4. Atlanta Falcons

The week’s recipient of the Oliver Stone Reminder—Any Given Sunday—the Falcons took care of business against division rival (and top dog in the NFC South), the New Orleans Saints, with a smackdown that ended 26-9.

Wow!

Matt Ryan was 20-of-35 for 182 yards and two touchdowns—which isn’t great, but relatively speaking, it wasn’t plain oatmeal, either. The running game was effective, gaining a total of 143 yards on the day—again, numbers you wouldn’t forecast for the Falcons when going up against the sixth-ranked run-stop in the NFL.

Although there were some issues with hands to the face penalties, the Falcons’ O-line was a big part of the success. Facing a defense ranked ninth overall, and in the top half of the league in QB hits, they did an excellent job protecting Ryan, allowing one sack and five hits. On the ground attack, they provided a decent lane-opening at the front and a substantial push to the second level—which helped the Falcons look like a playoff contender and not the meager one-win team that the Saints were matching up against.

Alex Mack, James Carpenter, Jamon Brown, Kaleb McGary, and Jake Mathews: Dat sure wasn’t expected.