Today's Early Bird Report includes a look at various national power rankings as well as the Falcons' grade for their win against the Eagles.
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The Falcons came through with a big victory against the Philadelphia Eagles in their home opener, and although there were plenty of mistakes in the process, a win is still a win.
That win was reflected in this week's batch of power rankings, as the Falcons made small jumps in several of them. NFL.com's Dan Hanzus moved the Falcons up two spots to No. 21 in his latest power ranking, while Atlanta bumped up three spots to No. 16 in ESPN’s rankings.
"It was a thing of beauty. On fourth-and-3 and staring down the very real possibility of 0-2, Matt Ryan checked into a screen pass to Julio Jones and, moments later, the Falcons were ahead of the Eagles for good," Hanzus writes. "Ryan was at his field-general best, Jones showed the playmaking ability that will put him in Canton one day, and Jake Matthews delivered the pancake block to spring Jones that left tackles dream about. It was the best play of an otherwise-sloppy night for Ryan, who missed open receivers and threw three interceptions. His final pass wiped away all sins. We'd be remiss not to bring attention to cornerback Isaiah Oliver, who saved the game in the final minute with a textbook tackle of Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz on fourth down. If Ertz gets an extra half yard, the Eagles have first-and-goal. Instead, Oliver sent the Falcons' offense back on the field in victory formation."
Here are some other articles for Falcons fans to check out today:
AJC: The NFC South is up for grabs, can Matt Ryan deliver?
Matt Ryan has led the Falcons to their most prosperous run since his arrival in 2008. He turned the ball over three times on Sunday night against the Eagles and now has five interceptions this season after throwing just seven all of last year. Ryan has earned every benefit of the doubt, and he should settle in as the season continues on. As Mark Bradley notes in his column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, however, the NFC South is now wide open after Drew Brees' injury and Ryan needs to deliver to help the Falcons take advantage of it.
"This organization has again done everything in its power to make him happy," Bradley writes. "He has Koetter, an offensive coordinator he liked the first time around. He has the best receivers this side of Alabama. (Two of these are Bama alums.) The NFC South is there for the taking. Matt Ryan has built his career on delivering the goods. This would be a fine time for him to stop delivering to the wrong address."
To read the rest of Bradley's column on Ryan and the NFC South, click here.
CBS Sports: Week 2 NFL grades
An ugly win is better than a pretty loss any day of the week. And while there were plenty of reasons to praise the Falcons for their performance against the Eagles, there are some areas to clean up moving forward. Nobody is more aware of that than the Falcons coaches and players, and the best teams continue to improve as the season rolls along. Given their performance on Sunday night had some sloppy moments, however, it's not shocking that CBS Sports' John Beech gave the Falcons a "B" for the game.
"There's a reason the Falcons gave Julio Jones the largest receiving contract in NFL history, and he showed off that reason in this game," Beech writes. "Jones caught five passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles, including a 54-yard TD catch with just 2:10 left to play that ended up being the game-winner. The play of Jones helped the Falcons overcome a disastrous night by Matt Ryan, who threw three interceptions. Defensively, the biggest performance came from Desmond Trufant, who picked off Wentz twice."
To see the rest of Beech's grades from Week 2, click here.
