The Kansas City Chiefs third game of the season will definitely be the least watched NFL contest of the week. The Chiefs travel to the Georgia Dome to play the Atlanta Falcons, a team that may actually be worse on paper than the Chiefs are right now. If you've seen any sort of power rankings this off season, nearly every one has the Chiefs and Falcons ranked at some combination of 32nd and 31st.
I'll confess I don't know much about the Falcons' off season. Dave from The Falcoholic could you tell you a lot more. There was the whole Michael Vick deal. We laughed at them when they drafted Matt Ryan. What else is there?
With both teams in shambles after the 2007 season, there aren't many talented positions on the Falcons, making it difficult to point to a particular match up and say that's a challenge. Instead this game will be more about the development of Brodie Croyle. Week 3 will be his ninth NFL start. The Falcons traded away Pro Bowl corner back Deangelo Hall to the Raiders during the off season, meaning Croyle should have a good opportunity to swing the ball around and attack the defense.
If Brodie Croyle hasn't shown substantial improvement against the Atlanta Falcons, I wouldn't be getting nervous quite yet but I would be a tad concerned. A lot of this is dependent on other factors as well - the offensive line, the running game. But if Croyle gets a fair shot at a pass defense that was ranked 23rd with Deangelo Hall and doesn't produce, the Croyle critics will multiply and become much louder.
Thoughts on the Chiefs and Falcons?