FanHouse ToddWeiner

When Todd Weiner retired and Wayne Gandy got even older, the Falcons all of a sudden had a clear need for some depth at tackle. And if the Falcons are looking for a potentially reasonably priced tackle who could step in an start if needed, there is no better target than Titans' tackle Daniel Loper.

Loper has only started one game in his Titans' career, but it was a big one, as he played well against the Chargers during the 2007 playoffs. The only reason he's not been a starter is because the Titans have two equally young and even more talented tackles ahead of him.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

On the heels of a nightmarish 2007 season, the Falcons were predicted to go 0-16 by some pundits. But not even the most optimistic Falcons fan would have expected a playoff spot, and even fewer would have seen Matt Ryan going from rookie to franchise quarterback before the season's halfway point.

But now here comes the hard part: The Falcons have never managed to put together back-to-back winning seasons. Whenever the Falcons have broken through with a playoff appearance, it's always been followed with a quick crash back to Earth.

To get you ready for week 6, FanHouse is previewing all 14 NFL games. Here is the New York Giants/Atlanta Falcons preview.

2007 Records:

New York Giants: 3-2 (2nd in NFC East)
Atlanta Falcons: 1-4 (3rd in NFC South)

Last Game:

Titans 20, Falcons 13
Giants 35, Jets 24

When the 2007 NFL schedule was set and ESPN got their Monday Night Football pairings, you could imagine the executives being relatively happy about the Giants-Falcons matchup: Eli Manning vs. Michael Vick would be easy to promo. That was before we learned of doggie rape stands and electrocutions. Now this has to rank as one of the worst matchups of recent memory for ESPN.