There’s nothing that’s easy about selecting players in the NFL Draft. Sure, the first round offers a great crop of talent, but even that’s a challenging task for an NFL general manager and his scouting staff.

The real art of drafting, however, occurs in the later rounds, when finding that elusive diamond in the rough is what every GM hopes for. Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff has shown prowess in those later rounds in his time in Atlanta.

With three seventh-round picks in 2013′s NFL Draft, Dimitroff had the ability to show once again that there’s talent to be found late on the third day, and he did so by drafting two safeties and a quarterback.

Central Florida’s Kemal Ishmael, the first of those three picks, looks to have all the potential in the world on paper and comes into next week’s start of OTAs with a solid college career, specifically in the tackling department.

Ishmael, in fact, was called one of the surest tacklers in the 2013 draft by Dimitroff — extremely high praise for a seventh-rounder.

Here’s why: Ishmael finished his four year career at UCF with 368 total tackles — good enough to be the Knights’ all-time leader in tackles among defensive backs and the third player in UCF history to lead the team in tackles three times during his college career.

Sure, the argument can be made that tackles are a subjective stat and kept differently everywhere, but to be in position to be credited with 368 career tackles is still a feat.

For comparison, Falcons safeties William Moore earned 280 in four years at Missouri and Thomas DeCoud had 115 in three years at Cal. Linebacker Akeem Dent had 240 at Georgia in four years and Sean Weatherspoon edged out Ishmael with 406 total tackles in four years at Missouri.

With two Pro Bowl safeties in Moore and DeCoud ahead of him, Ishmael looks like a strong contender to make an impact on special teams with his tackling skills. He’s certainly one to keep an eye on as the offseason rolls on.

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

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.

Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez earned his sixth All-Pro team nod Saturday, being named as a first-teamer over Dallas’ Jason Witten at the position.

Gonzalez was the only Falcon named to the All-Pro first or second team. He received 24 votes.

Also receiving votes, but not making the team: WR Julio Jones (1), tackle Tyson Clabo (2), defensive end John Abraham (1), safety Thomas DeCoud (3) and safety William Moore (1).

On paper coming into the season, the Falcons secondary was thought to be one of the best in the league. The addition of Asante Samuel via trade to Dunta Robinson and Brent Grimes was going to set the Falcons up as incredibly difficult to throw on.

Then the first game happened and Grimes came away with a season-ending injury, forcing the secondary to scramble and other players to step up to fill the void. We all know the pleasant surprise of Robert McClain by now, but three players in particular have really made an impact in the secondary — two of them being the “forgotten” part of that on-paper fearsome secondary.

Thomas DeCoud and William Moore have quietly become one of the best safety tandems in the league, and along with Samuel, the three have set some Falcons history. With Samuel’s interception of Matthew Stafford in the Falcons’ 31-18 win over the Lions on Saturday night, Samuel, Moore and DeCoud became only the fifth group of three-or-more defensive backs to each record four-or-more interceptions.

“It was huge because we all, at least in the back end, realized that’s what was missing from our game as an entire secondary was the ability to get the ball back,” DeCoud said Wednesday. “We really took that to heart and made sure that, if we’re in the positions that we’re in that we can finish the plays with the ball, and I think we’ve definitely done that.”

DeCoud leads the team in interceptions with six with Moore and Samuel each at four apiece. The last time the Falcons had three players with at least four interceptions was 1989.

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.”

Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud will be showing one of his favorite movies at the Studio Movie Grill in Duluth, Ga., at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, and the only way to attend is to win a pass.

DeCoud is looking for Falcons fans 17 and over to enter for a chance to join him for a screening of a movie we can’t tell you here, but it’s a comedy classic.

Fans can win passes via random drawing by e-mailing their name, date of birth and a describing how they Rise Up to FalconsSMG@gmail.com by 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 10. Also, keep an eye on the Falcons’ official Twitter account @Atlanta_Falcons as we’ll be giving out passes.

Along with food, fun and DeCoud’s favorite flick, he’ll be doing a Q&A with the winners in the theater before the movie.

Two years ago, Chris Owens’ name was like a four-letter word for a contingent of the Falcons’ fanbase. Part of a crop of young cornerbacks, Owens was still learning the NFL when he was thrust into a nickelback position the Falcons need him to become reliable in.

He struggled at times, and in turn, he caught the ire of fans.

The 2011 offseason was no different than any other, but it signaled another year under his belt. The 2012 offseason did, too.

That experience for Owens, he said, has been invaluable.

“The biggest thing is the experience. Adjusting to the NFL from college, people belittle that process,” Owens said after the game. “It’s a major process. Some guys develop better, faster or slower than others. The past two years, with the experience I had, the coaching, the offseasons — it all just sums up to where I am now.”

During the biggest game of the year for the Falcons to this point, we saw just where Owens is now.

With Asante Samuel banged up and trying to tough through a shoulder injury that’s clearly painful for him, Owens’ number was called just a few defensive plays into the game when Samuel — who was questionable coming in Thursday night — came off the field.

Owens said he didn’t notice Brees trying to test him at all, but when a player whose nickname is “Pick Six” comes out of a game, you have to imagine the quarterback will gravitate toward throwing to that side of the field.

When Brees did, he was met with not a whole lot in the way of breathing room for his passes. Owens blanketed receivers, taking away some of Brees’ biggest options in the passing game.

“Tremendous, man. I came in after the game and gave him a big hug,” cornerback Dunta Robinson said. “That was great to see him come out here in this type of atmosphere, not knowing how much he was going to play, thinking he was just going to be a special teams player, Asante goes down and he comes out and plays tremendous.

“It’s a testament to the way we believe. No matter who’s in, we believe everybody can step in and get the job done.”

Owens did just that, especially on two particular plays. Both times in one-on-one coverage, Brees looked to Owens’ side, but Owens wasn’t having it.

The end result was two pass breakups. On another play, Owens was in great position to make an interception but the ball was overthrown.

“He’s definitely coming into his own,” safety Thomas DeCoud said. “He’s doing a hell of a job on special teams, and now he’s having his number called on defense and he’s doing a hell of a job.”

Owens, as DeCoud said, has been a crucial part of the Falcons’ special teams. If you recall last year, Owens may have saved the Falcons a win over the Vikings when he chased down a kick return and prevented a touchdown just in the nick of time.

On defense, it would seem, that 2010 campaign is on its way to becoming a distant memory. Owens vaguely remembers the criticism and he says it never helped drive him toward the growth he’s experience, but it taught him how to put the adversity aside and just do what he needs to do.

“I don’t want to say it goes in one ear and out the other, but it kinda does. You’ve got to ignore the media and just fight through it,” Owens said. “There’s going to be ups and downs in anybody’s career, anybody’s game.

“You’ve just got to fight through it.”

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

Here’s a look at what the Falcons had to say in the locker room Wednesday:

S Thomas DeCoud On the mood in the locker room after the loss: “I like the mood. I feel like it was kind of a wake-up call for us. We’re coming back even more hungry. We know that we have to play at our best because everybody that we’re going to play is going to be playing at their best against us. We have a new resolve to come out and practice hard, make sure we have good weeks of practice because last week, early in the week it was kind of lethargic and it felt like it kind of carried over into Sunday.”

WR Roddy White on the end of the winning streak: “We didn’t get a trophy for that one. Nobody does. At the end of the year we want to win Super Bowls. That’s all that matters to us.”

WR Tim Toone on being back with the Falcons: “I’m excited. Atlanta’s the one that gave me a shot and I kinda had bad luck. They’re giving me another shot, so hopefully I can do it justice and help us out.”

S William Moore on the prospect of matchup up one-on-one with Larry Fitzgerald: “I wouldn’t mind it, man. I’ve gotta redeem myself. I had a bad play against (New Orleans TE Jimmy) Graham last week and that’s one of those plays I wish I could take back, but at the same time, I know that’s going to make me a better player down the road. You can’t sleep on anybody, so I look forward to the matchup we’ve got this week with (Cardinals TE) Todd Heap.”

OL Mike Johnson on C Joe Hawley’s dropped passes earlier in the year and Johnson’s TD Sunday: “I had his back the entire time when he dropped his, so I felt bad for him and I was thinking, if I was in the same situation, I don’t know if I’d be able to do any better. But I came up with it. My eyes got really big during the play. I was treating it like it was a raw egg, but I caught it and made a play for us.”

DE Lawrence Sidbury on the new opportunity in front of him and whether he has something to prove: “I’m just a competitor. It’s nothing personal. I think that’s why we all play this game. Every time you go out, you have something to prove at practice and definitely in the games. It’s nothing personal against someone saying I have something to prove, but as a competitor, I want to be great. Everybody wants to be good and do their best.”

LB Mike Peterson on staying loose even after a loss: “You keep it loose, but you don’t want to get too loose. You move on, win or lose. When you win a game, you don’t pat yourself on the back, printing T-shirts. When you lose a game, you don’t want to gripe all week. You’ve got to prepare for the next week. That’s the slogan in the NFL.”

Here’s a look at what the Falcons were saying the locker room Wednesday:

• RB Michael Turner on winning with the run or the pass: “No, it doesn’t matter, as long as we win the game. We don’t care how many points we win by, how close the game is — we’ve just gotta find a way to win.”
• S Thomas DeCoud on the Falcons facing former teammate and Saints LB Curtis Lofton: “It should be fun. There was no bad blood when he left. We’re all good. Really close guys. We all came in together in ’08, so we were always hanging out together — him, Chevis (Jackson) and I. It’ll be fun. It’ll be great to see him. It’ll be weird to see him in black and gold, but it’ll be fun to go up and face him.”
• DT Jonathan Babineaux on not celebrating after making a big play: “I can dance. I can do a lot of things, but I choose not to. I choose to be professional about what I do and make sure I stay that way.”
• G Peter Konz on whether or not the Falcons can go 16-0: “If we want to. I don’t see any reason why — if we take every week seriously, every opponent seriously and we don’t sleep on ourselves and we prepare like we know how — we don’t have a shot in every game.”
• OG Phillipkeith Manley on if he’ll prepare differently being on the active roster: “Not really. It’s the same way I prepare. I really feel like I concentrate a little bit more to pick up on different tendencies so I can help the linemen out during the game on the sideline. I’ll pretty much stay more focused and try to contribute more.”
• T Tyson Clabo on keeping humble during the team’s success: “I haven’t seen anybody in here walking around with too big of an ego. Our hat sizes are pretty much staying the same and I think that we’ll just continue to do that, because we have a good group of guys in the locker room and I think that’s how you keep (distractions) from happening.”
• WR Roddy White on facing New Orleans: “It’s just a special atmosphere when we play these guys. It’s just intense. We wanna win. They wanna win. They’ve won the division the last two out of three years. We won it the other year, so for the last couple of years, it’s been us and them down to the wire, so I think that’s what it is, just the dislike for each other. I don’t like nothing about the Saints.”

We didn’t even get to 9 a.m. before our photo of the day was produced, but it’s safe to say no one is going to be able to beat this one. It’s Halloween, and I’m expecting the open locker room period today with the media to be full of tricks and treats, but Thomas DeCoud gets us started early by coming into the locker room at 7:45 a.m. dressed up as the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, dancing to a Boombox straight out of 1993.

Fellow defensive back, practice squad cornerback Peyton Thompson tweeted out the photo from his account @tattedNspatted.

Happy Halloween, Falcons fans.

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.”

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.

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.

Coming off a two-interception performance at San Diego, safety Thomas DeCoud was a popular interview subject. With so many questions to answer and outlets to appear on, a simple dare from two of his groomsmen turned into a viral Internet meme that garnered the Falcons safety with tons of attention, even from some unlikely places.

It started off innocently enough. During a live on-air interview on SportsCenter, DeCoud was dared by his groomsmen to do something fun. After some brainstorming before the interview, the three settled on DeCoud playing the “meow game” from the movie “Super Troopers”. Live. On ESPN.

The premise of the game is to replace the word “now” with the word “meow,” and DeCoud pulled it off beautifully. During his few minutes on air, DeCoud rattled off a solid 13 meows before getting in one final, emphatic “meow!” to end his interview. (Watch below).

What was just a fun way to get through another interview spread quickly on the Internet.

“It was fun to see what the Internet age is really about, especially having it happen to you first-hand,” DeCoud said this week. “We see all the viral videos online, but then to have something that you did turn into something viral, it’s a pretty cool experience.”

Tweets poured in to DeCoud’s @TwentyAte28 Twitter account on a constant basis, and still do — nearly all of them containing the word “meow.” Some of his followers have even taken to using meow as a searchable hashtag on Twitter.

One of DeCoud’s groomsmen is also responsible for posting the video to YouTube, and DeCoud gets view updates from him via text all the time. For those of you keeping score, as of the writing of this blog, the video stands at 762,848 views.

Even the director and writers of the popular 2001 film have taken notice. DeCoud received tweets from “Super Troopers” director Jay Chandrasekhar and co-writer Erik Stolhanske — both of whom also starred in the movie — saying they were impressed with DeCoud’s use of the cult game. Here’s what they had to say:

This isn’t the first time DeCoud’s friends have dared him to do something a little out of the ordinary. The now infamous photo (see below) of DeCoud from his days at Cal was a product of a dare from the two groomsmen.

“I guess it’s kind of their thing,” DeCoud said. “They dare me to do thing because I probably will end up doing it, more or less. All the funny stuff that’s happened in my career is pretty much their fault.”

Since meowing all over SportsCenter, DeCoud has received plenty of interview requests. Earlier this week, he was swarmed around his locker by media members. He even received an interview request from Denmark, taking the meow game international.

“One of my friends texted me and said the video has been viewed in 176 countries,” DeCoud said. “It’s crazy. Having something, a viral video, is one thing, but having it be something that you did that’s going viral now is pretty crazy.”

What’s even crazier is the tweet DeCoud received recently from Chandrasekhar…:

We’ll follow this story as it develops.

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.

The one-two punch of William Moore and Thomas DeCoud isn’t often spoken about in the conversation of best safety tandems in the league. Call it a product of youth.

But perhaps on the precipice of a coming-of-age for the two safeties, their addition to the conversation could be coming soon.

Coming off a game where each recorded an interception — back-to-back, in fact — against Broncos QB Peyton Manning, Moore and DeCoud showed on a national stage just how the two can contribute to the Falcons’ defense and secondary.

“Our pride is going to tell us that we want to be at the top of that list when you talk about safety tandems, but we know that there’s work that needs to be done,” DeCoud said Wednesday. “We’re both still young safeties. I’m only a year older than Will. There’s still a lot of learning for us to do, but I think that we’ve started off this season on a great foot forward and we can only build on that.”

For a game that had plenty of secondary questions, with the week of preparation beginning with news that Brent Grimes would be out for the season with an Achilles injury, Moore and DeCoud emphatically answered the doubts with a stellar performance against one of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game.

Our friends at ProFootballFocus.com have Moore rated as the second best safety in the league, by their rating system, with DeCoud in the top 40. PFF.com has Green Bay’s Charles Woodson and Jerron McMillan rated as the top safety tandem in the league.

PFF.com has Moore and DeCoud as the No. 15 safety tandem in the league through two weeks.

The Falcons, under defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, have put a premium on causing and recovering turnovers. So much so, in fact, that the defense is instructed to treat all incomplete passes as if it’s a loose ball up for grabs.

So while the offense is generally heading back to the huddle, the defense is still completing the turnover play.

Against the Bengals in the first quarter, we saw why that work has been so important to the Falcons. Bengals running back Brian Leonard took off up the middle of the field after receiving a handoff and was soon found without the ball as safety William Moore punched it from his grasp.

A moment later, Thomas DeCoud pounced on it and the Falcons offense got back onto the field.

All that work on turnovers certainly paid off on that play.

Nicholas, in particular, had to watch from the sidelines throughout OTAs and minicamp as an injury he suffered late last season continued to heal. On Tuesday came word that the veteran linebacker had been cleared to participate in the start of camp, which made him even more eager to get checked in.

“I think it’s always the same feeling,” Nicholas said Wednesday afternoon after checking into camp. “I’m very excited, very, very ready to get going. I’m ready to see some of the guys that I haven’t seen in a while. It’s always an exciting feeling, every year.”

Players are required to check into the Flowery Branch facility today and all players will be staying at the apartments on the premises until camp breaks Aug. 19.

During the media’s availability at the check-in area, rookies Jonathan Massaquoi, Charles Mitchell, Bryce Harris, Peyton Thompson and Michael Calvin arrived, as well as veterans Peria Jerry, Joe Zelenka and Thomas DeCoud.

The first session of training camp open to the public is Thursday as practice gets started at 3:30 p.m. Gates will be open at 2:30 p.m. Admission to training camp is free. Click here for the complete training camp schedule.

For more information on training camp, visit our training camp home page.

Click here to see a photo gallery from players reporting to camp

That’s especially true after the addition of veteran safety Chris Hope over the weekend, who will come in and likely provide some much needed depth at the safety position.

Much like when the Falcons added vet James Sanders — a Super Bowl champ himself with the Patriots early in his career — last year during the preseason, Hope will bring with him a wealth of experience from which the Falcons’ relatively young safeties will draw from.

A former Pro Bowler with Tennessee and Super Bowl winner with Pittsburgh in 2005, Hope is in a position to not only boost what the Falcons already have at safety but provide an experienced shoulder to lean on for William Moore and Thomas DeCoud, as well as rookie safety Charles Mitchell, who was drafted in April.

With 20 interceptions in his career, Hope is certainly no stranger to asserting himself at that position, which begs the question: Can he vie for a starting spot with all things being equal in training camp?

The current strong safety position is filled by Moore, who has had a stranglehold on the job since earning it in 2010 over then-starter Erik Coleman. Last year, Sanders came in and earned a starting nod in place of DeCoud early in the season, but DeCoud earned the spot back before the two platooned at the position.

While Hope’s role with the Falcons has yet to truly be determined, it’s important to remember the mantra that is repeated day-in and day-out during training camp: Competition breeds success.

And while Hope is in the second half of his career, a safety with his credentials certainly seems like he’d bring quite a bit of competition with him to camp — which is great for all the Falcons’ safeties.

What say you?

With the free agency period still less than 24 hours old and the moves around the rest of the league coming fast and furious, the Falcons are holding true to the points made in that press conference.

“We have 17 free agents this year that we need to look at. We have a lot of work to do with our analyzation and scrutiny of our team, as well,” Dimitroff said during the January press conference. “There’s a foundation here in place. I’m not suggesting at all that we’re going to blow anything up.”

The Falcons have been aggressive in keeping their own recently, signing safety Thomas DeCoud, tight end Michael Palmer, running back Antone Smith, running back Jason Snelling and defensive end Kroy Biermann and agreeing to terms with backup quarterback Chris Redman and wide receiver Harry Douglas. In that same press conference, Dimitroff said he thought “seven or eight” would be a realistic guess as to how many of the Falcons’ 17 free agents the team would be able to keep.

Adding to that, however, are the signings of free agent guard Vince Manuwai and free agent linebacker Lofa Tatupu, both of whom can make a big impact with the team. Those two make nine new contracts in the past week the Falcons have doled out, but as they mentioned in January, they won’t be eager to just hand out anything.

“We’ll continue to, again, analyze this roster. There are no… sacred cows. No question about it. I don’t care where we drafted them or how we’ve acquired them in free agency,” Dimitroff said back in January, as Blank added: “There might be some sacrificial cows, but no sacred cows”