Martin/AP With two games left in the season, Matt Ryan (r.) has already thrown a career best 25 TDs. Cheap Bags

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Amid the headlines for Brett Favre, the reverence for Tom Brady, the awe reserved for Michael Vick, we'd like to call everyone's attention to a group of players who could be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy in a couple of months as long as someone remembers to buy some black and red confetti.

The Atlanta Falcons are only 12 2, tied with the Patriots for football's best record. Monday night, they will attempt to sew up the top seed in the NFC against the defending champion Saints, playing in the Georgia Dome, where they are 19 3 under coach Mike Smith, 19 1 when Matt Ryan is quarterbacking.

Perhaps you've heard of them, perhaps not. For a league that does such a bang up job of self promotion, the NFL has done a lousy job of promoting one of its best teams. games. The top two crews of both FOX and CBS have yet to do any of their games. They've been on prime time just once, and that was a NFL Network Thursday game, making Monday's night's ESPN broadcast their first real national game.

In fact, up until now, the most exposure they've gotten is that Play 60 TV commercial where they're bopping on the bus.

But you know what? They're good damn good and anyone who ignores them will do so at their own peril.

"That's a good thing, we like it. I'll take 12 2 and everyone else can have the attention," says linebacker Mike Peterson, a 12 year vet. "You don't have a bunch of guys running to the cameras, who've got to be in the limelight. It's just come to work, which probably comes from our coach. We've got an ordinary coach, we've got an ordinary way of football. It's been winning for us so we're going to stick with it."

When, I asked Peterson, might the nation finally take notice?

"Dallas, probably," he said with a laugh, noting the site of Super Bowl XLV. Still, it takes a careful look to truly appreciate this team.

On the surface, their No. 12 ranking on offense and No. 15 ranking on defense are pretty mediocre. But then you see the little things that win games. They have committed the fewest number of penalties in the league, they are fourth in turnover plus minus, second in third down conversion rate, third in red zone scoring, first in red zone defense.

They also lead the league in averaging 9.49 plays and 4 minutes, 15 seconds per scoring drive. They're No. 1 with 27 five minute drives and 12 TDs on drives of 5:00 or longer. They're even No. 1 in both kickoff return average and in opponents' starting field position.

And since Smith took over, they're also 26 1 when leading at the half, a tough bunch that's never done what the Giants did Sunday.

"I don't know if they've separated themselves simply because they're not that dominant in any one area," says former Ravens head coach Brian Billick, who has done four Atlanta games in the FOX TV booth. "But I think they've earned the title of being the best team in the NFC and a team worth having to go through to get to the Super Bowl because they've certainly played the most consistent all year long of any of the teams in the NFC.

Offensively, Kirwan says, "They present the Cheap Handbags most balance."

Defensively, he admits, they're not elite. "But they're good enough to do their part," he notes. "As long as they keep it to 21 points and under, they're going to win all the time because they've got a machine Wholesale Bags that can find 30 points."

"What jumps out about them offensively is the skill they have at the important areas," Billick says. "But when I do their games and sit with their opponents at production meetings the thing that comes at you the most is the respect people have for them defensively. They're not a great team of stars but they play great team defense. It's never one guy hitting you, it's always two, three or four. It's impressive how fundamentally sound they are defensively even though they're not a team of great talent."

That machine Kirwan mentioned is led by a guy he calls "an emerging superstar" who reminds him of Brady.

"He came in skinny as can be," Kirwan notes. "Now I get a chance to sit down with him three times a year and he is definitely getting bigger and stronger and that's how Tom was. Tom was a skinny runt.

"What comes with that is a guy that can stay healthy and take more shots, number two, there's a lot more velocity on his ball. He even thinks like Tom. It's pretty easy for him to Discount Bags see the game, he's not overwhelmed by stuff and he has all these resources."

Future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez gives any defense matchup problems when they flex him out, which opens up the running game with Turner and Jason Snelling, who form what Billick says is the most physical backfield in the league.

Then there's White.

"Bill Cowher called him a Discount Handbags Top 10 player. He said that back in September and people laughed," Kirwan notes. "But he is a Top 10 guy now . over 100 catches and he's going to probably end up with 120. And there was a period of time when they didn't have (No. 2 WR) Michael Jenkins and they still fed him the ball and they still couldn't stop him.

"You put Jenkins back in the mix and you've got a real problem," Kirwan adds. "So to me, they've got a run/pass conflict with Gonzalez, they've got a power back that takes what he gives them and they've got this receiver on the opposite side of White. They've got answers all over the place."

Kirwan also points out a rarity that kind of sums up what the Falcons are all about. It's their right tackle, Tyson Clabo and right guard, Harvey Dahl.

"If you go to practice, most offensive linemen kind of walk around like cattle," Kirwan observes. "The guys on the right side, they might be the most animated guys at practice, they're just wild men and the players feed off them. Guys on the team think of them as setting the tone for practice, setting the tone in games. They love to rough it up and they're more like D linemen."