Instead, Vick was injured in the preseason and is still unavailable. For a while, it looked like Vick might return for this Monday night matchup but it didn't work out.

A wise man recently said, it's not who you face but when (props to Howard Balzer who dropped knowledge on many of the Rams Nation during the Bash weekend) and for the second week in a row, it appears that this is the case.

What do I mean? Well, the Falcons will likely be geared up for a playoff push when Vick returns. The prevalent thought in NFL fandom is that Vick is the Falcons and gives them life. So far, the Falcons have proved that dropping four straight games after the opening week win over the Dallas Cowboys (who have themselves been undefeated, 3 and 0, after that loss). This Monday the world will get to see what's left in 'Hotlanta'. Will they fold without Vick or will they be tired of everyone talking about Vick and not the team.

But back to talking about when not who. The Rams were fortunate that the Packers lost to Arizona 3 weeks ago. The Cardinals are a dangerous team in that they are always bad. Consistently from year to year, they will lose games. Everyone knows it and it's painful when they pop their head up and win. With a shocking victory over the Green Bay Packers on September 21st, the Cardinals were unlikely to repeat the upset feat in Saint Louis the next week. After listening to Howard and thinking about it, I wondered what if the weeks were reversed. Would the upset-minded Cardinals have beaten the Rams only to lose to the Packers big the next week? No one will ever know. However, you do know this. After beating the Packers, the Cardinals were not going to be dismissed as losers by the Saint Louis Rams.

Now, it's 2 weeks later. The Rams have been able to study two losses by the Falcons. Make that two big losses of 3 to 23 and 26 to 39. Will the Falcons be angry enough to rip up the Ed? Or will they nest in the Dome only to be plucked by the Rams?

If the Rams had played last week, I might think they could overlook the Vick-less Falcons. Maybe, just maybe they would be looking ahead to the Green Bay Packers the next week. But with a bye, we know that won't happen. When you add it all up, it is a perfect time to face the Falcons. On Monday, we'll see if I'm right.

Ram on,
Don