Falcons Vs. Lions: Detroit Drops Second Straight, Atlanta Wins, 23-16

From Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press:

Avril took to Twitter after the game to clear his name, asking why the Falcons didn’t react to any alleged taunting as it happened:

Neither the extent or exact nature of the injury was immediately known. He appeared to injure either his right knee, right ankle or both joints, but he refused to share with the media after the game exactly what area of his leg was hurting, according to Justin Rogers of MLive.com.

In any case, Stafford did reveal that he plans to undergo a precautionary X-ray, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that he’ll undergo an MRI. Stay tuned this week for more information as it becomes available.

After the game, neither Stafford nor coach Jim Schwartz commented on the particular nature of the leg injury (via mlive.com):

Stafford, however, planned to attempt a return to the field had the Lions controlled the ball one more time. That might have sent deep chills down Lions fans’ backs given the quarterback’s long history of injuries. Stafford played just three games last year and 10 as a rookie in 2009.

Pettigrew was averaging 53 receiving yards a game with 321 receiving yards on the season and 2 touchdowns through his first six games of the 2011 NFL season. Pettigrew’s receiving yards per game is up nearly 15 yards per game from last season.

Pettigrew was ranked by Yahoo! as the 4th ranked tight end heading into Week 7 taking on the Atlanta Falcons.

If you played Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones today in fantasy, you didn’t get very many points. Jones didn’t play as he’s still nursing a hamstring injury.

Jones was enjoying a fine rookie campaign until he incurred a hamstring injury two week ago against the Green Bay Packers. He finished that game with one reception for 16 yards and then missed the team’s victory over the Carolina Panthers. Before the Packers game, Jones had put together back-to-back games of 100-plus yards, 127 against the Seattle Seahawks and 115 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While he had 25 receptions for 358 yards, Jones is still looking for a touchdown catch.

For more on the Lions, check out Pride of Detroit. For more on fantasy football, check out Fake Teams and SB Nation’s fantasy football hub, and follow @sbnationfantasy on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and advice.

But Atlanta conceded just one third down conversion on 12 Detroit attempts, short-circuiting a number of drives and keeping the Lions’ offense off the field.

Calvin Johnson had 115 receiving yards and a touchdown in the loss.

That was Stafford’s 11th completion on 20 attempts. The Lions quarterback has 142 passing yards. Johnson has four catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. Detroit got the ball back via a Matt Ryan interception in the red zone on the very next drive.

The Lions are hungry for the win after watching their undefeated streak come to an end against San Francisco last week. Johnson was shut out in that game, the only game this season in which he did not score a touchdown. With one quarter to play in Detroit, he might not be finished.

Hit the jump for the hiliarous GIF. It’s nice to see that the one they call “Megatron” might be human after all.

Of course, it’s hard to make too much fun of the guy. Look how he got into the end zone ...

For many watching the Atlanta Falcons versus the Detroit Lions, it looked like Falcons’ quarterback Matt Ryan’s day was over for sure, maybe even his season, when he went down with a knee injury in the third quarter. Ryan’s offensive tackle stepped on his foot, pushing the quarterback’s leg backwards. Ryan went down in pain, but did manage to limp off the field and into the locker room for further evaluation.

Apparently, everything checked out with Ryan because he was back on the field after one Atlanta defensive series, looking no worse for wear.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan injured his knee on a play in the third quarter. As you can see from the video below, it looks like a pretty nasty injury. Stepped on by his own lineman, Ryan writhed in pain on the field for awhile after the injury. He did manage to leave the field, limping, but the status of his injury is unknown.

Falcons tackle Will Svitek is the one who stepped on Ryan’s foot. Chris Redman will replace Ryan at quarterback for Atlanta. Ryan’s ankle looked as though it was bent sideways, making it that much more surprising that it is being called a knee injury at this point.

For more on Stafford and his matchup with the Falcons, check out Lions blog, Pride of Detroit, and our Falcons blog, The Falcoholic. Also be sure to check out all of our fantasy football news and video highlights of the best Week 7 action.

For more on Scheffler and his matchup with the Falcons, check our Falcons blog The Falcoholic and our Lions blog Pride of Detroit. For more on fantasy football, check out Fake Teams. Follow @sbnationfantasy on Twitter.

Game Date/Time: Sunday, October 23; 1:00pm ET

Location: Ford Field, Detroit, MI

Jones did not participate in any of the Falcons’ practices this week, but unlike when he was ruled out last week, Falcons head coach Mike Smith has left open the possibility of Jones playing this week.

”Julio is the kind of guy who is going to push the envelope,” Smith said on Thursday according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He wants to get back in there. We are going to have to make sure the people in the athletic-performance department and the doctors make the final decision.

Atlanta has yet to score more than 15 points against opponents with a .500 or better record. Needless to say, that isn’t how they envisioned the season starting. A win in Detroit would put them back on track.

Peter King goes with the Lions to get back to winning this week. Only two from ESPN’s panel pick the Falcons to win this game.

This week’s best games carry consequences. For some, the nagging inconsistencies might morph into full-time problems. For other teams, this week gives them an opportunity to confirm their legitimacy as contenders or have their stories written in just another footnote from the early part of the 2011 NFL season. Firings, new quarterbacks, the draft...week 7 will provide fans and the media with so much more to talk about than just the simple mechanics of winning and losing.

As for Tebow himself, the Broncos now have a free pass to tell Tebow devotees “I told you so.” I never really got the impression that the Denver brass sees Tebow as their future, setting up a crash course with a sizeable portion of their fans. What happens if Tebow is solid down the stretch? Trade, keep...the Broncos have options. Either way, they’re starting a new chapter this week; we’re just waiting to see how long this chapter lasts.

For all of the odds on this week’s NFL games and all kinds of other sports, check out Odds Shark. SB Nation also has all of the Week 7 NFL Odds. For more on the Lions, check out Pride of Detroit, and get all your Falcons news and talk at The Falcoholic.