(My Sportsbook) - With seven touchdown passes in his last two games - both victories over 2005 playoff teams - Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick isn't just making history in the NFC's South Division.
He's making revisionist history, too.
The former Virginia Tech collegiate star, perennially dismissed as a running novelty who'd never have the stuff to truly succeed as an elite professional, is suddenly gaining renewed plaudits from those very same NFL-watching highbrows as the next great multi-purpose signal-calling threat.
Vick's Week 8 performance - in which he traveled to Cincinnati and completed 20-of-28 passes for 291 yards, three scores and a 140.6 QB rating while also gaining 55 yards on nine carries in a 29-27 victory - earned him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in his six-year career.
The defeat of the Bengals came on the heels of Vick's personal-best four- touchdown performance in an overtime win over defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh, but his Week 7 candidacy for similar player honors was short- circuited by teammate Alge Crumpler, the recipient of three of the TD tosses.
"Those were the best two games I've had in a long time," Vick said. "I'm just getting more opportunities to throw the ball. There is a certain comfort level and a groove that you get when you can throw the ball around the field. The more completions you get, the more comfortable you get."
The consecutive wins helped the Falcons shake the after-effects of a post-bye loss to the New York Giants in mid-October, and made them a co-passenger in the divisional driver's seat with fellow 5-2 New Orleans. Atlanta and the Saints are one-and-a-half games up on third-place Carolina (4-4), and three better than cellar-dwelling Tampa Bay (2-5).
Meanwhile, Week 9 foe Detroit comes off a bye week that capped a miserable opening stretch of 2006, which ended with a 31-24 loss to the New York Jets on Oct. 22.
The Lions made player news on the day following their non-game last weekend, waiving wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim on Monday for the second time in 18 months.
Hakim had 17 receptions for 147 yards in six games in 2006 with Detroit after catching 34 passes for 489 yards and two touchdowns for New Orleans last season. He was with the Lions previously from 2002-04, catching 117 passes for 1,523 yards and 10 scores.
The team, under first-year head coach Rod Marinelli, enters the week deep in the NFC North basement at 1-6, already trailing first-place Chicago by six games and sitting two games behind third-place Green Bay.
SERIES HISTORY
The Lions lead the all-time series with Atlanta, 22-9, but were drilled, 27-7, when the teams last met, at Ford Field last Thanksgiving. That loss precipitated the dismissal of Detroit head coach Steve Mariucci with five games remaining in 2005. The Lions were 17-10 road winners in the previous matchup, in Week 5 of the 2004 season. Detroit had also won the previous matchup played in the Motor City, a 13-10 win in 2000.
Atlanta head coach Jim Mora is 1-1 in his career against the Lions. Detroit's Marinelli will be meeting both Mora and the Falcons for the first time as a head coach.
FALCONS OFFENSE VS. LIONS DEFENSE
Vick or no Vick, the Falcons have primarily been a rushing team, and lead the NFL with averages of 210.9 yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry.
They are the only team with two players in the league's top 20 individual rushers - Warrick Dunn with 637 yards and Vick with 496.
Vick leads the league with 24 rushes of 10 or more yards, while Dunn, who's scored two touchdowns on the ground, has gone for 100 or more yards in two of his past three meetings with the Lions.
Also, his five runs of 20 yards or more and tied for the NFL lead with Vick.
Another run threat, rookie Jerious Norwood, leads the league's rookies with a 6.8-yard average for those with 40 or more rushes.
Crumpler is Vick's favorite air target, having caught 26 passes for 383 yards and five touchdowns through seven games. He caught seven passes for 104 yards and two scores in the November 2005 defeat of the Lions.
The Falcons average 364.1 total yards per game.
Guard Kynan Forney is questionable with a shoulder injury, and running back Fred McCrary is probable with a balky knee.
Defensively, Detroit has relied primarily on its pass rush to generate success.
Defensive end James Hall has four sacks in three home games, and holds the team lead overall with five. He, however, is listed as questionable with a persistent shoulder injury.
Elsewhere, cornerback Dre' Bly has one sack and two interceptions in his career against the Falcons, including a 56-yard INT return for a touchdown.
Safety Terrence Holt leads Detroit with two interceptions in 2006.
The Lions have given up an average of 350.0 total yards per game, and are minus-4 in turnover ratio.
Defensive tackle Shaun Cody is out with a toe injury.
LIONS OFFENSE VS. FALCONS DEFENSE
The Lions have been prodigious but mistake-prone through seven games.
Quarterback Jon Kitna has several big-name weapons, but has hurt the overall effort with nine interceptions in seven games. Overall, he's completed 167- of-264 passes for 1,853 yards and nine touchdowns, posting a QB rating of 81.2.
He's thrown at least one TD pass in five straight games and his 63.3 completion percentage is on pace to be the highest in team history. Gary Danielson holds the current team record with his 61.7 percent success rate in 1984.
Kevin Jones has a team-best 474 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, and ranks third in the NFL among running backs with 37 catches for 266 yards. Overall, his 740 scrimmage yards are eighth-best in the league, and he's scored five touchdowns.
Wide receiver Roy Williams, who had a 31-yard touchdown catch in the last game between the teams, leads the Lions with 38 catches for 581 yards (seventh in the NFL) and three scores.
Also, Williams is looking for a third straight game with a touchdown catch and has seven TDs in his last seven games at home. He has 299 yards receiving and two scores in his last two outings at Ford Field.
Fellow wideout Mike Furrey is second on the team with 431 yards receiving and shares Williams' team lead with three TD catches. He had 109 yards and a touchdown catch against the Jets.
Tight end Dan Campbell has eight catches for 142 yards and a 17.8-yard average, which is second in the NFL for a tight end with at least five receptions.
The offense averages 327.1 yards per game.
Atlanta will again be without defensive end standout John Abraham, who's been in and out of the lineup all season with a recurring groin problem.
The Falcons have allowed an average of 329.6 total yards per game, but their turnover ratio of plus-8 is third in the NFC and reflects an opportunistic nature.
Cornerback DeAngelo Hall is tied for first in the NFL with four interceptions and defensive end Patrick Kerney has a team-high five sacks.
Hall has five interceptions in his last eight games and had one against the Lions last season. Kerney had 1 sacks in that meeting with Detroit and his 58 sacks for his career are tied for the team's all-time record with Chuck Smith.
Defensive tackle Rod Coleman also had 1 sacks in his last game against the Lions, and his 40 sacks since 2002 are the most in the NFL by a defensive tackle.
Elsewhere on the Falcons' injury report are linebacker Edgerton Hartwell, who's questionable with a knee problem; and defensive tackle Grady Jackson, who's listed as probable with a knee injury of his own.
OVERALL ANALYSIS
Here's another one of those "trap games" that the oh-so-informed NFL observers like to speak so much about.
The Falcons are coming off a pair of important wins. They're on the road. And they're two weeks away from beginning a potentially season-defining stretch against Baltimore, New Orleans and Washington.
Oh, and another thing - they're a lot better than the Lions.
Vick and Dunn will gash a porous Detroit defense on a fast indoor playing surface and the Falcons' defense will force Kitna into one or two of his routine weekly mistakes.
Put it all together, and it does a good job erasing any potential traps.
My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Falcons 30, Lions 17
