just 26 times.
• 7: Number of times Raiders QB Carson Palmer has been sacked this year, tied for sixth least sacked QB in the league.
• 39: Receptions by tight end Tony Gonzalez — most in the league for tight ends AND wide receivers.
• 2: Number of fumbles Oakland linebacker Philip Wheeler has caused this year.
• 1T: Tied for tops in the league in interceptions is Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud.
• 0: Interceptions the Raiders defense has made this year.
• 1 and 2: Where Tony Gonzalez (29) and Roddy White (27) rank respectively in the league for passes caught for first down.

Welcome to a 5-0 Monday. It is also the first in franchise history. The Falcons are coming off a 24-17 win over Washington on Sunday to remain flawless in the standings and maintain a stranglehold on the NFC South. To celebrate, I scour the Internet to find things for you to read. See how that works? Enjoy.

It’s Friday, and I don’t mean to get all serious on you with the weekend looming, but science is a pretty cool thing.

It’s even cooler when it’s applied to sports, which means I’m of the opinion that ESPN’s Sports Science feature is pretty cool. That sounded more like math, I know.

Anyway, Matt Ryan’s 59-yard pass to Roddy White on the final drive of last Sunday’s 30-28 win over Carolina was featured this week on Sports Science, and I figured I’d share it here. Watch the video below. It’s full of all kinds of sciencey things and numbers and figures and whatnots.

Interesting stuff, to be sure. For your viewing pleasure:

Wide receiver Julio Jones returned to full participation at practice, as noted on Wednesday’s Piedmont Healthcare Injury Report, after suffering a hand laceration during a Week 3 matchup against San Diego.

Speaking to the media Thursday, Jones said he doesn’t see anything holding him back right now.

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine,” Jones said. “I’m ready to go.”

Jones didn’t see much in the statline of Sunday’s game, finishing with just one reception for 30 yards, but he said it didn’t have anything to do with the injury.

“The Carolina game, they tried to double me and Tony (Gonzalez) throughout the whole game,” Jones said. “Roddy (White) and Harry (Douglas) had the one-on-one matchups and you saw Roddy made numerous big plays, basically winning us the game. Matt (Ryan) was finding those one-on-one matchups.”

View the full Piedmont Healthcare Injury Report for the Falcons

FRIDAY
Out
S Brandon Meriweather (knee)

Did Not Participate
CB Cedric Griffin (hamstring) – Out
CB DeAngelo Hall (illness) – Probable

Limited Participation
RB Evan Royster (knee) – Questionable

Full Participation
WR Pierre Garcon (foot) – Probable
T Trent Williams (knee) Probable
WR Aldrick Robinson (head) – Probable
WR Brandon Banks (hip) – Probable

THURSDAY
Out
S Brandon Meriweather (knee)

Did Not Participate
CB Cedric Griffin (hamstring)

Limited Participation
WR Brandon Banks (hip)
RB Evan Royster (knee)

Full Participation
WR Pierre Garcon (foot)
T Trent Williams (knee)
WR Aldrick Robinson (head)

WEDNESDAY
Out
S Brandon Meriweather (knee)

Did Not Participate
CB Cedric Griffin (hamstring)

Limited Participation
WR Brandon Banks (hip)
WR Aldrick Robinson (head)
RB Evan Royster (knee)

Full Participation
WR Pierre Garcon (foot)
T Trent Williams (knee)

It’s been a great year for William Moore.

He’s part of one of the top safety tandems in the league. He’s taken his prolific rap career to another level by always being ready. Now, he’s an recipient of an official day named in his honor.

Moore announced from his Twitter account (@WillyMo_25) Tuesday that his hometown of Hayti, Mo., has officially named Oct. 2, 2012 “William Moore Day.” His small hometown (pronounced Hay-Tie) of about 2,900 people is located in southeast Missouri and is also the home of former NFL running back Lew Carpenter, Oscar nominated Hollywood writer Wendell Mayes and Mildred Pulliam Whitehorn, a singer in the 1970s who recorded under the name Veda Brown.

Here’s the tweet:

Celebrate William Moore Day by jamming out to his rap song “W.A.R. (WillyMo Always Ready)” and delving deep into his background and life with this exclusive AtlantaFalcons.com interview with Coy Wire.

With his traditional “one nugget” of injury information for the media on Monday, head coach Mike Smith announced that he expects cornerback Chris Owens to be back on the field practicing this week.

Owens suffered a head injury during the Week 2 game against Denver and sat out the past two weeks in the league’s concussion protocol. In his stead, the nickelback position has been filled by Dominique Franks and Robert McClain.

Smith said Monday he expects there to be competition at the position this week, leaving it unclear who will start at nickel on Sunday against Washington.

As the old cliche goes, football teams focus on one game at a time. They have a seven-day memory that gets wiped once the last game is complete, and players are trained to never look past the next seven days.

Not Mike Smith’s football teams.

Since his arrival in 2008, the Falcons head coach has preached to his teams at the start of each year that he wants them to focus on the season a quarter at a time. And, boy, has it ever worked.

The math here is pretty simple (even if you’re, like me, not remotely running the risk of being confused for a mathematician): 16 games, broken into 4 equal parts = 4 quarters of the season.

By taking on one quarter of the season at a time, Smith presents his team with digestible challenges to conquer. His goal is to win each quarter of the season, and he’s certainly done that in 2012 with a 4-0 start — tied for the franchise’s best start in its history.

Smith mentioned the mentality during his Monday news conference with the Atlanta media, but expounded on the idea and the intentions behind it.

“You’ve got to have focus on the task at hand, first and foremost, and that’s the next game but I think it’s also important for you to have some vision down the road,” Smith said. “I don’t want you to get too far down the road, but I think you can put an emphasis on it. … You compartmentalize them and present them to the team at the start of the season where they have an idea of what’s coming up in each quarter.”

In the first quarter of the season, Smith knew the Falcons would have just one division/conference game and face three AFC West teams. In the second quarter, which starts this season, the Falcons face three NFC East teams (Washington, Dallas and Philadelphia) and the Raiders, the final AFC West opponent. Easy bits of information that give players just enough to look forward to without letting them get too far into the future.

A tactic he picked up while coaching in Baltimore with Brian Billick, the four-quarters system has worked wonders during Smith’s tenure in Atlanta.

Through 17 “quarters” of seasons since 2008, Smith’s Falcons team have only lost one of those quarters — a stretch during 2009 when they went 1-3 in Weeks 10-13 of that season. During every other quarter, the Falcons have either been 4-0, 3-1 or 2-2.

So while other coaches are preaching to their teams the one-game-at-a-time mentality, Smith feels it’s OK to look forward a little bit, just as long as it’s not too far.

“Guys are going to look ahead, it’s just human nature. You’re going to look ahead,” he said. “But you want to have it where they don’t get too far ahead of themselves, and breaking it up by quarters, it gives an emphasis point.

“When we meet on Wednesday, the thing we’ll be talking about: we’ll be talking about the start of the second quarter of the season. The first quarter is behind us and we’re moving on to the next mission.”

Here’s a look at some of the top links of the day:

• If you like moving pictures, The Falcoholic has a new feature that you’ll enjoy as our friends on the site take a look at the game through GIFs. I suggested the name “Getting GIFfy With It” for the feature, but there’s no word yet on whether that’ll stick or if I just received the awkward “Heh, heh. Good one,” in hopes that I’d go away.
• NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus says the 59-yard completion Matt Ryan made to Roddy White on the game’s final drive tells you everything you need to know about Ryan’s status as a quarterback. He also adds that if you’re looking for an early MVP candidate, No. 2 will do.
• I tweeted last night just after the game ended that, it’s games like the ones Sunday that just make you think there’s something special about this team. The AJC’s Mark Bradley backed that sentiment up in his column from the game, stating that the Falcons are capable of winning much more than just the NFC South.
• Our friend over at ESPN.com, NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas, has a great piece on Matt Ryan’s resume after Sunday’s game. With Ryan on the field, Yasinskas writes, the Falcons always have a chance to win.
• In what is likely old news for most of you, but we’ll post it here anyway because it’s awesome, safety Thomas DeCoud hilariously played the “Meow Game” from the movie “Super Troopers” during an appearance on SportsCenter last week. The meow game is quite simple. Instead of the word “now,” you say “meow,” and if the person you’re talking to doesn’t pick up on it, you win riches beyond your wildest dreams. Or, in DeCoud’s case, you make good on a dare from two of his groomsmen. In any case, it’s funny, so you should watch it right meow.
• From the Upcoming Enemy files, the Falcons face a Washington team this Sunday coming off an interesting win of their own. The Redskins downed the Bucs 24-22 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa yesterday in a performance that truly saw victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. First of all, kicker Billy Cundiff squeezed in the game-winning field goal after going 0-for-3 on the day to that point. Secondly, the headset inside rookie QB Robert Griffin’s helmet blanked out on the final drive as he moved his team into scoring position. Crazy end to the game that you can read up on here.