The Falcons got their winning record, but it fell short of their season expectations. Atlanta’s 20-10 victory on Sunday over Tampa Bay gave the team their first back to back winning seasons in franchise history. However that feat didn’t provide them with very much consolation for the fact that they missed the playoffs.

Matt Ryan had three passes for touchdowns, including one of 42 yards over to Roddy White on the first play of the game for Atlanta. The Bills never did challenge the Falcons in Atlanta’s 31-3 win on Sunday over the Bills and Terrell Owens. Terrell Owens became only the sixth man in the history of the NFL to have 1,000 career receptions. During the second Owens was able to reach that milestone on a pass of 8 yards from Brian Brohm.

The Falcons playoff hopes were already dashed, and the top ranked defense of the Jets were manhandling them. Game over, right? Well, not quite. With just 1:38 left to play Matt Ryan connected on a touchdown pass of 6 yards with Tony Gonzalez to give Atlanta a 10-7 win over New York on Sunday that seriously damaged the post season chances of the Jets.

Drew Brees passed for 296 yards and threw three touchdowns, while Jonathan Vilma had two defensive plays that were huge as the Saints were able to pull another tight win out 26-23 on Sunday over a pesky Falcons team. Last week New Orleans (13-0) seem to be at the brink of defeat. Then Washington missed a short field goal during regulation. In overtime the Saints rallied to win the game 33-30.

Vick, who was back to the city where he once ruled, made two touchdowns. He got one passing and one running. They were his first touchdowns since 2006. As the Eagles dominated the Falcons 34-7, Vick basked in all the cheers coming from the crowd at the Georgia Dome. Vick, who had tears in his eyes in the bus ride to the stadium said, that was the loudest the Dome gets. I could hear chanting all throughout the stadium. It was sending chills all the way down my spine. The fans were letting me know I was still appreciated for what I have done.

The Giants and Eli Manning were happy to just be able to celebrate a win once again. The last six weeks have been frustrating, not like anyone is counting or anything like that. Manning said, it’s been a very long time. Our last win came 42 days ago. It did feel that long. With 3:54 elapsed in overtime, Lawrence Tynes booted through a field goal from 36 yards, making up for a miss earlier in the game to give the Giants a 34-31 win on Sunday over Atlanta. The victory snapped the Giants’ four game losing streak and came after New York’s defense blew a lead of 14 points during the fourth quarter.

The Panthers may finally have found a way of solving the woes of Jake Delhomme: controlled chaos. Matt Ryan and Atlanta miscues helped as well. On Sunday Carolina unleashed their no huddle offense with the plays being called by Delhomme. The Panthers quarterback connected on two touchdowns with Steve Smith and didn’t have any turnovers during Carolina’s 28-19 win over Atlanta.

Chris Redman, backup quarterback for Atlanta, threw a touchdown pass of 5 yards over to Roddy White on Sunday with just 23 seconds left to play, as the Falcons eked out a 20-17 win over Tampa Bay after their offensive stars Michael Turner and Matt Ryan left the game due to injuries.

After they built up a lead of 21 points, the Falcons allowed the Redskins back in the game on two second half touchdowns. To stretch the lead back to 14 points, it took a Michael Turner touchdown run of 58 yards, fueled by LaRon Landry’s shoddy play. If Atlanta’s defense hadn’t stiffened, the game might have gone right down to the last minute.