(My Sportsbook) - If Atlanta head coach Jim Mora had his choice of useful road destinations for the week with his disappointingly turnover-prone and remarkably injury-laden team, among the last he'd smartly consider would be M&T Bank Stadium.

However, thanks to the seemingly sadistic mid-November tendencies of the NFL head office, that's exactly where the embattled Falcons will be heading - straight to Baltimore for a 1pm date with the first-place and streaking Ravens.

The ferocious Inner Harbor residents scored their third consecutive win last Sunday, rallying from a franchise-record 17-point deficit and blocking a last- minute field goal in a 27-26 road defeat of Tennessee in quarterback Steve McNair's homecoming game.

Importantly, when paired with Cincinnati's eight-point loss to San Diego, the come-from-behind victory upped Baltimore's now-comfortable AFC North-leading cushion to three games with seven games remaining.

The Ravens are an additional game ahead of remaining division mates Cleveland and Pittsburgh, who remain knotted for third place in the four-team loop with matching 3-6 records through nine games.

Meanwhile, in Georgia, the matchup's other predatory birds are reeling.

The Falcons dropped their second straight game as a heavy favorite last weekend, falling, 17-13, to the visiting Browns just seven days after dropping an equally surprising 30-14 verdict to the Detroit Lions.

Quarterback Michael Vick had entered the two-game stretch on a career-best run of touchdown pass-tossing, but plummeted to Earth against Cleveland after completing just 16-of-40 passes, with two interceptions and a critical fumble in the fourth quarter.

It was the second straight two-INT/one-fumble week for the six-year veteran.

Elsewhere, the team took the latest in a series of painful hits when defensive end Patrick Kerney was lost for the season with a pectoral injury sustained while making a tackle in the second quarter of the game with the Browns.

Kerney, a first-round draft pick in 1999, had recorded a team-high five sacks and forced a pair of fumbles through eight-plus games. His loss compounds the absence of pass-rushing complement John Abraham, who is out this week with a groin problem.

"This is a humbling league," Mora said. "Two weeks ago we were flying high. We'll get it fixed. We lost two in a row. We don't like that but it is what it is and we got to keep fighting on. That's what you do if you want to survive in this league, and we intend on surviving."

The Falcons enter the week tied for second in the NFC South at 5-4. New Orleans leads the division at 6-3, while Carolina and Atlanta are even, one game behind the Saints. Tampa Bay is last among the quartet, at 2-7 through nine games.

SERIES HISTORY

The all-time regular season series between the Falcons and Ravens is tied, 1-1, with Baltimore taking a 19-13 overtime decision on the road in 1999 and Atlanta returning the favor with a 20-17 home victory in 2002. The Falcons have not played a regular season game in Baltimore since facing the Colts at Memorial Stadium in 1969, and are 0-3 in Charm City all-time.

The teams also played a memorable preseason game, with Falcons quarterback Michael Vick suffering a broken leg that sidelined him for the first 11 games of the 2003 season.

Baltimore's Brian Billick is 1-1 against Atlanta in his career, with the 1999 victory marking his first-ever road win as a head coach. The Falcons' Mora will be meeting both Billick and the Ravens for the first time.

FALCONS OFFENSE VS. RAVENS DEFENSE

Something's got to give...and the Falcons will have to hope it's not Vick.

Atlanta enters with the league's top rushing offense, averaging 198.9 yards per game with the dual threat of Vick (650 yards) and Warrick Dunn (761) - the only teammate tandem both among the NFL's top 15 individual ground-gainers.

The Ravens, meanwhile, have the No. 2 rush defense in the league, allowing 79.7 yards.

Success has been plentiful against AFC opponents, with Mora going 8-3 in his career against the "other" conference, including four straight road wins.

Meanwhile, Vick has won seven of his last eight starts against cross- conference foes, throwing 13 TD passes and running for two scores.

He is tied for first in the NFL with eight rushes of 20 yards or more, and the team is 16-4 in the 20 games in which he's thrown at least two touchdown passes. And Dunn, a former Tampa Bay standout, has averaged 90.6 yards per game in his last eight meetings with AFC teams.

Elsewhere, rookie Jerious Norwood leads the NFL with 268 fourth-quarter rush yards on 32 carries - an 8.4-yard average. Norwood missed the Cleveland game with a strained knee.

Vick's favorite air target, tight end Alge Crumpler, leads all players at his position with nine catches of 20-plus yards and has scored five touchdowns in his last four games. He is listed as questionable, however, and did not practice Wednesday with an ankle injury.

Wide receiver Michael Jenkins provides another outlet and has scored a touchdown in three straight games against AFC opposition.

The Falcons average 356.8 total yards per game, good for ninth in the league. Baltimore is fifth in the league in total defense, allowing 284.1 yards per game.

The Ravens have some injury issues of their own heading in, including key defenders Ray Lewis (back) and Adalius Thomas (ankle) both listed as questionable.

However, the unit has been dominant as a whole, intercepting at least one pass in 10 straight games en route to an NFL-leading total of 18. The combined total of takeaways (26) and sacks (25) also leads the league, one better than Chicago's 50.

They've also been stingy in permitting first downs, allowing just 15.2 per week - the second-lowest total in the league.

Trevor Pryce was named the AFC's special teams player of the week for blocking the would-be-decisive field goal against Tennessee.

Thomas leads the team with eight sacks, while safety Chris McAlister is high with four interceptions. The team's turnover ratio of plus-13 is tops in the NFL.

RAVENS OFFENSE VS. FALCONS DEFENSE

The Billick play-calling experiment has been an unquestioned success, resulting in three straight wins since the sacking of former offensive coordinator Jim Fassel.

Baltimore has scored 35, 26 and 27 points in the three games since a Week 7 bye that had been immediately preceded by point totals of 15, 16, 3 and 21.

McNair was particularly prodigious in his return match with the Titans, throwing for 373 yards on 29-of-47 passing with three touchdowns.

He's thrived in two career meetings with the Falcons while with Tennessee, completing 24-of-40 passes for 311 yards and three scores while posting a 109.5 QB rating. He's 23-10 overall in 33 career games against the NFC.

Running back Jamal Lewis was held to just 45 yards in the win against the Titans, but nonetheless leads the team with 578 yards and two touchdowns on 168 carries. He's run for more than 1,200 yards over his last 16 games against NFC opposition.

Wideout Derrick Mason, who's questionable with a calf injury, has caught at least five passes in seven of his 12 home games with the Ravens. Fellow wide receiver Mark Clayton, who leads the team with 41 catches, has a career-high 502 receiving yards through nine games.

On defense, the banged-up Falcons will rely on the opportunism that's led to a plus-5 turnover ratio (third-best in the NFC). Atlanta has allowed 330.9 yards per game; only the 20th-best total in the league compared to a Ravens' offense that's generated 302 per game (21st in the league).

Linebacker Edgerton Hartwell was a Raven from 2001-04, and cornerback DeAngelo Hall has 302 return yards on 10 interceptions since 2005, best in the league. He leads the 2006 team with four interceptions, tied for first in the NFC.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Just two weeks ago, it wouldn't have been too difficult to imagine this as a potential Super Bowl preview. But now, it might be simply one team's add-on to a division lead and the other's countdown to the end of a disappointing season.

The Ravens are hardly awesome on offense, but against a wounded foe they figure to score enough points to provide insurance for a defense that is built to stop precisely what Atlanta does so well - run the ball.

Vick may break loose for a play or two, but it's just as likely that the highlights will be offset by a mistake or two that allow McNair and Lewis to control the ball and grind to a smothering-type win.

My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Ravens 20, Falcons 10