ABOUT THE FALCONS (2-1)
• The Falcons defeated the Buccaneers 56-14 last Thursday at the Georgia Dome. They went 8-for-11 on third downs while limiting Tampa Bay to 3-for-13 in the same scenario.

• Wide receiver Julio Jones leads the NFL with 365 receiving yards and tied for third in receptions (23) and touchdowns (3). He had 161 yards and two touchdowns against Tampa Bay.

• The Falcons have scored an NFL-high 38 points on seven turnovers this season. They're tied 19th in the NFL with a -1 turnover differential, however, with four interceptions and four fumbles.

• The Falcons are tied with Tampa Bay for fifth most in yards allowed per game (387). That's mainly due to their secondary, which has allowed 262.7 yards a game
PLAYER SPEAK QB Matt Ryan
• Ryan has 15 completions of 20 yards or more this season, which ties for most in the NFL.

• He set single-game club records for completions percentage (87.5) and passer rating (155.9) against the Bucs. Ryan went 21-for-24 for 286 yards and three touchdowns.

• On the blowout victory against Tampa Bay: "It was the way we want to play. Certainly even from a game like that, there are things that we can do better and clean up. That's kind of been our focus the last couple of days.But in this league, it's about what are you going to do next."

• On Jones' presence:  "I think defenses certainly have to be aware for where he's at. He's got the ability to go deep or create explosive plays at any time. As far as specific schemes, it's different week to week. …I think the one thing that's constant is you see defenses account for where Julio is lining up."
COACH SPEAK Mike Smith

• The 55-year-old is in his seventh season as the Falcons head coach. He's 62-37 in the regular season but only 1-4 in the playoffs.

• On evaluating Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's debut: "That's a very difficult environment to step into. We're very familiar with it playing once a year. He looked very composed. He made some plays with his feet. Going through the process of evaluating draft eligible players, that was one of the things that stood out to me was his athleticism."

• On the offense's struggles Week 2 against the Bengals: "We were not as efficient as we needed to be on third down. …And we were very poor in terms of turning the ball over. …I know that Coach Zimmer brought the same scheme from Cincinnati so there's going to be some familiarities."

MASTER TESFATSION