NFL Predictions Week 2: Will Matt Ryan or Michael Vick Shine on Sunday Night?

You'd have to live under a Geico commercial not to know about the storyline for tonight's meeting between the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. Michael Vick, scorned son of Atlanta, returns to the city that traded up to No. 1 to get him then traded any affiliation with him when his legal troubles began.

And he'll be up against Atlanta's new face, Matt Ryan. He'll be asked hundreds of times about what it means and how he feels and what a win would do for his general quality of life.

Buried underneath is a football game. And maybe a pretty good one.

The Eagles stole every headline with their decisive and active spending, landing Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the secondary and Cullen Jenkins and Jason Babin on the defensive line. But before that, the Falcons were considered the NFL's most frivolous franchise after their bold move to the top of the draft for receiver Julio Jones.

So maybe the real question where Vick and Ryan are concerned is about their supporting casts. One team loaded up to slow passing attacks, while the other loaded a slow passing attack with a viable second option. Adding Jones on the outside won't matter much if the move is negated by Rodgers-Cromartie or Asomugha or even Asante Samuel on the other side. And adding so many corners would look foolish if Philadelphia was still unable to stop Jones, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez.

And that puts the onus back on the passers. Ryan is undoubtedly better at home, inside the friendly confines of the Georgia Dome. Vick has been shaky at times since the start of the preseason, though his second half against the Rams was 2010-esque. 

Still, the real deciding factor should come up front on offense. Both teams have received poor play from their lines, meaning both quarterbacks will spend a portion of their day running for their lives. That obviously favors Vick. And it doesn't hurt that, while rolling, Vick will be scanning a much softer secondary than his own, a secondary that couldn't handle Chicago's receivers a week before facing DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant and Steve Smith.

Make no mistake, the Falcons will be ready to play. And they'll bring enough pressure to rattle Vick a time or two, feeding off the home crowd. But the defensive differences are too staggering to ignore. At the end of the game, when both teams need the end zone, Vick's road is friendlier.

Even in Atlanta.