In his first four games of the 2009 season, Atlanta Falcons second-year quarterback Matt Ryan had a QB rating of 98.0, 122.2, 82.3 and 110.0. He was off to a fantastic start and people started to assume that he would have Tom Brady-like numbers every game.

But in his last three outings, Ryan has QB ratings of 68.4, 66.1 and 46.6 and now all of a sudden he’s drawing comparisons to Rex Grossman. (Okay, so Ryan has never been compared to Grossman, but you get my feeble attempt at exaggerating my point.)

After his three-interception game last Monday night against the Saints, I’ve read at least two articles from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about how Ryan doesn’t look like the same player he was as a rookie. The overall tone of the articles was that the Falcons should be worried, because “Matty Ice” hasn’t played well in three games.

But people need to take their hand off the ejection button, because Ryan is fine – he’s just going through typical growing pains. He had one of the best (if not the best) rookie season of any quarterback to ever play in the NFL, while leading what many believed was a 3-13 team to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. Entering his second season, the expectations were sky high and now that he’s not playing well, some want to question whether or not last season was a fluke.

I’ll admit that following his performance in New Orleans on Monday night that he hasn’t looked like the same player he was last year or at the beginning of this year. He seems to be rushing his throws more and making bad decisions. His cool, calm pocket presence has turned into a rushed dance where he doesn’t always work through all of his progressions and set his feet to throw. He also seems to be locking in on Tony Gonzalez or Roddy White and therefore throwing a high number of interceptions. (He’s thrown eight in his last four games.)

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With how exceptionally well he played as a rookie last year, it’s easy to forget that Matt Ryan only has 24 career starts under his belt.

Ryan did some great things in the Falcons’ 35-27 loss to the Saints on Monday night, most notably throwing a 68-yard rainbow to Roddy White to cut New Orleans’ lead to 28-21 early in the third quarter. He also found White and Tony Gonzalez on some key third downs to keep the chains moving and leave the Saints’ dynamic offense on the sidelines for most of the second half.

But he also made some mistakes that second year quarterbacks are unfortunately prone to making. Things like zeroing in on Gonzalez or forcing a pass into a well covered White late in the first half that led to a huge defensive touchdown for the Saints. He also looked rushed in the pocket at times and took a couple of unnecessary sacks because he didn’t go through all of his progressions. For a young man who has built the reputation of having ice water in his veins, “Matty Ice” looked uneasy several times when the Falcons needed a big play in the passing game.

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With over eight games remaining on the schedule, it might be a little early to suggest that a division winner could be theoretically crowned tonight in the NFC South, but a closer look reveals otherwise.

At 6-0, the Saints currently have a two game lead over the 4-2 Falcons in the division. A win tonight and New Orleans will open up a three game lead over Atlanta with nine games remaining for each team. Granted, a lot could happen in nine games but barring injury to Drew Brees the Saints don’t look like a team that will implode in the second half.

A quick peak at the rest of the Saints’ schedule reveals very winnable games against the Panthers (twice), Rams, Bucs (twice) and the Redskins. The only games that present a challenge are home dates with the Patriots (Week 12) and Cowboys (Week 15), as well as a trip to Atlanta in Week 14. The Falcons have a longer roe to hoe, with road games against the Giants and Jets, as well as home games against the Eagles, Saints and pesky Bills. So with all things considered, a loss tonight and a three-game hole would be incredibly tough to climb out of if you’re Atlanta.

Even at 4-2, the Falcons have a lot to prove. Michael Turner is averaging a full YPC less than he did last season, Matt Ryan started off hot but is now fading and the defense has major issues in the secondary. After they were spanked last week in Dallas, the Falcons need a good showing tonight in New Orleans not just to keep pace in the NFC South, but also to prove to themselves that they’re a legitimate playoff contender.

Atlanta will certainly be tested tonight. The Saints have the most balanced offensive attack in the league and if the Falcons can’t generate any pressure on Brees, he’ll light up a secondary that is athletic, but is often overmatched in coverage do to lack of size (Brent Grimes) or technique (Chris Houston). The Falcons’ corners don’t play well in man-to-man coverage, so blitzing extra linebackers isn’t always a possibility. That means the front four of John Abraham, Jonathan Babineaux, Jamaal Anderson and Chauncey Davis must step up and provide a consistent pass rush or else Atlanta will get torched.

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Sean Payton has climbed into the top spot this week after his team had a riveting come-from-behind win in Miami, and by come-from-behind we mean they were trailing 24-3 late in the second half and won the game 46-34. That means for the rest of the game, they score was 43-10 New Orleans. Just sick.

1. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Sorry Josh McDaniels, but while you were on bye Payton’s team had a remarkable comeback against the Dolphins on the road. They appear to be the 2007 Patriots, and for that we have to give the coach top props.

2. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—We know the Broncos upset the Cowboys and Patriots, but the next two weeks they face Baltimore and Pittsburgh. We’ll see if the boy wonder is still sitting pretty after that.

3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The rookie coach is still waiting for his first loss. Good for him.

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Okay, so the Vikings are human. However, I think Childress’ investment will pay off this weekend in Green Bay.

5. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—Regained confidence by thrashing the Bears and remained tied for first with the Steelers in the tough AFC North.

Honorable mention: Bill Belichick, Patriots; Mike Smith, Falcons; Gary Kubiak, Texans; Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals

Imagine if the Cowboys played with as much confidence, emotion and focus as they did Sunday against the Falcons. Maybe they’d actually cash in on some of their potential and make the playoffs.

Fresh off its bye, Dallas smacked Atlanta 37-21 in Week 7, as Tony Romo completed 21 of 29 pass attempts for 311 yards and three touchdowns. Receiver Miles Austin had another huge day, hauling in six passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns, including scores of 59 and 22 yards.

Defensively, the Cowboys looked like they were playing with a chip on their shoulder. Matt Ryan hasn’t been touched all season, yet Dallas consistently crashed the pocket and racked up four sacks. They also intercepted Ryan twice and forced two fumbles, although one was recovered by Atlanta.

The Cowboys need to find a way to play with this kind of fire every week. They made a statement today against a good opponent, but it means nothing if they come out next Sunday and give a lackluster effort. When they play at a high level, they’re tough to beat. But they’ve had issues playing consistently week in and week out, so the jury is still out on whether or not they can do it after this win.

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Okay, so we can finally separate Josh McDaniels and Marvin Lewis after the former beat San Diego to reach 6-0 and the latter lost a tough home game to Houston. Here is our current power rankings for NFL Coach of the Year:

1. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Seriously, 6-0? The schedule keeps getting tougher, but it doesn’t seem to faze this team or their confident coach. Dude is a mini-Belichick, the first “offspring” to be worthy of that title.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—After beating the Giants to reach 5-0, we can start talking about the very real likelihood of the Saints reaching the Super Bowl for the first time, and this guy is a big reason why. It’s still amazing that he managed to pay his defensive coordinator a quarter mil of his own cash to lure him, but it seems to have been worth it.

3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—Just like his QB, you can’t fault Caldwell for the bye week.

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Now 6-0, there should be no question that Childress did himself and the city of Minnesota a huge favor bringing back #4. He sure wasn’t going to be 6-0 with Tarvaris Jackson, was he?

5. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—A tough win against the Bears, and this team is not fading any time soon. Really, the Falcons and Saints are two of the best teams in the NFC and it should be interesting when they meet.

Honorable mention: Tom Coughlin, Giants; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Marvin Lewis, Bengals

NFL.com is reporting that Jets nose tackle Kris Jenkins is out for the season with a left knee injury, while FOX Sports reports that Falcons cornerback Brian Williams is done for year after tearing his ACL in Sunday night’s win over the Bears.

Defensive end Sione Pouha will likely move to nose tackle to fill the void left by Jenkins, while Marques Douglas or Mike DeVito enter the starting line up at end. The Jets’ run defense suffers the most with Jenkins’ injury, although Rex Ryan has mastered the art of masking defensive weaknesses so at least New York has that going for it.

Still, this isn’t a good sign for a defense that held opponents to only four rushing touchdowns in the first six weeks of the season. Jenkins has often proved to be a thorn in opposing teams’ sides and will be missed.

Williams was a great find for the Falcons after the Jaguars cut him right before the season. He added a veteran presence to an inexperienced Atlanta secondary and now the Falcons are once again highly susceptible through the air. Brent Grimes and Chris Houston will now be the starters, while Chevis Jackson, Ty Hill and rookie Chris Owens will see increased playing time.

The Falcons are hoping that Houston will eventually cash in on some of his athletic talent and become the No. 1 corner the team envisioned when they drafted him in the second round a couple years ago. Despite his great speed, he often gets burned in coverage by using poor technique and never gets a successful jam off the line. At this point, he looks like a bust but maybe Williams’ injury will motivate him to step up.

These two injuries could wind up exploiting weaknesses for the Jets and Falcons – especially for Atlanta seeing as how it still has to play the pass-happy Saints twice this season.

Amazingly, Josh McDaniels and Marvin Lewis are still tied atop this list. And even if they were ranked 1-2, what difference would that make? They both have exceeded expectations in a big way to this point.

1. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos & Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—After last weekend, these two are still tied, even though McDaniels’ team is 5-0 and Lewis’ is 4-1. Denver beat the Patriots and McDaniels’ mentor Bill Belichick last weekend in Denver, while Lewis’ Bengals had an emotional win over the Ravens in Baltimore a few days after defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s wife tragically passed away.

2. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—Really, did anyone expect the Colts to be 5-0 out of the gate? Everyone thought that with the departure of Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison, there would be a regression. Then Anthony Gonzalez got hurt, and still, Caldwell and Peyton Manning are carrying on the winning tradition.

3. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—You have to give a guy credit when he has his team fully prepared each week. The last three weeks, the Giants have utterly dominated their opponents, because Coughlin and his team take no one lightly. The Giants have been hit fairly hard by injuries too, but Coughlin always seems to have a guy to plug in.

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—With a 5-0 start, it’s time we gave this guy his due for having the balls to coax Favre back even after Favre’s waffling act teetered on the retirement side again.

5. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—His team came flying out of the gate with the same high-flying offense, but also with a much-improved defense. We’ll see if Sean is still sitting here after the big showdown against the G-men Sunday.

Honorable mention: Mike Smith, Falcons; Andy Reid, Eagles; Lovie Smith, Bears

Some of the candidates for NFL MVP strengthened their case last weekend and some did not. Of course, some also were on bye, maybe hurting their chances but not helping the ones ahead of them who had poor performances. Here is an update on the MVP power rankings through Week 5…

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Manning did nothing to hurt his standing here against Tennessee last Sunday, throwing for 309 yards with 3 more TDs, and leading his team to a 5-0 mark going into the bye week.

2. Eli Manning, New York Giants—Remember all the talk about how this guy wasn’t worth his huge new contract? Well, little brother is making his own case for MVP with a 111.7 QB rating, second only to Peyton, and 10 TDs to just 2 picks. And he only played two quarters last Sunday with a bad foot and still turned in a near-perfect performance. Dude is on fire.

3. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—He wasn’t as flashy against the Rams after that emotional win over Green Bay, but the fact remains that the Vikings would not be 5-0 without Favre, and that’s the definition of MVP.

4. Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings—He was already having an MVP season but then added a fumble return for a TD last Sunday. He’s at least the best defensive player this year.

5. Cedric Benson, Cincinnati Bengals—With all due respect to Adrian Peterson, Cedric does not have Steve Hutchinson to run behind and he’s currently leading the NFL in rushing with 487 yards, and has 3 scores.

Honorable Mention: Drew Brees, Saints; Adrian Peterson, Vikings; Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Antwan Odom, Bengals, Matt Ryan, Falcons; Steve Smith, Giants

Up until their 45-10 loss to the Falcons in Week 5, Shaun Hill and the 49ers felt pretty good about how they started their 2009 season. Hill wasn’t setting the stat book on fire, but he kept the chains moving by making smart decisions and taking care of the football.

But on Sunday, Atlanta jumped out to a sizable first half lead and forced Hill to beat them through the air. What proceeded was a nasty performance highlighted by off-the-mark throws and inconsistency. He didn’t get much help from the running game, but he never got into a rhythm passing and his limitations as a quarterback were on full display. He struggled mightily with the intermediate and deep passes today.

That said, the Niners won’t be making a switch any time soon. It’s not like Mike Singletary didn’t know that Hill wasn’t Peyton Manning in preseason and Hill still beat out Alex Smith for the starting job. The bottom line is that San Fran will struggle this season when it can’t run the ball and the defense doesn’t step up.

Speaking of the Niners’ defense, Matt Ryan and Roddy White absolutely took them to school today. Ryan threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns on 22 of 32 passing, while White had his best outing of the year with eight receptions for 210 yards and two touchdowns. White, who had gotten off to a slow start this season, found holes in San Francisco’s defense and as he often is, Ryan was accurate with his throws.

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