Ovie's Block

(Editor's Note: Atlanta Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli, a former Porter-Gaud High School star, chronicles the 2009 NFL season each Sunday for The Post and Courier.)

What do you do when your starting quarterback and star running back are out of the game with injuries?

You find a way to win.

That's what good teams do and I still feel like we -- the Atlanta Falcons -- are a playoff team.

The fact that we were able to beat Tampa Bay (20-17) without our quarterback, Matt Ryan, and star running back, Michael Turner, proves that we've got depth and character on this team. No one panicked. We just went about our business of finding a way to win the game.

Injuries are a part of the game, and every team has injuries -- you've just got to overcome them.

I know it was Tampa Bay and they don't have a good record, but they still pick up a paycheck like the rest of us.

I learned a long time ago that any win in the NFL is a huge win.

The Red-man

I got into the huddle in the third quarter and looked around and Matt and Michael were not there and thought "are you kidding me."

This is a big game, we need a win and now we're without two of our biggest offensive weapons.

I had played with (Atlanta quarterback) Chris Redman in Baltimore and he was our starter for a while, so I knew he could handle himself in this situation. Chris could start for a lot of teams in the NFL.

I had complete confidence that Chris could get the job done, and with Jerious Norwood back in the lineup at running back, I knew he'd be able to pick up the slack after Michael hurt his foot.

Chris was a little excited and a little nervous in the huddle. I'm not sure when the last time he was in a game that was as meaningful as this one. He called one play so quickly, we had to ask him to repeat it again.

Without Chris and Jerious, I'm not sure we would have been able to win that game.

Trailing 17-13 late in the fourth quarter, we had one of those classic two-minute drives. Chris was running the offense and we were moving down the field.

We had the ball first-and-goal and waited until fourth down to finally score. Chris hit James Island's own Roddy White on a slant pass that won the game.

I've watched this play 50 times on film over the last week. Roddy did a great job of acting like a basketball player and blocking their defensive back out of the play. That's why Roddy's an All-Pro receiver.

Michael Vick Week

We play the Philadelphia Eagles (today) and it's a huge game with playoff implications.

We're 6-5 and the Eagles are 7-4, and we're battling for a wild-card berth.

Of course, everyone in the media doesn't care about that. All the media wants to talk about is Michael Vick making his first appearance in Atlanta since his return to the NFL.

Michael owned Atlanta. He was synonymous with the city when he played here. No athlete was a bigger superstar than Michael.

I understand why the media has to ask questions about Michael, but I think the game is being lost in the discussion.

I'm a big Michael Vick fan. We live in the same neighborhood. I was his teammate for a couple of months and I'm glad to see him back in the NFL. I wish him all the success, except (today).

I know the Falcon fans are going to be torn. I hope most of them are true Falcons fans before they're Michael Vick fans.

Hopefully, Michael Vick is going to be just another player we're going to have to try and stop. We'll treat him like any other player with a different uniform.

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