Pssst.

I know, I know, not now. You don’t want to hear about it unless it somehow relates to the latest development in Packerland — how the all-important five-hour showdown of a meeting went down Monday night between Brett Favre and Mike McCarthy.

Reports indicate things didn’t go so well, which would explain why McCarthy’s news conference, scheduled for Monday night, had to be postponed, and the parties met again Tuesday. Maybe it’s just taking McCarthy an extra-long time to come up with an explanation for why one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, who still looked pretty great a few months ago, would have to re-earn his starting spot.

I’m sorry to inform the Favre fanatics that there’s another organization in the league on the verge of making a decision about its starting quarterback that could change the course of the franchise for years to come and in a very bad way if the wrong call is made.

This team happens to be the one that Favre began his career with, so in about the loosest way possible, there is a connection.

It’ll only take a minute. Bear with me.

Although the Falcons’ new decision-making tandem of GM Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Mike Smith seem to have done an outstanding job to this point, they’re flirting with making a decision that could severely set their squad back, in a similar fashion to when Packers GM Ted Thompson thought about telling Favre there was no room for him in Green Bay anymore.

Dimitroff and Smith must decide whether to thrust their new face of the franchise, rookie QB Matt Ryan, into the starting lineup right away in Week One or let Chris Redman handle the duties and ease Ryan into the role.

Everyday observers of the team’s training camp say the battle between Redman and Ryan is just about even. Neither has done anything to hurt his chances and they both have looked the part for much of the time.

In an intrasquad, non-contact scrimmage on Saturday, it was Redman who took snaps with the first team and Ryan who ran with the second unit. The decision to put Redman with the first-stringers was probably made out of respect for the veteran, and nothing more. During a similar function on Friday, when there was contact for everyone but the quarterbacks, both players went against the first-team defense.

On the first play of the third series — Ryan’s first at the helm — he dropped back to pass, but quickly was disrupted by a blitzing linebacker, who forced him out of the pocket, according to reports. Ryan threw the ball out of bounds and was flagged for intentional grounding.

He reportedly opened the second half, however, by firing a 65-yard touchdown toss to Roddy White.

There was good and bad over the weekend, and both players threw at least one interception, but nothing significantly changed the state of the race.

Matt Ryan and Chris Redman

This became Ryan’s team the day he was drafted. The Falcons signed him early to ensure there would be no holdout and no missed time in camp. They would love to have him outperform Redman by leaps and bounds and make the decision easy to start him in the regular-season opener at home against the Lions.

Ryan sells tickets and gets people excited. Redman could probably walk down the streets of Atlanta today yelling ‘I’m Chris Redman,’ and barely cause a stir.

I have little doubt that Ryan could handle the starting job. He has made a reputation as someone who stays cool under pressure — hence the nickname, "Matty Ice."

When it comes to factors he can control, like preparation, poise and smarts, Ryan appears to have veteran-like levels of each.

One factor he can’t control, however, is how well the offensive line blocks.

Unfortunately for Ryan and the Falcons, it might barely block at all in ’08.

There’s a very good chance Atlanta will field an O-line featuring rookie OLT Sam Baker and second-year OLG Justin Blalock, who have a combined one year of experience, ORG Harvey Dahl, who has bounced around practice squads until recently, and ORT Todd Weiner, who would be playing on a shaky knee.

We’ve seen what happens to “franchise savior” rookie quarterbacks who get tossed to the wolves with turnstile O-lines in front of them.

Remember David Carr in 2002?

It can absolutely unhinge even the most stable of young performers and play games with their minds for years to come.

Remember Carr in ’07?

It’s going to be so tempting to start Ryan, because he probably could do just as good a job as Redman, and perhaps perform even better. But Dimitroff and Smith have to resist the urge until that offensive line gets things figured out, even if that means sidelining Ryan until late in the year.

Doing the opposite would simply be Ted Thompson-esque.

The Falcons aren’t going to win many games this season, no matter who is under center. Let Redman take the hits early and save Ryan for a time when he actually has a chance to succeed.