(My Sportsbook) - While his resume' only consists of 20 games as the Atlanta Falcons head coach, Mike Smith has shown an ability to get his club to bounce back well after a loss.

Detractors would say the Falcons (3-1) should have come out sharp in this past Sunday's game versus San Francisco, which followed a bye last weekend after a Week 3 loss to New England. But even those people should be impressed by a 45-10 victory that saw Atlanta set a franchise record with 35 first-half points.

The triumph improved the Falcons to 6-0 all-time under Smith following a loss.

"All week we've talked about going out to the West Coast and taking care of business," Smith said. "We feel like we did a lot of things well today. There are some things we need to do better, but we came out here and accomplished the things we wanted to accomplish."

Those goals must have included a dominating and total team effort. Wide receiver Roddy White caught two touchdown passes and set a franchise record with 210 yards -- 185 before halftime. Running back Michael Turner ran for three scores and quarterback Matt Ryan set a personal best with 329 passing yards.

The defense got in the act as well, notching three sacks and holding the 49ers to 279 total yards.

"We were just trying to put one together," said White. "In our first three games, we felt like we never played as good as we think we can. Today was a step forward in us getting a whole lot better. Besides the penalties that we had today, I think we stalled on a couple drives that I think we could have scored on and we just have to get better week in and week out."

With the New Orleans Saints leading the division at 4-0, the Falcons have little room for error right now. Both teams have gone through their respective byes and meet in three weeks at New Orleans. But first, the Falcons need to take care of business this Sunday night versus Chicago.

If this past game was any indication, Smith will have his club ready. In fact, he might even be able to find some time for White to work on his acrobatics. The wideout failed to land a somersault into the end zone at the end of his second-quarter 90-yard touchdown catch and run, an antic that resulted in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

"Did it bother me, well yeah it did," said Smith of White's infraction. "He didn't hit the landing, because if he hits the landing it's not a 15-yard penalty. I told him that you need to give it Olga [Korbut]. If he's going to do it, it's got to be the Olga.

"He looked at me like he doesn't know who Olga Korbut is -- then I told him maybe Mary Lou Retton and I figured that's 1986, he doesn't know who Mary Lou Retton is. It went right over his head and my head. But no, Roddy is excited, and if he is going to go celebrate he's got to hit the four-point landing."

For those of you who don't know who Korbut is -- including this writer, who was born in 1982 -- she is a Soviet-born gymnast who won four Olympic Gold medals while participating in the 1972 and '76 Summer Olympics and helped greatly increase the popularity of gymnastics.

White, by the way, was born in 1981.

SAINTS: If New Orleans is able to hand the 5-0 New York Giants their first loss of the season this weekend, the Saints might have to change their nickname.

Pick your favorite literary character, but a victory over the G-Men this Sunday would be New Orleans' second in a row over an undefeated team after their Week 4 win over the then 3-0 New York Jets. It would also keep the 4-0 Saints undefeated as well.

Perhaps New Orleans can absorb the mannerisms of Jack, who was able to knock the Giant off the beanstalk. That would be appropriate, given this weekend's opponent.

Though no underdogs, the Saints could also go with David to New York's Goliath. And lets not forget that the Big Apple was the comedic setting when the mighty Ghostbusters took down the towering Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

You would think a matchup between undefeated teams would be enough, but there are subplots as well.

Jeremy Shockey spent this first six years of his career in a Giants uniform before the outspoken tight end was dealt to the Saints for a pair of draft picks prior to last season. While Shockey won't get to return to New York, he should still be amped up to play his former team nonetheless.

"I thought I had a successful six years there, and I did some things to help the organization, marketing-wise -- I know they made a lot of money off of jersey sales and the things I've done for them," Shockey told the New Orleans Times-Picayune in an article published on Monday. "Going to the Pro Bowl four out of six years is a very big accomplishment, and I was expecting a little more respect than I was receiving."

Though he missed just three games last year due to a sports hernia, the injury definitely slowed Shockey down for most of the season. He also missed New Orleans' finale with an ankle injury and ended with 50 receptions for a career-low 483 yards without a touchdown catch.

In four games this year, the 2002 first-round pick has made 18 catches for 162 yards with a pair of touchdown receptions.

This weekend should also feature the return of kicker Garrett Hartley, who was suspected for the first four games due to testing positive for the stimulant Adderall. According to The Times-Picayune, John Carney will continue to serve as placekicker, with Hartley likely being deactivated on game day until his role is figured out.

Hartley, 23, was a perfect 13-for-13 in field goal tries last year after joining the team in late October. The 45-year-old Carney is 6-for-7 on field goal attempts this year, while hitting on all 18 of his extra point kicks.

BUCCANEERS: Antonio Bryant and Michael Clayton didn't do Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Johnson any favors in Sunday's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Though the two starting Tampa Bay wideouts combined for eight receptions and 87 yards in the 33-14 setback that kept the Buccaneers (0-5) winless on the season, it was the dropped passes by the two that really annoyed head coach Raheem Morris.

"That's an issue," Morris said afterward. "When you're playing with a young quarterback, those plays have to be made by those caliber players, those caliber receivers. Both guys dropped a bunch of balls [Sunday]."

Making his second career start, Johnson completed 26-of-50 pass attempts for 240 yards, throwing a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Kellen Winslow but also getting picked off three times.

The Buccaneers' first play from scrimmage on Sunday was a long pass from Johnson to Clayton that the wide receiver failed to haul in. Tampa Bay ended up going three-and-out, with the Eagles showing the Bucs how it is done when they took over. Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb hit rookie Jeremy Maclin for a 51-yard touchdown pass on Philadelphia's second offensive play of the game.

"It's really hard to grade Josh on some of those plays, on some of the drop balls he had today," added Morris. "He could have had an 80-yard bomb on the first throw of the game. He had some opportunities for other people to catch some passes from him, but we dropped some passes today. He still had a few turnovers which were deadly in the red zone. We can't let those happen."

Morris seemed particularly upset with Clayton, who had lobbied for more catches after going two straight games without a reception prior to facing the Eagles.

"That's exactly right," said Morris on Monday if Clayton had asked for more action. "You have to be accountable for what you ask for, be careful what you ask for, be careful what you wish for. I'm sure he's feeling that emotion right now and today."

The Bucs have to be encouraged by the chemistry Johnson found with Winslow, though. Tampa Bay's big offseason pickup, Winslow set season highs with nine catches, 102 yards and two touchdowns and had his first 100-yard receiving game and multi-touchdown performance since November 6 of last year.

The Buccaneers will try to stop their nine-game losing streak that dates back to last year when they take on 1-3 Carolina this weekend. The club also hopes to have center Jeff Faine back after he missed the last four games due to a triceps injury suffered in Week 1 versus Dallas.

PANTHERS: For once, the bounces and breaks went the Carolina Panthers' way, and it resulted in their first win of 2009.

Carolina dropped its first three games of the season prior to its bye week, when it had the opportunity to work on a game plan that saw them get outscored by an 87-37 margin.

Things didn't look promising when the Panthers fell behind 17-2 in the third quarter of this past Sunday's matchup with the Washington Redskins. Eighteen unanswered points later, and the Carolina players finally walked off the field with their heads high.

"The sky's bluer, even if it's not real blue," head coach John Fox said on Monday of waking up with a win. "It's just better."

What has to be reassuring for the Panthers was how they came back. First came a touchdown pass by quarterback Jake Delhomme, just his third of the season to eight interceptions. Then came the big break four minutes after a Carolina field goal, a muffed punt return by Washington in which a Redskins player was blocked into returner Antwaan Randle El. Carolina recovered and the play was upheld by review.

Two plays later, the Carolina running game, a unit that ranked third in the league last year at 152.3 yards per game but is posting just a 97.3 yard average this year, produced a score in the form of an eight-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Stewart.

Though the Panthers posted just 86 yards rushing on 32 carries, perhaps they can use the late score as a springboard.

"It's a 16-game season, and I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know where we're going to end up." Fox said in regards to his 2009 run game matching last year's production. "But I know what we're building toward (that) and I don't want to try to define us after four games. I think some of the situations have hurt those statistics. We've still got a lot of work to do, no question, but I see progress and we'll keep working for that."

But it could be Delhomme who takes the most from Sunday's win. In addition to his touchdown pass, which also included a successful two-point conversion throw to Steve Smith, he produced a nine-yard scamper on 3rd-and-8 with under two minutes to play that allowed the Panthers to run out the clock.

Delhomme, who is associated with speed as often as Miley Cyrus is to talented, not only rushed for the first down, but stiff-armed Washington's DeAngelo Hall to fight for the extra yards.

"I've been teased about [my speed] in the locker room," Delhomme told Carolina's Web site after the game. "I will watch it [Monday]; I just pray it's not in slow motion when I'm watching it."

Carolina, 12-4 last year, goes for win No. 2 this weekend against the 0-5 Buccaneers in Tampa Bay.