It has been a dreadful start to the Atlanta Falcons season.  Under the tenure of their current head coach Mike Smith the Falcons have not had a losing record and have only missed the playoffs once.  They are now in danger of having both a losing record and missing the playoffs for the only the second time under Mike Smith.  It doesn’t help that the Falcons have some injuries at key positions.  WR Julio Jones will now miss the entire season with a foot injury.  RB Steven Jackson has missed some time with a quad injury.  Their best defensive player, LB Sean Weatherspoon hasn’t played this season, but is eligible to return later this year. Even with the setback the Falcons have managed to stay competitive, but the losses are starting to mount.  Coming up short against the New Orleans Saints to start the season.  Losing late to the Dolphins, Patriots and Jets in consecutive weeks could put a damper on their Super Bowl aspirations.  Their schedule will get a little easier, but they still have the Seahawks, Saints, Packers and 49ers later in the season.  If Atlanta didn’t lose to the New York Jets on Monday night I wouldn’t be writing them off, but it’s hard not to when they lose another game at home and Julio Jones is lost for the season.

Here’s the scary thing about the Indianapolis Colts.  They are just about to get through the toughest part of their schedule.  Their next two games are against the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos.  The rest of their schedule has them playing the Tennessee Titans twice and the Kansas City Chiefs.  Those two teams are their toughest opponents.  I would have put the Houston Texans in that category, but the Texans are falling faster than the Atlanta Falcons.  If the Colts defeat the Chargers and the Broncos they will be looked at as Super Bowl contenders the rest of the way.  I’ve said it before, but it’s worth saying again.  It is amazing to see that the Colts with QB Andrew Luck look like the same team with Peyton Manning as their quarterback.  It’s only Luck’s second year, but he looks even better than his great rookie season.  It’s a different looking Colts team than in years past, but they would like to win another Super Bowl and prove they don’t need Peyton to do it.

Since their struggles against the Seattle Seahawks and the Indianapolis Colts in consecutive weeks, the 49ers have dominated their opponents.  They are back to looking like the Super Bowl contenders that they’re supposed to be, but looking at their last two opponents we should wait a little bit.  The St. Louis Rams and the Houston Texans have been rather suspect early in the season and they were ill prepared for the 49ers.  I’m first and foremost a Niners fan, but I’m holding back any kind of assumption that they will coast through the rest of the season.  They still have to play the Seattle Seahawks one more time.  Also the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.  Another division opponent, the Arizona Cardinals have had a good start to the season and the Niners will host them next week.  If the 49ers win their next three games before their bye week they will be sitting pretty at 6-2.  It will be interesting to see, but make no mistake that the 49ers are playing great football right now and they want to prove everyone wrong about their early season struggles.