His rating: 23rd.

His yards: 28th.

His completions: 47 per cent.

``I know everybody is going to look at the stats and say it looks bad for me,'' the Falcons quarterback said Wednesday after a two-hour practice. ``But this is a team game. Everyone has to do their job. And I don't feed into the stats book. I just want to be credited for wins and losses.''

In that respect, the Falcons (2-1) are off to a good start, beating a couple of NFC South foes before losing to New Orleans in the emotionally charged reopening of the Superdome.

While the Monday night defeat can easily be attributed to the Saints' passion in the wake of hurricane Katrina, it raised a common red flag for the Atlanta offence. When the Falcons have trouble running the ball, are Vick and those around him capable of winning the game through the air?

Not against New Orleans. Vick completed only 12 of 31 passes for 137 yards, though his numbers were skewed by at least five drops _ including a certain touchdown that slipped away from normally sure-handed tight end Alge Crumpler.

For the season, Vick has connected on 32 of 68 throws for 369 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception. Those numbers look downright puny alongside quarterbacks such as Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb, who has thrown for a league-leading 960 yards.

``I'm extremely happy with Mike. It's difficult not to be happy with Mike,'' Falcons coach Jim Mora insisted. ``There's no column on the statistic sheet for dropped passes. It just shows completions, attempts, percentage and rating. When the receivers drop the ball, the numbers are not going to look as good. And our receivers dropped some balls the other night.''

Atlanta's wins over Carolina and Tampa Bay were powered by a dominant running game that prominently featured Vick. But the Saints were not fooled by the shotgun option that so confused the Buccaneers, limiting the Falcons to 117 yards on the ground _ less than half of what they averaged in the first two games. Vick, in fact, was the team's top rusher with 57 yards.

Of course, the Falcons knew they weren't going to put up a rushing average of 279 yards over a 16-game season. The passing game would have to take on a bigger role, and Mora is pleased with Vick's progress in the West Coast-style offence that gave him trouble the last two years.

``It's better, a lot better,'' the coach said. ``It's a lot better from the standpoint of decision-making, timing, breaking down the progressions, knowing where to go with the ball a lot quicker. The problem Monday night was we dropped five passes. And New Orleans covered well. They got their hands in there and knocked a lot of balls out.''

The protection for Vick was another concern. The Falcons' undersized line is better suited for the zone blocking schemes of the running game. When playing off their heels, the guys up front often have trouble setting up an effective pocket around No. 7. The Saints sacked Vick five times and smacked him around on nine passes he did get away.

The Falcons may have gotten away from their running game a little too quickly, trying to catch up through the air after the Saints jumped to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter. And there were more struggles in the red zone; Going into Sunday's home game against the Arizona Cardinals (1-2), Atlanta has gone more than 6{ quarters without scoring a touchdown.

``It is a very real concern, but we feel like we can get through it,'' Mora said. ``We will get through it.''

The Falcons have been a run-oriented team since Mora took over as coach in 2004. They led the league in rushing the last two seasons and are on the way to doing it again, which partially explains Vick's ordinary passing stats. He ranked 21st in passing efficiency in 2004, when Atlanta reached the NFC championship game, and dropped to 25th last season.

Vick said he's still getting used to a relatively new group of receivers. Michael Jenkins is in his second year as a starter. Roddy White is in his second year, period. Ashley Lelie is still learning the offence after being acquired from Denver during the pre-season.

``We're still working hard together,'' Vick said. ``This is really our first year together with the crew we have out there now. We're still working on our chemistry.''

And how long will it take to get there?

``It's not going to happen overnight,'' Vick said. ``Maybe it will be all year long. Maybe halfway through the year we'll have it down.''

Mora is confident that Vick's passing numbers will look much better by the time the season is done.

``If you take the emotion out of it and just try to gauge where we are, I like the progress we are making in the passing game,'' Mora said. ``It's not reflected in the numbers yet, but it will be as we go through the year.''