Quarterback Matt Ryan was on-hand at the Gwinnett Braves’ Coolray Field on Tuesday night to throw out the first pitch as part of the team’s Boston Strong Night, honoring the victims of the Boston bombings last month.

Before the pitch, Ryan joined MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk” to chat about his Boston and baseball backgrounds.

Click the image above or click here to watch Ryan’s interview.

Click here to see a photo gallery from Tuesday night.

For weeks and weeks and weeks, draft experts fall all over each other to project first-round picks in their mock drafts leading up to the end of April. For each general manager in the league, however, there are little tipoffs that will tell you the different things they value in a potential pick.

After five full drafts and one round of his sixth, Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff’s key value in prospects is becoming more and more clear, and it’s leadership.

With the 22nd overall pick Thursday night, Dimitroff selected the 34th senior he’s taken since 2008 and the 18th team captain. Here’s a list of team captains Dimitroff has selected in his tenure with the Falcons:

• Matt Ryan
• Sam Baker
• Thomas DeCoud
• Peria Jerry
• William Moore
• Garrett Reynolds
• Sean Weatherspoon
• Corey Peters
• Mike Johnson
• Kerry Meier
• Shann Schillinger
• Akeem Dent
• Cliff Matthews
• Andrew Jackson
• Lawrence Sidbury
• Christopher Owens
• Lamar Holmes
• Desmond Trufant

Quarterback Matt Ryan will be among other former Boston athletes participating in the Gwinnett Braves’ “Boston Strong Night” at Coolray Field on Tuesday, May 7. Former Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, former New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison and former Boston Celtics guard Dee Brown will also be on hand with Ryan for first pitches.

That evening, the Gwinnett Braves host the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, the Pawtucket Red Sox, for a 6:05 p.m. game. For every ticket sold via the online link gwinnettbraves.com/boston using the promo code STRONG, $5 will be donated to OneFundBoston.org, benefitting the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy.

The entire game against Pawtucket will be a tribute to the city of Boston. Each Gwinnett Braves player will switch their walk-up songs for the evening to a Boston band, including Boston, Aerosmith, Dropkick Murphys, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and others. Video board elements, in-game entertainment and even select concession items will all be designed to make Coolray Field feel like an extension of Fenway Park for the night.

With players reporting for voluntary workouts today, the Falcons will hold media availability Tuesday with two players.

Quarterback Matt Ryan and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux will hold press conferences to discuss the start of offseason workouts and the state of the Falcons going into 2013.

AtlantaFalcons.com will carry both press conferences live — Ryan is scheduled for noon ET, Babineaux at 12:45 p.m.

Conan O’Brien is in Atlanta this week filming his late night show for TBS, and he spent one of his segments Monday sucking up to Atlanta sports fans.

That included donning a Matt Ryan jersey and exclaiming, “I love the Falcons!”

Click here or the image above to watch the clip from the Conan show.

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff knows that a big to-do for him in the next year is to lock quarterback Matt Ryan up into a contract extension as it expires after next season.

But Dimitroff said Friday at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine that he’s sure a deal will get done at some point in the future, but there’s no rush.

“It’s a priority for us when the time is right. We’re not too anxious about it because we’re confident that it’s going to get done,” Dimitroff told the media. “Our feeling is that Matt’s going to be with us for many years to come and he’s going to be our franchise guy that we’re all very proud of, again, on and off the field. Matt’s what we’re looking for in a quarterback.”

Watch full video of Thomas Dimitroff’s press conference at the Combine here.

Young Hollywood caught up with Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud out in California recently and got him to give a Dirty Bird lesson. Also, he talks about the correct way to wear a knit hat and answers a question from a big, big fan of his named Matt Ryan.

Check out the video by clicking here or the image above. DeCoud’s Dirty Bird isn’t half bad at all, but we’ll have to see if it gets the Jamal Anderson stamp of approval.

Head coach Mike Smith announced during his Monday news conference after Sunday’s 28-24 loss in the NFC Championship game that quarterback Matt Ryan was injured near the end of the game. Smith said the injury was a sprained left shoulder.

“If we had the outcome that we wanted last night, he would have participated in the game in New Orleans,” Smith said Monday.

Smith added that Ryan would not be playing in the Pro Bowl in Hawaii this weekend. Smith also said that Ryan would not require surgery.

“He will be rehabbing here over the next couple of weeks and then he’ll get on to his offseason,” Smith said, who added that the training staff feels it’s a three-to-four-week recovery period, meaning Ryan will be ready to go when the Falcons start offseason training April 24.

Ryan possibly becomes the second of three Falcons to say they’ll miss this weekend’s Pro Bowl. Tight end Tony Gonzalez said after Sunday’s game that he likely won’t play in the game, either. Gonzalez’s reasoning does not have to do with injury.

A lot of fans have been asking about the captain’s “C” patch they saw on a couple of jerseys during Sunday’s divisional round win over Seattle, and the patches have been placed on select jerseys because the Falcons have voted for their 2012 captains.

The Falcons and Packers are the only teams in the NFL that do things a little backwards in that they vote for their captains of the year at the end of the season as opposed to the beginning of the season.

That’s why you never see the captain’s patch during the regular season.

After the season, the team voted on captains and head coach Mike Smith decided he wanted the patches on the jerseys of those who were voted to the honor: Matt Ryan and Todd McClure for offense, Sean Weatherspoon and Jonathan Babineaux for defense and Matt Bryant for special teams.

You may have also noticed the stars below the “C” on the patch. Each star represents the number of years that player has been a captain. For example, Ryan and McClure have four stars while Weatherspoon and Babineaux have one.

The five will be the standing captains for the rest of the postseason.

The Falcons’ 30-28 win over the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC divisional playoff round will be re-broadcast on at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday on NFL Network’s NFL Replay.

Atlanta (14-3) will host the San Francisco 49ers (12-4-1) in the NFC Championship Game. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET. Sunday’s game will mark the first time in franchise history that the Falcons have hosted the NFC Championship Game.

NFL Replay offers an exclusive look at select games from the previous week in a condensed, 75-minute, high-octane format. With the use of bonus NFL Films and NFL Network footage including never-before-seen camera angles and coach’s commentary combined with exclusive wired sound from the field, locker rooms and sidelines, viewers will experience the game like never before.

The Falcons earned their third trip to the NFC Championship in franchise history (1998 & 2004) after defeating the Seattle Seahawks 30-28 in the NFC divisional playoff round Sunday at the Georgia Dome. K Matt Bryant kicked the Falcons to victory with a 49-yard field goal with just 13 seconds remaining in the game. Trailing 28-27 with 31 seconds remaining in the game, QB Matt Ryan drove the Falcons 41 yards in two plays to set up Bryant’s game-winning field goal.

Including playoffs, Ryan has led the Falcons on game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime 22 times in his career. Ryan improved his record at the Georgia Dome to 34-6 (including playoffs) with Atlanta’s win on Sunday. Since 2008, Ryan’s .850 winning percentage at home is the second best in the NFL behind New England QB Tom Brady.

Sunday afternoon around 3:55 p.m. felt like deja vu.

The Falcons had the game in hand only to have the opponent storm back and take a lead. Matt Ryan hits the field. There’s not much time. There’s not much chance. There’s not much hope.

Yet, somehow, someway, the Falcons find a way to win.

We’ve seen this kind of story before, just different versions of it. Go back to 2010. Games with San Francisco, Baltimore, Green Bay to name a few. Go to this year, with games like the first Carolina matchup, Oakland, Arizona.

What better way for the Falcons to get the playoff monkey off their backs and Ryan’s first postseason win than by doing it in similar fashion?

“I think it definitely helps you because you’ve been in that situation before,” linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said after the game. “Ultimately, you want to go in there and put them away and keep them down, but today we didn’t. Next week, we’ll try harder to do that.”

Regardless, a win is a win, and there is no bigger this season than the 30-28 win that came Sunday in the divisional round of the playoffs.

Heading into next week, the Falcons will face a very tough San Francisco team that looks eerily similar to Seattle — young quarterback, strong running back, tough defense.

And if it’s going to be close, the confidence is there on the Falcons’ sideline

“We’ve done this before. That’s all there is to it. We’ve done this before. It’s not like it’s the first time we’ve seen this. It’s not like we didn’t know we could do it, because we’ve done it before,” said kicker Matt Bryant, who nailed the 49-yard field goal that proved to be the game-winner. “And we can do it again.”

The media attention is coming in significantly, really, for the first time all year for the Falcons. There are some great links out there and I’ve compiled some of the best I’ve come across here for you:

• Want to know why Sam Baker has had such a resurgence this year? He’s healthy, and it all started with a new training focus during the offseason, as the Orange County Register writes.
• The focus this week nationally has been on the hot hand of Russell Wilson, but quarterback Matt Ryan — despite his playoff past — is ready to win, ESPN Stats & Information writes.
• He’s the only current Falcon to win a playoff game as a Falcon, and center Todd McClure tells ESPN.com NFC South Blogger Pat Yasinskas that he sees a more mature team this year that’s on a different level than years past.
• Tony Gonzalez says there is “no tomorrow” for him this time around, but head coach Mike Smith is still holding on to that five percent chance that the future Hall-of-Famer will return for another year.
• From SI.com, Dennis Dillon has a great story behind the hiring and hopes of Dirk Koetter and Mike Nolan.
• More from SI.com, here’s a breakdown of how Seattle rookie DE Bruce Irvin handled the run against Washington, complete with pictures and arrows and X’s.

Quarterback Matt Ryan has broken a bunch of Falcons records already this season, and he added a big one Sunday. A fourth-down pass from the Bucs’ 8-yard line to Harry Douglas put Ryan in the record books as the Falcons’ all-time single season passing touchdown leader.

Ryan came into Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay tied with Ring of Honor member Steve Bartkowski at 31 touchdown passes this season. Bartkowski’s record was set in 1980.

Ryan broke his own club marks for most passing yards in a single season and most completions in a single season in Week 15. Ryan’s 342-yard performance in Week 9 broke Bartkowski’s record of 12-career 300-yard games, set between 1975-1985.

Ryan also broke Bartkowski’s single-season record for pass attempts, set at 571, in Sunday’s game during the first quarter.

Falcons fans may still be scratching their heads over the Falcons only having three players selected to the Pro Bowl despite owning the NFL’s best record, but there’s some solace to take from ESPN.com NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas’ All-NFC South team.

Here’s the thing: Few people know the NFC South like Yasinskas, so there’s lots of credibility in his selections. Plus, he’s got the Falcons very heavily represented on his all-division team, which certainly makes it worthy to point out here.

Let’s start with Yasinskas’ MVP selection, and it should come as no surprise that it’s quarterback Matt Ryan, as Yasinksas wrote:

“But the most impressive thing about Ryan’s season might be the 13 wins he already has led the Falcons to. It all has come in a season in which the Falcons have overhauled their offense to make the passing game a priority.”

You can click here to view the full NFC South team

Two highlights: The Falcons have 14 players represented on the team, more than any other division team and while Falcons defenders may have been snubbed at the Pro Bowl, six help make up Yasinksas’ All-NFC South defense.

The NFL will be announcing the 2013 Pro Bowl rosters at 7 p.m. today on NFL Network’s “Total Access,” and we’ll also have the announcement on AtlantaFalcons.com as soon as players are confirmed on the roster.

With the Falcons sitting at 13-2, there’s a strong possibility for a strong representation on the roster this year. Two years ago, when the Falcons finished the regular season 13-3, there were nine Falcons in Hawaii.

Tight end Tony Gonzalez finished fan voting at No. 1 at the tight end position in the NFC, so it seems likely that he’d make it, giving him his 13th career Pro Bowl bid. Quarterback Matt Ryan spent much of the voting period in the top 10 in fan votes across the whole league.

Of course, the Falcons are hoping to not be eligible to play in the game in Hawaii (because of a different Bowl they’d have to be preparing for), but it’s a huge honor for players to be named to the roster. Here’s hoping there are plenty of Falcons being recognized tonight.

Quarterback Matt Ryan is having quite a game with just one half gone in Saturday night’s tilt in Detroit.

He came up just two completions shy of the NFL’s consecutive completions record with 22 straight, tying him for third in that stat.

But a few plays later, he set a brand new career high for touchdown passes in a season when he found Julio Jones for an amazing play in the back of the end zone. It was Ryan’s third touchdown pass of the day and his 30th of the season, eclipsing his previous career high of 29.

The Falcons take a 21-6 lead into halftime.

For his performance against the New York Giants — and because of fan votes — Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was named the NFL’s Air Player of the Week for Week 15.

Ryan completed 23-of-28 passes for 270 yards, three touchdowns and a 142.6 passer rating in the Falcons’ 34-0 win over the Giants.

Ryan was selected from among three finalists in the Air category, beating out quarterbacks Drew Brees and Tony Romo.

We all know that quarterback Matt Ryan is having a career year and that the Georgia Dome is where Ryan has seen a ton of success with a 33-4 record in his career.

What has been overlooked is just how good — or should I say great? — Ryan has been on the road this year.

Considering the Falcons are in a situation where a win on the road this week would mean the top seed in the NFC, it’s important to point out the road prowess the signal-caller has demonstrated this season.

Check out Ryan’s road stats for 2012:

That’s correct. In all the major NFL categories for quarterbacks, Ryan ranks in the top three in the league. Of note: In completion percentage, Ryan is second to Niners quarterback Alex Smith, whose starting job has been given to rookie Colin Kaepernick.

Yes, the Falcons’ two losses came on the road this year, and yes, Ryan’s numbers at Carolina were well below his average, but it’s still pretty amazing that Ryan has maintained these types of numbers on the road given those two losses.

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has gained a reputation around the NFL as one of the toughest interior defensive linemen around. Right or wrong, he’s also gained a different one, too.

But the Falcons aren’t worried about the second one. Instead, they’re looking at figuring out how to stop one of the league’s top defenders in a game that holds so much importance to the Falcons’ postseason path.

“Talented player. Really talented player,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said of Suh. “He’s got great size, great strength, but he’s quick off the ball. Really good pass rusher. One of the best pass rushers for an interior guy in the league and a guy who plays to the whistle and relentless. He’s certainly someone you have to account for.”

The Falcons are expecting a physical matchup with the Lions, and Suh, especially. The Falcons offensive line did a tremendous job in a 34-0 win over the Giants keeping Matt Ryan clean against perhaps the toughest, most effective defensive line in the league.

In stopping Suh, the unit will need a similar performance.

“You face guys every week that are tremendous athletes, tremendous players and he’s one of them,” Falcons center Todd McClure said. “We’re going to have to be on our A-game and know where he’s at at all times.”

Suh has 30 tackles and 6.5 sacks this season to go along with the 14 career sacks he had coming into 2012. Known for penetrating the offensive backfield and disrupting plays before they get going, Suh can do a lot of things that can give the Falcons fits on Saturday as they try to keep the offensive momentum they built against the Giants.

Regardless of how Suh goes about that, the Falcons acknowledge they’ll have to keep their cool and stay poised no matter what situation presents itself in the trenches as they respect the type of game he brings to the field every week.

“No, he’s not a dirty player. He plays hard,” running back Michael Turner said, describing Suh as “tenacious” when asked to sum him up in a word. “He gets a bad rep for some things, but he’s just giving a great effort out there. You wish more guys would play like that in this league.”

Mondays at the office this year have been generally pleasant.

Not last Monday. Last Monday was the pits. It was less than 24 hours after a 30-20 loss that provided a wakeup call that Falcons didn’t want to admit they needed, but that Monday was the awakening.

Fast forward to Sunday and the Falcons sat in the locker room after beating the defending Super Bowl champions 34-0 in the Georgia Dome thinking about how one word made a difference: focus.

“Last week, we got embarrassed, humbled — whatever word you want to use,” defensive tackle Corey Peters said. “We really came to work Wednesday focused on what we needed to do and I think it showed today. … This week in particular, we had a really focused Wednesday, a great Thursday, Friday. I think this was our best overall performance of the year.”

It was exactly what the Falcons needed in order to drive the terrible taste of the Carolina loss from their mouths. If you were to draw the exact opposite of that performance, you probably would have pictured what the Falcons accomplished during three-and-a-half hours Sunday against the Giants.

Matt Ryan was crisp. The offensive line was protecting. The defense made crucial stop after crucial stop. They secondary forced turnovers. Everything about what the Falcons did Sunday against the Giants was just so right.

The key to that performance was coming in that Monday and remembering that Sunday success starts days before.

“You really have to have crisp practices at this time in the season because there’s no more bad teams. Everybody’s either playing their best football or they’re packing up to go home,” safety Chris Hope said. “When you happen to run across a team that’s playing their best ball and trying to get in the playoffs, you have to be on your p’s and q’s. You have no chance to have a bad practice, and all our coaches did a great job on making sure we played well this week.”

It was Monday when the preparations began for the world champs. The Falcons, after a win, have Mondays off. After a loss, they go right back to work, watching film and taking mental reps.

Wednesday was the first practice of the week and they could feel it then. They were focused and had one of their best practices of the year. They took that into Thursday, and then Friday, as Peters explained.

The Falcons let it build throughout the week and it came to a head on the field of the Georgia Dome on Sunday.

“It was just our approach to the game and our passion and how we wanted to play with energy. We had that today,” safety Thomas DeCoud said. “It started throughout the week and going through warmups on Sunday afternoon and getting ready for the game, we had that vibe that was with us and we were able to play well.”

The Falcons’ biggest goal in the last four games of the season is to gain momentum heading into the postseason. The division title is locked up and they’re in the drivers’ seat for a first-round bye, homefield advantage and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

All that stuff is great, but the Falcons knew it wouldn’t help at all if they sleep-walked into the postseason. Sunday’s game went a long way toward proving to the Falcons what type of team they can be if they prepare like they did all week.

“We just want to take this momentum we got and just ride it into the playoffs,” Asante Samuel said. “That’s how you win: You take your momentum and keep going.”

The NFL released its weekly Pro Bowl voting results and quarterback Matt Ryan and tight end Tony Gonzalez remain in excellent position as we head into the final days of fan voting.

Ryan is No. 10 in the top-10 vote-getters across the entire NFL with 477,087 votes. He’s currently the fourth QB in the NFC in votes received.

Tight end Tony Gonzalez is still the leading vote-getter at the tight end position in the NFC with 462,817 votes.

Balloting ends for fans Monday, Dec. 17 at the end of the Monday Night Football game (Jets at Titans, ESPN, 8:30 p.m.). From there, players and coaches will cast their votes for the Pro Bowl.

Click here to cast your vote for your favorite Falcons

The roster will be announced at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 26 on NFL Network’s “Total Access.”

The Pro Bowl will be played at 7 p.m. ET Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Hawaii at Aloha Stadium. The game will be televised live on NBC.

Tony Gonzalez didn’t try to sugarcoat it. He used the phrase “silver lining” just once, and seemingly begrudgingly.

Instead, he showed a passion and fire in the locker room that the Falcons seemed to lack in the first half Sunday against Carolina.

“Ridiculous. No doubt about it. We can’t leave our defense out there like we did, and we’ve got to put points up. We’re too good of an offense,” he said about the first-half Sunday. “We’ve got too many players. Too much talent.”

That was the feeling around the locker room after Sunday’s 30-20 loss to Carolina — a team the Falcons had to scratch and claw against earlier in the season to pull out a last-minute win.

During a week when the chatter was high between the two teams, the Panthers came out with intensity as a previously 3-9 team with not much to lose. The Falcons came out much different, amassing just 35 offensive yards on 13 total first-half plays, good for just 6:12 of offense.

“If we play like that in the first half, there’s no way. It’s not going to work out the way we want it to for the rest of the season,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve definitely got to learn from this game and we’ve got to go out there and play Falcon football, because we didn’t do that in the first half.”

The offensive struggles to start the game played a part in the Panthers jumping out to a 16-0 lead before halftime. A year earlier, the Falcons faced a 16-point deficit at the end of the first half against Carolina and came back to win.

Needing another one of Matt Ryan’s signature comeback performances, the Falcons fell down to 23-0 before the offense started clicking and Atlanta found itself on the scoreboard.

In true Falcons fashion, the team didn’t give up — Gonzalez’s lone silver lining of the day — and Atlanta was able to cut the score within 10 in the second half.

It’s as close as the Falcons would get as Carolina put Atlanta away with a 53-yard screen pass touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

“It better be a bump in the road if we’re the team we think we are,” Gonzalez said. “I can hear them right now. They’re getting off the bandwagon. I can hear them jumping off, but that’s how it goes. Looking at our history, a lot of people are going to say, ‘See? I told you,’ or whatever.

“We’re a good football team — no doubt about it. And we’re going play better, because we have to. We’re going to get back and play the way we have, but it’s up to us to have a good week of practice and come out against a very good football team against the Giants and get this thing rolling.”

The word got out quickly Wednesday when Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy said he thought Carolina was a better football team than Atlanta and took umbrage with Matt Ryan showing some emotion after the Falcons beat the Panthers earlier this season on a last-minute drive.

The bulletin board material wasn’t lost on the Falcons as they spoke to the media Thursday, but wide receiver Roddy White downplayed it as just more smack talk between division opponents and said he understood what the Panthers were trying to do.

“I really don’t have a take on it. They’ve gotta say something, man. They’re fighting. They’re holding on. They’re in a different position than we are and they’re trying to save the rest of their season,” White said Thursday. “We’re trying to prepare ourselves for this playoff run, so whatever you say to get yourself going or motivate yourself to get it done on Sunday. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. Those guys played well against us last time, so I really can’t talk about him or what he said or anything like that. They had seven sacks, so you might not want to get those guys riled up. Let ‘em sleep. We’re just gonna let ‘em sleep.”

Ryan, who was fired up after beating the Panthers in Week 4, was caught by Fox cameras basically letting the Panthers know where the exit was, in not so many words. White was quick to jump to Ryan’s defense.

“He’s a fiery guy. He’s a competitor. He wants to win. Just speaking in general, I didn’t have a problem with what he said,” White said before his trademark laugh as he began to joke with the media. “It is our field. So get off it. You just lost. It’s that simple. Those guys, they’ve been close to beating us the past couple of years and they feel like they should have won some of the games and they feel like they’re a better football team than us, so they’ve got a chip on their shoulder and we feel like we’re a better football team than them. The war of words always comes out. Y’all just happened to catch him saying that.”

We keep saying that the Falcons are focused on a different Bowl at the end of the season, and now that we’ve gotten that out of the way again, it’s time to take a look at some Falcons who are getting a good amount of fan votes so far.

Remember, it’s a huge honor for these guys to be named to the NFC Pro Bowl roster, which is why — even though you hope the Falcons are busy with another game at that time of the year — you should vote as much as possible for your favorite players. And, clearly, you have been, because the number of players in the top 5 of fan voting is beyond impressive!

Take a look at where the Falcons rank in fan voting at their respective positions, and keep up the voting!:

• Matt Ryan, QB – third
• Roddy White, WR – fifth
• Tony Gonzalez, TE – first
• Sam Baker, T – fourth
• Justin Blalock, G – second
• Todd McClure, C – fourth
• Jonathan Babineaux, DT – fifth
• William Moore, SS – fourth
• Thomas DeCoud, FS – second
• Matt Bryant, K – fifth
• Matt Bosher, P – fifth

Running back Michael Turner burst into the end zone on Sunday against Tampa Bay in the second half and, in turn, burst to the top of yet another record in the annals of Falcons history.

His touchdown Sunday marked the 57th of his career with the Falcons — significant because it’s tied for the most touchdowns ever with the franchise with wide receiver Terance Mathis. It’s a virtual certainty that the record will fall completely into Turner’s possession by the end of the season, if not by the end of the week, putting yet another stamp on an impressive five-year career in Atlanta.

Whenever Turner’s career ends in Atlanta, he’ll leave with his name above the all-time great running backs in franchise history. William Andrews, Gerald Riggs, Jamal Anderson and Warrick Dunn have all had team records fall to Turner.

It’s not something he’s thought a lot about, but he knows one day he’ll be able to take it all in.

“I never thought I’d be up there,” Turner said Tuesday. “I just kept working every year, just trying to get better and just do my job.”

And his job translated into etching his name into the record books.

Turner holds eight distinguished records in those books by himself or with another player, and it looks soon to be nine.

Turner has the following records:

• Most rushing yards in a game: 220 vs. Detroit on 9/7/08
• Most career rushing touchdowns: 56 (Riggs is second with 48)
• Most career 100-yard games: 27 (Riggs is second with 25)
• Most points scored in a game: 24 (tied with TJ Duckett; Turner’s 24 points came against Carolina on 11/23/08)
• Most touchdowns in a season: 17 (Anderson is second with 16)
• Most rushing touchdowns in a game: 4 (tied with Duckett; Turner’s four TDs came against Carolina on 11/23/08)
• Most touchdowns in a game: 4 (same as rushing touchdowns in a game mark)
• Most consecutive games with a touchdown: 7 (2009)

“It’s unbelievable,” said center Todd McClure, who has blocked for Turner, Anderson, Dunn and Duckett. “It just shows the type of work ethic he has and determination. When we get down there and get it close, he’s going to get it in. It’s just unbelievable, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Aside from the records, Turner has been an integral part of the movement of the offense in the past five seasons.

Coming in during quarterback Matt Ryan’s rookie season, Turner dominated in the run game with 1,699 yards that year (good enough for third all-time behind Anderson and Riggs) and his record-setting 17 touchdowns.

The pressure that took off the young quarterback can’t be overstated.

“Mike’s been huge in my career,” Ryan said. “He’s been a staple of our organization for the last five years. Especially early on in my career, having that running game, knowing that you can turn around and hand the ball to him and he’s going dominate games, that’s been huge. He’s a great teammate; very unselfish, and a guy that brings great energy to the locker room every day.”

In total, on top of the soon-to-be nine records, Turner is on the list for:

• Most yards gained in a career (fourth behind Riggs, Andrews and Dunn)
• Most yards gained in a season (third behind Anderson and Riggs)
• Most 1,000-yard seasons (tied for second with Dunn and Riggs)
• Most yards gained in a game (he holds the top two spots in this category)
• Most rushing attempts (fifth behind Riggs, Dunn, Anderson and Andrews)
• Most rushing attempts in a season (third behind Anderson and Riggs)
• Most 100-yard games in a season (third behind Anderson and Riggs)
• Highest average gain in a career with a minimum of 750 carries (second behind Andrews)
• Highest average gain in a season with a minimum of 150 carries (second behind Dunn)

With the record he’s most proud of looking to be on the edge of shattering, Turner is more tuned in to how the team is performing, but the importance of this one record and what he’s meant to Falcons history in his five seasons so far is something that he will carry with him.

“It’s going to be a great feeling,” Turner said about possibly becoming the Falcons’ all-time touchdown leader. “I just can’t think about it too much. I’ll just go out there and keep doing what I’ve been doing every week and when it happens, I’ll look back on it later.”

Hosting the Saints on Thursday Night Football on NFL Network, the Falcons have a very limited amount of time to get ready for the team that handed them their only loss so far in 2012.

Securing a win Sunday was big for those preparations, but they can’t enjoy it as they’ll treat the week as somewhat of a mish-mash of their usual routine with Monday being more like a Wednesday.

“It’s big to get any football game, especially in your division. This was a big football game for us,” cornerback Dunta Robinson said. “We wanted to win this game. It’s a short turnaround. Hopefully, everybody’s pretty healthy. We’ll come in focused this week. Let’s have a good week of practice and let’s go get win No. 11.”

Robinson, Asante Samuel and Corey Peters all left the game with injuries, but all ended up returning. Samuel seemed to be injured on the game’s final play, but walked off of his own volition.

“I think everybody will get their rest. We’ll have ourselves prepared,” QB Matt Ryan said. “We played them a couple of weeks ago, so they’re still fresh in our minds. We’ll just try to get as much rest as we can so we’re fresh Thursday night.”

If there was any doubt about Julio Jones’ ankle, wonder no longer.

Spotting a one-on-one matchup with rookie CB Leonard Johnson on the outside, Matt Ryan delivered a beautiful downfield pass to Jones, who hauled it in, broke a tackle and streamed down the sideline into the endzone for a one-play drive that took 11 seconds.

The catch ties Jones’ career high as he caught an 80-yarder against the Colts last year.

Jones now has 11 touchdowns in 13 road games in his career.

Matt Ryan earned the nickname Matty Ice for a reason. It was his cool, calm demeanor in the face of ridiculous adversity that gave him the moniker that would follow him to the NFL.

Perhaps it should be no surprise then that, during a game that saw him throw five interceptions, Ryan came into the huddle at one point with a smile on his face and inspiration at the ready.

According to running back Michael Turner, Ryan entered the huddle, smiled and said, “I don’t know what I was thinking. All right, now let’s go.” The tension of being struggling with the Cardinals at the time immediately broke and the Falcons just went right to work.

“The quarterback cannot be rattled,” Turner said. “He can’t show signs of being rattled or being bothered by the game. He knew we were going to have his back.”

It’s good to have that support during what is probably the toughest game statistically of Ryan’s career. He went 28-of-46 for 296 yards, no touchdowns and five interceptions.

According to ESPN’s Stats & Info Twitter account, it’s the first time a quarterback threw five picks and no touchdowns in a win since Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr did it in 1967.

“I’m in good company,” Ryan said with a laugh after the game. “Bart’s one of the greats of all time. It doesn’t happen very often. It really doesn’t, but I’m surrounded by really good teammates that picked us up today and made the plays that we needed.”

Ryan’s right. It doesn’t happen often.

Sunday’s win was only the third time Ryan threw three interceptions in one game in his career. Prior to Sunday’s game, he was 1-1 when throwing three picks. It was also the first time he had thrown four or more.

Yet, through the struggles offensively, Ryan never lost his confidence.

“I’ve said it before: he never changes, if he throws five touchdowns or five picks,” center Todd McClure said. “He never changes. He stands in there. He takes some hits. He had blood coming out of his mouth at one point today and he was back up and ready to go again. Unbelievable guy, and a great guy to play with.”

Quarterback Matt Ryan knew he’d be under pressure from the most-blitzing defense in the NFL, but he probably didn’t expect that to turn into three interceptions all game, let alone in the first quarter.

The Cardinals have come right after Ryan and the Falcons signal-caller has had to make some quick decisions. The first time he was picked off was a pass that went right off Roddy White’s hands. The second was gathered in by cornerback William Gay. The third was the result of a Darnell Dockett tipped pass.

This is the third time Ryan has thrown three interceptions in a game in his career. The Falcons are 1-1 in the previous two games.

Sunday’s game hasn’t exactly started out the way the Falcons envisioned. Going to the pass right away, Matt Ryan tried to find Roddy White over the middle on the game’s first play, but the ball went off White’s hands and skipped into the waiting arms of Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson.

The Cardinals took over first-and-goal from the Falcons’ 10-yard line and punched it in two plays later on a run by LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Things didn’t go much better on the next series as the Falcons went three-and-out and the Cardinals drove back down the field and added a 48-yard field goal to take a 10-0 lead.