Monday Night Lights

Well, that sure is going to be a tough act to follow. The Atlanta Falcons will take to the national stage Monday night to face the New York Giants in the ATL, and after last night's Bills-Cowboys game, the Falcons and Giants should be feeling a lot of pressure. I figure now is as good a time as any to out myself: I've been a Buffalo Bills fan since I could breathe. Last night's game was about as exciting, thrilling and disappointing as football gets. As a Bills fan, I've grown used to that. I've witnessed losses in four straight Super Bowls. I've lived through the Music City Miracle. I've lived through a decade of missing the playoffs and a revolving door policy when it comes to players. I've lived through coming so close and yet being so far. And now I've lived through this. Barely. So when I refer to the Falcons in a disappointing way, trust me, I know what I'm talking about. And I can also understand the kind of frustration Falcons fans are feeling right now.

But, back to MNF, I really hope those who watched last night's game as impartial viewers thought the game was exciting and riveting and lived up to being featured on national TV. Now, it's the Falcons' turn. This would be a tough game to follow under any circumstances, but when competing with the MLB playoffs, the Falcons and Giants are going to have to bring it. There's not much here in the way of interesting side stories as far as any sort of rivalry goes. In fact, I think this one was originally supposed to be billed as a Michael Vick-Eli Manning face-off. Of course, the Falcons' troubles and triumphs up to this point in the season read like a book, and the Giants have rebounded from an 0-2 start to look like a darn good football team.

I think Monday night's game is going to be a good one. Every team in the NFL (normally) gets up for MNF. Hopefully, the Falcons can avoid public apologies this time around, but it's an exciting atmosphere for players and fans alike. Now, the Falcons have had some struggles inside the locker room since Sunday's loss to the Titans (See: Alge Crumpler exploding, DeAngelo Hall melting down, Bobby Petrino doing his best to provide damage control) so things game-wise and pre-game-wise are going to be interesting. Following last night's game is going to be tough enough, but the Falcons need to shore up any little tiffs they have in the locker room in order to avoid national embarrassment in six days. If they do that, Monday's game could be a good one. A win on a national stage would certainly benefit the Falcons and all the bad press they've received. And, let's face it, the Falcons have done very well in the Dome this year. It might not be the game of the year, but the similarities between the matchups of last night's game and Monday's game are striking. You have one team every one has written off and another that is almost assured of victory. The Falcons might as well be from Buffalo this week. Let's just hope they can provide the same type of excitement when Monday rolls around.