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Philadelphia -9 vs. Atlanta

"Welcome home Matt Ryan, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Ryan, a hometown Philadelphia boy, should not expect a heroe's welcome as his Atlanta Falcons travel to the City of Brotherly Love for Sunday afternoon battle at Lincoln Financial Field.

Certainly any love Philly fans may have for a local boy who has made it will evaporate around 1pm Sunday.  After a promising start to the season the 3-3 Philadelphia Eagles find themselves the losers of three of their last five games and find themselves in last place of the competitive NFC East. The Eagles need this game to take advantage of slumping Washington and Dallas and climb back into the heart of the playoff race. To do this, Philadelphia, who is in the upper echelon of the NFL in sacks, more than likely has a game plan probably involves planting the local boy into the turf.

Philadelphia is actually coming off a win in their last time out, two weeks ago. Before last week's bye, the Eagles scored 23 late points to beat the 49ers in San Francisco 40-26. Philly hopes this is the game that will get their season turned around.

Meanwhile the surprising season in Atlanta continues, largely on the play of rookie quarterback Ryan. The Exton, Pennsylvania native and alumni of Philadelphia's Penn Charter School has noticeably picked his game up recently. He has thrown for four touchdowns against one interception over the past four games, three of which were Atlanta victories. The Falcons will look to claim a road victory to extend their winning streak to three games. Last week Atlanta enjoyed a week off after an energizing last second field goal win over Chicago, 22-20, on October 12. The win over Chicago was the second straight impressive victory, after the Falcons beat the Packers in Lambeau. Atlanta probably wishes for NFL realignment with placement in the NFC North. The Atlanta Falcons have feasted on the division this season, going 3-0 against Detroit, Green Bay and Chicago with one more game at Minnesota on the horizon.

Odds are San Diego is upset they let Michael Turner get away. With Ladanian Tomlison's injury issues this year, the Chargers have had virtually no running attack. Not so in Atlanta as Turner is third in the NFL with 597 yards and six touchdowns.

Bye weeks have been good for Andy Reid and his Eagles. During his tenure he has never lost following a bye in nine seasons. The team is getting healthier as running back Bryant Westbrook and receiver Kevin Curtis are hoping to go. For Curtis it will be the first time he has hit the field all season long, which should greatly help Donovan McNabb and the Eagles' offense.

The Eagles have not lost to the Falcons in Philadelphia since 1988 in four contests including two postseason games in 2002 and 2005.

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