Mike Celizic

It wasn’t as easy as it started out to be, but the Falcons did what they had to do and what they were supposed to do Monday night. And because they did, it’s time to stop talking about what Michael Vick doesn’t do and start talking about Atlanta as a serious challenger to the Eagles as the best in the NFC.

It’s not that they beat the Jets, who aren’t much of a football team, especially now that they’re down to their fourth quarterback of the season. And to call them bad is giving them more credit than they deserve. But they have some players, and those players have enough pride to crank themselves up for one supreme effort on the NFL’s Monday night stage.

You could say the Jets didn’t give themselves a chance, with Vinny Testaverde fumbling three times and throwing an interception before his right Achilles' tendon got tired of being chased all around the field and called it quits.

But you can also say the Falcons didn’t give the Jets a chance. The Falcons took advantage of New York’s largesse, running out to a 20-0 lead before allowing the Jets to think they had gotten back into the game with a touchdown before the half.

They went into the locker room that way, and the Jets could tell themselves that, despite all the mistakes they had made, they were still in the game. They came out knowing that they would receive the second-half kickoff, and if they could drive the field and get another score, they would be back in business.

We’ve seen it before. Teams that are vastly overmatched get to thinking they can win a game with the nation watching. They’ve got nothing to lose, and the opponents, thinking they have the game won, get caught napping.

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But the Falcons defense did its job, forcing the Jets into a four-and-out to start the half. Then Vick and the offense went to work.

Vick didn’t have a great game, completing just 11 of 26 passes for an exceptionally modest 116 yards. Three of his passes were picked off. But he ran for two touchdowns and was, again, the difference in the game.

What Vick doesn’t do is put up classic numbers, and you’d like the Falcons more if he were more efficient as a passer. But what he does do is win games. Like all great players, he has the ability to perform when it matters.

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And that first Falcon drive of the third quarter was one of those times. Vick and the Falcons had a bad team on the ropes and it was time to put them away. When you think of winners, this is what you think of in football, the drive that sucks the hope out of an opponent, the take-that drive.

The Jets were cranked to stop the Falcons, who started from two yards inside the 50, and the Falcons calmly and methodically rammed the ball down New York’s throat. The drive took 13 plays and ate up 6:20 of the third quarter. With a fourth down on the goal line, they scorned the field goal and gave it to Vick to carry into the end zone.

Vick got the TD, increasing the lead to 27-7, and that was it.

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