The Atlanta Falcons have struggled in the red zone this season, but Tony Gonzalez won't complain about his lack of targets.

Gonzalez is second on the Falcons with 11 receptions, 16 less than Julio Jones.

"When you have so many weapons like this, nobody can afford to be like, 'Hey you’ve got to throw me the ball in order for us to win.' I’m not going to take that attitude because I know the caliber and the talent that we have on here," Gonzalez said. "It might have been different when I was in Kansas City. I would have come to you and been like, `Yeah, I think probably need to get the ball a little bit more.’ But with the guys we have on this team, it’s not like that at all. 

"I will play whatever play is called. And if Matt puts the ball in the air, I will try my (hardest) to make the catch. And hopefully I can help this team win." 

The Atlanta Falcons defeated the St. Louis Rams 31-24 despite a late comeback from Sam Bradford.

The Falcons had just a +0.8 advantage in the Trench Counter, averaging 6.4 yards per play compared to 5.8 for the Rams. The Rams had a +1 edge in Total Rushes/Completions.

Matt Ryan went 33-for-43 for two touchdowns, one a 81-yard connection to Julio Jones. Jones finished with 11 catches for 182 yards.

Steven Jackson had just three carries for zero yards leaving the game early with a thigh injury, though he did catch a touchdown pass to open the scoring in the first half.

Bradford went 32-for-55 for 352 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, doing most of his damage late in the game.

The Atlanta Falcons will have Julio Jones and Roddy White in the lineup in Week 2 against the St. Louis Rams.

Jones has battled a knee injury all week, while White will continue to play though a bad injury to his ankle.

The New Orleans Saints picked up a key win in the NFC South in Sean Payton's return to the sideline with a 23-17 decision over the Atlanta Falcons.

The Saints had a +3.3 edge in The Trench Counter, moving the ball better in the air and committing one fewer turnover. New Orleans had a +16 advantage in Total Rushes/Completions with the differential largely coming with 29 to 14 rushing attempts.

Drew Brees went 26-for-35 for 357 yards, two touchdowns (Marques Colston and Jimmy Graham) and an interception.

Matt Ryan went 25-for-38 for 304 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The Falcons established an effective running game with Steven Jackson, but gave him just 11 carries for 77 yards.

Colin Kaepernick and Matt Ryan met last January with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line and have advanced to the Elite 8 of our 'Be The GM' series.

Kaepernick completed 62.4 percent of his 218 regular season attempts and threw an interception in just 1.4 percent of those. Kaepernick’s decision-making and accuracy was far more advanced than expected and the strength of his arm puts the entire field in play vertically and horizontally.

Kaepernick is gifted as a runner but is on another plane. Kaepernick ran for 415 yards on 62 attempts (6.6 yards per carry average). His 181 yards and two touchdowns on 16 attempts in the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers was one of the most dominant performances from a quarterback in history and even 25 percent of that production would make Kaepernick a future Hall of Famer.

Ryan became one of the NFL’s most accurate quarterbacks last season with an increase in his responsibilities. The Falcons went away from the run and Ryan completed 68.6 percent of his 615 attempts, which shattered his previous career high. Ryan had a passer rating of 99.1, becoming an elite quarterback when it looked like he might plateau on that second strata around 90.0.

Ryan is now 28, but there is little doubt that his skill-set will age well and he almost certainly will get to play the remainder of his career throwing to a legitimate lead receiver in Julio Jones.

After some early career playoff disappointments, the Matty Ice nickname has become deserved. Ryan had a number of remarkable comebacks during the regular season in 2012 and miraculously setup a Matt Bryant field goal to defeat the Seahawks to advance to the NFC Championship Game. We know Ryan is now more than capable of leading a quality team to a Super Bowl and being in that 85-90 percentile while minimizing mistakes is hugely valuable.

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