was unusually quiet Thursday Case Keenum Jersey , three days before one of the most anticipated matchups of his NFL career.He was humble. He was focused. He was more of a team player than a look-at-me guy.He seemed somewhat out of character. But the Jaguars probably liked it after weeks of unrest surrounding their star defensive back.Ramsey screamed profanities at media members during training camp, got suspended for a week and then created a stir by calling out several quarterbacks in one interview and blasted a few more players in another .With the season opener against the New York Giants and receiver standout Odell Beckham Jr. looming, Ramsey clammed up."Looking forward to it," said Ramsey, who was added to the injury report because of ankle soreness. "Looking forward to beginning the whole season with the whole team. A lot of people are going to try to make it about me and (Beckham) specifically. That's not what it's about. Football is a team game. There's going to be 11 guys out there for us, 11 guys out there for them. We're going to have to come together and do what we've got to do to try to get a win."It wasn't what anyone expected from the outspoken Ramsey.Beckham insisted Wednesday that Ramsey won't get under his skin and there won't be a repeat of his fight with cornerback Josh Norman in 2016. The three-time All-Pro said he won't take Ramsey's bait.Asked whether that's easier said than done, Ramsey declined to offer much."I don't know," he said. "Again, it's not about me. It's about the team."Ramsey downplayed his ability to talk trash, even though he got into a public spat with now-retired NFL receiver Steve Smith in 2016 and upset Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green so much that Green grabbed Ramsey around the neck and slammed him to the ground last year."My play is what really gets people talking, to be honest with you, and that's just extra on top," Ramsey said. "I'm going to be me. I don't think that's something that we need to continue to talk about week in and week in. I'm going to me."Ramsey did acknowledge that he's fine with playing the role of villain."What people who don't know me think about me doesn't affect me, how I live my life, how I go about being who I am," said Ramsey, who became a father for the first time in late July. "I'm not going to change because somebody doesn't like me. There's a bunch or more people in the world."Many of them will tune in Sunday to watch Ramsey line up across from Beckham, who signed a $95 million extension that made him the highest-paid receiver in the league."I think anytime you get two guys like that, that are as big of stars as they are, everybody wants to watch it," Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles said. "We'll get our corrections made (on the sideline) and make sure everything's set offensively for the next series and peek up there as much as possible to see what's going on with them. I know they'll both be ready and fired up. It'll be fun to watch."Ramsey surely will have a different demeanor once the game starts. And if he shuts down Beckham, he probably will be even more boisterous.After all, this is the same guy who made it clear two weeks ago that he was "unapologetic" about anything he said about other NFL players. He also opened camp talking about facing Beckham in the opener."Let's get this out the way right now," Ramsey said in late July after reporting to camp a few days late . "He is a good receiver. We all know that. But you all know me at the same time. Yeah, he's good. But I'm good, too. If you want to say he's the best at his position, I'm the best at my position, so we are going to go at it. We are going to give the people a show the first game of the season."He is going to have some wins. I am going to have some wins. I just plan on having more wins. That is the plan I am going to go in there with. ... That is what you all asked for as fans of the game, as (fans of) the NFL, everybody. That is what you all asked for. We are going to give it to you, for sure. I know I am." The 5 o’clock club is published Wednesday to Saturday during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.Left for dead earlyAt the end of week 5, the Atlanta Falcons were being left for dead moldering at the bottom of the NFC South with a 1-4 record.Of course, the Falcons’ losses have come against some pretty damned good teams: Eagles, Saints, Bengals and Steelers. Those four teams have a combined W-L record of 19-10-1, and three of the four are in either first or second place in their divisions (the Eagles being the exception).A revival of sortsWins against the Buccaneers and Giants in consecutive weeks before a Week 8 bye have renewed the hope of Atlanta fans.The confidence level measured by the FanPulse surveys showed a 15% increase from Week 7 to Week 8, and an overall jump of 31% from Week 6 to Week 8 HaHa Clinton-Dix Jersey , with confidence rising from 19% to its current level of 50%.However only 42% of Falcons fans surveyed in the BYE week believed that their team would be going to the playoffs this season.Of course, the two wins in Weeks 6 & 7 came against teams with a combined W-L record of 4-11, with the Buccaneers losing 4 out of their last 5 games.Still, the Falcons beat the Panthers (a division rival) in Week 2, and Atlanta has a reputation for being able to put up points offensively in a hurry.But, is that reputation really well-deserved?The Falcons are ranked 7th in yards per gameThe Falcons are certainly capable of pushing the ball up and down the field.But they rank only 11th in scoring, which is good, but Atlanta’s 27 points per game is far cry from the 33.4 points per game being racked up by Drew Brees and the Saints, the last team that managed to hang a loss on the Redskins.11th in Points per gameThere’s a fair question to be asked here about the defenses the Falcons have faced.How good have the Falcons opponents been at preventing points from being scored?Well, the overall rankings for points per game given up for the Falcons’ 7 opponents are: 7th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 23rd, 29th and 32nd.That’s not exactly a murderer’s row of tough defenses, with a median of 21st and average of 20th.The Redskins, currently ranked 5th overall at 19.1 points per game, will be the best-ranked defense the Falcons have faced this year.The next best was the Eagles, ranked 7th, who beat the Falcons 18-12.3rd in Passing Yards Per GameThe Falcons have excelled at passing this year, though they rank just 30th in rushing yards per game on offense, and their top running back, Devonta Freeman, has just been placed on IR.Can the Redskins compete with Atlanta?There seems to be an opportunity for the Redskins to follow a successful game script that has been working well so far, where they completely shut down the running game of the Falcons, then unleash the Dhogs to attack, harass and harry Matt Ryan in order to disrupt the Falcon passing attack.If it works against the Falcons like it has worked against every opponent except the Saints, then the Falcons may find themselves struggling to score over 21 points.It seems unlikely that the Falcons’ 30th ranked scoring defense will keep the Redskins from getting their usual average of 21 points per game; on the other hand, there seems to be a very good chance that the Redskins will be able to shave a touchdown off of the Falcons average of 27 points per game.All in all, this looks like a good matchup, that should see the Redskins slight favorites at home.I checked one website quickly and found the Redskins favored at -1, which seems about right.I don’t think the Falcons fans yet understand or believe what the Redskins defense is capable of.But they will.Of course, the Falcons fans may not see it quite the same way I do.The FalcoholicReading through the Falcoholic website, a couple of things become clear. Falcons fans believe that a loss to the Redskins this Sunday would almost certainly spell the end of their playoff hopes, as it would drop them to 3-5 overall, and would give the Redskins the head-to-head advantage that we enjoy against the Packers and Panthers at the moment.The Falcons fans feel that a win on the road against Washington this week would keep them alive at 4-4.Falcons fans don’t think the Redskins are the better team.The website is filled with references that I believe D.J. Swearinger would characterize as “disrespectful”.Falcoholic articles suggest that the Redskins “are not as good as their record suggests.”Another article remarks that “Washington is not a 5-2 football team” despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary.Let’s take a peek into the thoughts of Falcons fans as we gear up for this Sunday’s important conference game against the 3rd place team from the NFC South.A look at what’s left of the Atlanta Falcons 2018 scheduleWhat you need to know to watch Falcons vs. Redskins in Week 8NFC playoff picture: The conference is crowded and the Falcons are still in the huntNo trades for the Falcons as deadline passes
