FanHouse AtlantaFalcons

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Atlanta Falcons weren't even finished piling up takeaways, yards and points in Sunday's 45-10 rout of the 49ers at Candlestick Park when San Francisco coach Mike Singletary lost his sideline poise.

Rather than take out his frustrations on one of his underachieving players, Singletary instead engaged in a third-quarter shouting match with Falcons right guard Harvey Dahl.

During an early third-quarter drive that was dominated by running back Michael Turner (22 total carries for 97 yards) chewing up the 49ers' 3-4 defensive front, Singletary and Dahl argued back and forth, with both of them very animated and obviously irate. Neither was penalized for the jawing match.

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- As mere mortals, we're conditioned to believe life is easy for guys like Tom Brady. Fame, success, good looks, championship glory ... these things make it seem as if a dude is coasting through life, surfing the biggest waves with minimal effort, skiing on one ski.

But that isn't always the way, and anybody who tuned in around halftime of Sunday's Patriots-Falcons game saw a Tom Brady who wasn't real happy about the way things were going. New England's Golden Boy QB was openly screaming at teammates, clearly frustrated by his team's red zone failures and general inability so far this season to get into sync.

"I think I was just really into it," Brady would say later, by way of denial-drenched explanation. "Just trying to keep everybody focused. Football is a team game, and it's about everybody being on the same page."

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has made it clear that Michael Vick won't play for the Falcons again. But he said on his way out of the NFL owners' meetings this morning that he has no problem with Vick returning to the league with some other team. Blank also gave some indication of what might constitute the "genuine remorse" that Vick supposedly has to show before commissioner Roger Goodell reinstates him.

"It goes beyond whether he's paid his debt to society," Blank said. "From a legal standpoint, and financially, he has. But it goes beyond words. It goes to how he's going to live, personally and in the community with others. The people that Michael spent time with and the influence they had on him were a big part of what happened. His ability to separate from those people is going to be critical for Michael."

Eleven days and counting until the mock drafts get shredded in favor of the real one, and the time between now and April 25 is likely to see a frenzy of posturing, positioning and actual activity. I debuted my first-ever mock draft yesterday, but since it ran a number of developments have threatened to shake it up.

So what's happened to my mock draft today? Let's take a look...

In the natural next step for a man who was just cleared of charges of carrying marijuana through an airport in a fake Aquafina bottle, Atlanta Falcons quarterback/deviant Michael Vick has just opened up a winery restaurant in Atlanta.

It's called The Tasting Room, and is a new, classy, sophisticated place for people who love good wine and/or have the munchies. They've got a fantastic 2002 Whitehall Lane Winery Sauvignon Blanc, a very tasty 2000 La Foret Bourgogne Chardonnay, and their 2007 dime bag of Maui Wowie has wowed the critics.

Vick's an investor in the restaurant, and says its part of an effort to establish more of a connection with the community. I suppose I shouldn't poke fun, and should just applaud him for being willing to make money off of the people he's accused of ignoring.

"Maybe this will offset some of that attention I've been getting, whether positive or negative. It's good for people to see that I'm giving back to the community, where people can see me trying to do something that's positive. There's a lot of people speculating about things I do that are not so positive."

Yes, there sure are, and now that I feel sufficiently guilty for all of the idle "speculation" about things Michael Vick may or may not to that are not so positive, I'll just wish him the best of luck in his new wine-dealing business.

Oh, and if anything on the menu gives you herpes, you get a free salad.

I suppose it's not official yet, but it's just a matter of time: Joe Horn will be an Atlanta Falcon. ESPN's Michael Smith said that Horn has agreed to sign with the team, and has passed the team's physical. A Falcons spokesman said that his name isn't officially on a contract yet. All indications are that it soon will be.

In a lot of ways, Joe Horn seems like an ideal fit for Atlanta. Not only are they weak at receiver, but Joe Horn's the mentoring type. He takes pride not only in doing his job well, but in imparting his wisdom onto younger players. Certainly, the Falcons have no shortage of receivers who haven't lived up to their potential, and they have a quarterback who could probably use a mature influence or two.

It also takes an excuse away from Michael Vick. It's true that he's never had a dependable receiver in Atlanta. Horn, while he's had some injury problems and maybe isn't the same receiver he once was, is still a polished professional who knows how to get open. If Vick and Horn can't establish a connection, chances are, it won't be Horn's fault.

Joe Horn's a favorite of mine. His best asset as a football player is his passion. He approaches the game emotionally, and he gives what he has. When he speaks, he speaks with passion and conviction; there seems to be little pretentiousness about him. He wouldn't be a bad guy for any team to have around.

Because he'll kill it. Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Jonathan Babineaux was arrested earlier on charges of animal cruelty, and now the dog has died. Based on initial reports, he makes Ron Artest look like Ace Ventura. He's been arrested on charges of felony animal cruelty. From 11Alive.com:

According to Cpl. Darren Moloney of the Gwinnett County Police Department, Babineaux's wife took a dog to an animal emergency center in Gwinnett County on Sunday. The dog later died and the subsequent investigation led to an arrest warrant for Babineaux. According to Moloney, investigators believe Babineaux "somehow had a direct hand in killing the animal."

I suppose I shouldn't presume guilt, and maybe this was an accident, but if it's not? What is your deal, Babineaux? You can't win a starting job with the Falcons, so you go home and whale on a dog?

Credit goes to Babineaux's wife for getting the dog some help (You take dead animals to the vet? I'll take you to the vet) and trying to save its life. She was too late. And if this was a malicious attack on an animal by Babineaux, the wife might want to start thinking about getting out, too.

With the reports that Oklahoma's head coach, Bob Stoops, is among the three likely candidates to replace Atlanta Falcon's Jim Mora, reported by ESPN's Chris Mortensen. Shouldn't surprise most, the Oklahoma coach was among the candidates to replace fired Dan Reeves in 2003.

Bob Stoops has always been a hot commodity, among the top of the list of every owner, and athletic director. Stoops had the perfect college opportunity in 2004, to replace fired Ron Zook from the University of Florida. As Stoops was the defensive coordinator under Steve Spurrier at Florida in the 90's. After turning down NFL offers for the Miami Dolphins and the Cleveland Browns, with Stoops born in Youngstown, Ohio.

In one of the more telling plays of this Sunday's Lions-Falcons game at Ford Field, Jon Kitna scrambled out of the pocket to gain a Lions first down. As Kitna entered his feet-first slide, Falcons CB De Angelo Hall entered the play, decidedly late, to deliver a nasty head shot to Kitna. Kitna, rather than taking the ugly cheap shot meekly, immediately entered into a brief melee with the Falcons corner. In a nutshell, this play denotes the arrival of the brand of toughness and resilience that Lions fans have anxiously anticipated from this organization for several years now. Kitna's scrum hopefully is a reflection of things to come from this moribund franchise.

One element I never accounted for in Sunday's game, which so obviously lead to a Lions victory, was Head Coach Rod Marinelli's previous involvement (Tampa Bay) in many successful game plans that have been able to contain the superbly gifted, Falcons QB Michael Vick. With the Lions missing three starters on their defensive front, this was one of the team's more inspired performances in quite a long time. Vick, who did his share of damage scrambling with the ball, suffered from numerous dropped passes by his receivers. The Lions defense were also able to apply a surprising amount of pressure upon Vick throughout the game. Admittedly, with all of the hype surrounding Vick entering this game, where many NFL pundits had determined that the inconsistent Vick had finally begun to fulfill his potential as a NFL QB, I was able to take a great amount of joy that the Lions were able to momentarily prolong Vick's Hall of Fame enshrinement for at least one more game. The very same brand of resilience that was exhibited by Kitna during his scrum was also manifested by the Lions defense throughout the game as it continually prevented the Falcons from gaining any sort of momentum offensively.

The play of WR Roy Williams, against purportedly one of the finer CB's in league in De Angelo Hall, was spectacular. Not only did Williams deliver the death knell with a spectacular 60 yard catch and run that minced through the middle of the Falcons defense for a touchdown, but he also delivered one of the more awe-inducing plays in the NFL this season with a spectacular one-handed grab that few players in the NFL could make.

Lions RB Kevin Jones is becoming one of the more bruising, workmanlike running backs in the league. Jones has weathered a lot of disappointment in his brief time in Detroit, I believe it is a testament to him that he has continued to exhibit a consistent effort throughout. Jones now provides a major challenge to opposing defenses with his combination of soft hands when catching the ball and his take no-prisoners approach to carrying the ball in the ground game . Jones also benefited from the return of starting G Ross Verba and T Rex Tucker, who have been sorely missed for most of the season.

The Lions are coming off of their bye week with a major challenge. Not only do the Atlanta Falcons have the best ground game in the NFL, but now it also appears that Falcons QB Michael Vick is beginning to develop into a more consistent pocket passer who is able to punish opposing defenses that decide to load up the "box" by moving a safety nearer to the line of scrimmage with an increasingly efficient and deadly passing attack.

The Lions are going to be somewhat revitalized this week with the impending return of several starters from both sides of the ball (RG Ross Verba, RT Rex Tucker, SS Kenoy Kennedy, SLB Alex Lewis) and also will have the benefit of having the additional rest and preparation that results from having a scheduled bye week. That being said, the pacing of this game will determine it's outcome. If the Lions can reduce the game to a efficient, field position battle, with few turnovers and penalties they may have a chance. If the Falcons gain an early lead, they will grind the Lions defense into dust with their rushing triumvirate of RB's Warrick Dunn, Jerious Norwood and QB Michael Vick who have accounted for 1454 combined rushing yards through this season's midpoint. When you consider that the Lions will be without starting defensive tackles Shaun Cody and Shaun Rogers, it will be an incredible challenge to keep the Falcons from rushing for less than 250 yards.

Offensively, the Lions need to take advantage of the Falcons diminished pass rush with the absence of DE John Abraham. Teams have been able to pass effectively against the Falcons this season, so expect for the Lions to attack the Falcons zone coverage, especially if they don't roll coverage to try and neutralize Lions WR Roy Williams.