1a. The Atlanta Falcons are 3-2. I know there were many great sports moments this weekend, but the Falcons going into Lambeu Field and beating the Packers on the road merits them being my number one story. Deal with it. For a team that was supposed to be as rancid as five-week-old milk, the Falcons have been solid so far this season. Rookie QB Matt Ryan has been great in his freshman campaign, and RB Michael Turner has run for 100 yards three times this year. That’s more than Ladanian Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson, and Marion Barber. No coincidence that the team is 3-0 when he does this. The Falcons are the feel-good story of the NFL thus far, as the franchise moves away from the Michael Vick-era in Hot Lanta.

1b. The Dolphins are 2-2. In a similar light, the Dolphins are also much improved as they beat San Diego 17-10. Perhaps the best part of this improvement is the fact that their victories are over two of the AFC’s best: the Chargers and the Patriots. Bill Parcels strikes again.

2. Bye Bye, Cubbies. It is almost unfair and cruel to highlight the Chicago Cubs and their poor fans for another early exit from the playoffs, but something must be said. This was supposed to be the year to break the Curse in Chi-Town, but as it has gone the last 100 years, the playoffs provided nothing more than a choke stage for the favorites. They scored just six runs against the Dodgers, made countless errors, and had their big bats fail them. The Cubs haven’t won a postseason game since 2003, losing nine straight in October play. There’s always next year I suppose; but as a Cubs fan, do you want another one?

3. The Dodgers are headed to the NLCS. The LA Dodgers are going to the NLCS for the first time since 1988—coincidentally, the same year they last won the World Series. Since the acquisition of Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers have looked like a team destined to go far into October. Manny has been uncanny, and carried his solid play into the postseason, hitting .500 and 2 HR’s in the sweep of the Pooh-Bears. And by the way, Joe Torre is managing this team. After winning four World Series for the Yanks, he looks to be up to his old ways in LA. As a Yankee fan, this makes me want to vomit, and also to report that Derek Jeter was four over on the Links Monday.

4. The Phillies handled the Brewers. So much for cheering for the underdog Brewers this October. The Philadelphia Phillies took care of business in the Divisional Series against Milwaukee, taking it in four games largely on the shoulders of their pitching staff. While Philadelphia’s big bats were fairly quiet in the first three games, they still managed a 2-1 lead for the series. In game four, these bats exploded as a leadoff homerun by Jimmy Rollins set the stage for the 6-2 victory and the NLCS berth against the Dodgers. The only thing that should concern Philly fans at this point is Ryan Howards’ Subway commercial, in which it appears that Adam Sandler’s character from “Mr. Deeds” penned a painful poetry ode to sandwiches. I love eating fresh, but come on: just leave us with Jared.

5. The Washington Redskins won their 4th straight. After looking as bad as District 5 before they became the Mighty Ducks, the Redskins, after a week one loss to the Giants, have been on a tear on their way to a 4-1 mark. Their most recent victory may have been the most impressive, going into Philadelphia and taking one from the Eagles 23-17. In the hardest division in football, they have won two of their three road games (at Dallas and at Philadelphia), while amassing the 1st overall offense and 3rd overall defense in the league. Is Jim Zorn actually Gordon Bombay? Discuss.

6. Notre Dame beat Stanford. I know you probably don’t care, but ND beat Stanford in a physical game by a 28-21 margin. QB Jimmy Clausen had a career day, throwing for over 300 yards and three scores, all to players who were sophomores or younger. The Irish will face their biggest test of the season this week, as they travel to Chapel Hill to face a much-improved North Carolina squad. Look out for this team in the coming years, as the young talent appears to be developing into something special. If they get a win this week, look out for me on Saturday night preaching a BCS berth and subsequently jinxing the season if I haven’t already.

7. The NY Rangers went 2-0. In the NHL season opening weekend, the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning by identical scores of 2-1 in a two-game set played in Prague, Czech Republic. All the questions surrounding the new faces gelling seemed to have been answered as they outshot the Lightning 80-40 in the two games, dominating play for much of the weekend. New signings paid off early, as Markus Naslund and Wade Redden each recorded their first goal in the Broadway Blue. I have now jinxed the Rangers season as well.

8. The New York Giants remained undefeated. Even without suspended stud receiver Plaxico Buress, the Giants remained undefeated by laying a beat down on the Seahawks by a final of 44-6. There seems to be no Super Bowl hangover for the Giants, who are clearly the best team in the league thus far. Eli Manning—even with his helmet that makes him look like a second grade Pop Warner player as his hair sticks down to his forehead—has been solid, and players like Domenick Hixon and Brandon Jacobs have really stepped up. While fans should be optimistic, remember that Super Bowls aren’t won through five weeks.

9. The Titans remained undefeated. The Tennessee Titans also remained undefeated by beating the Ravens 16-13. Yes, they were largely unimpressive for most of the game. Yes, they needed a favorable personal foul call on the final drive to give them a first down and new life, which led to a Kerry Collins game-winning TD with less than two minutes to play. But hey, winning is winning in the NFL, and in a couple of weeks all you will see is the “W” on the schedule. They are the toast of the AFC to this point, even if they are more of a box of Franzia than a Dom Perignon.

10. The Texans blew another win. As if last week’s heartbreak OT loss to Jacksonville wasn’t enough to shake Houston’s psyche more than watching “Cloverfield” by yourself in the dark, they were able to one-up themselves in a loss to the Colts on Sunday by a 31-27 score. Leading 27-10 with four minutes to play, backup QB Sage Rosenfels decided it was best to fumble the ball twice to make the game more interesting. Both fumbles led to Indy TD’s, allowing them to score 17 points in 2:10. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Rosenfels then threw the game-clinching interception on Houston’s final drive, leaving them on the wrong side of the 31-27 tally, and leaving him on the wrong side of perhaps the worst meltdown in history.