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FOXBORO - Grizzled veteran vs. young pup?

Tom Brady might reject the notion that he's old (although 32 is creeping up the NFL scale a little), but he certainly does have the age and experience edge on the quarterback the Patriots will be facing this Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

Former Boston College standout Matt Ryan, 24, returns to the region where his collegiate glories took place, guiding the 2-0 Falcons against the 1-1 Patriots (1 p.m.; Ch. 25, 64) in a game that, while not important in the divisional standings of the respective teams, certainly will be a barometer of each team's progress.

For Ryan, it will mark his first encounter with a Bill Belichick defense, and he knows that he will be challenged by it.

"They're physical and they've looked good on tape so far this year," Ryan said via conference call. "I think last week against the Jets, they played well. Not many points were scored in that ball game, and I thought on the defensive side they did a great job, so we know we're going to have our work cut out for us. "They've got some really good physical guys in the front four, some guys who can make some plays in the secondary, so it's going to be tough." he said. "But I feel like we've got a great game plan. We've been working hard so far this week and we're just going to need to continue to prepare as best we can so that we're ready to play Sunday."

Brady hasn't had the opportunity to play the Falcons with Ryan at the helm, but he echoed what's being heard about the former BC Eagle who guided his new team into the playoffs last year - no small feat, coming in the shadow of Michael Vick's troubles as it did.

"I always hear good things about him," Brady said. "He seems like a really neat guy. Obviously, going to (Boston College), I heard a lot about him. But he's done a great job. He's leading the team to wins and that's what a quarterback's job is."

Of course, Brady and Ryan will not go head-to-head against each other at any time in this game. Quarterbacks just don't do that. And it's only a matter of coincidence that the Patriots have to go from worrying about the coaching efforts of one unrelated Ryan (Jets' coach Rex) to the on-field efforts of another this week, unsettling as that may be in the karma department.

As far as this week's Ryan is concerned, all he wants to do is to stay on the path that's gotten the Falcons wins in the first two games of the season.

"The biggest thing is both our offensive line and defensive line have played really well in the first two weeks," he said, "and when you can get some push up front on both sides of the ball, that helps. We try and ride that."

In wins over Miami and Carolina, Ryan has thrown for 449 yards (43-63) with five touchdowns and just one interception. New tight end Tony Gonzalez, universally regarded as the best in the game from his years with the Chiefs, has caught 12 of those passes for 144 yards and scored two touchdowns.

"He's really helped us out a bunch," Ryan said. "Any time you add a great player to your team, it's obviously going to help. And not only is he really good on Sundays, he's great during the week. He knows how to prepare and he works really hard and I think that permeates down through the locker room. Other guys see what it takes to be at that level and try and do some of the things that he's done."

The Falcons also run the ball successfully (219 yards in two games), so that gives Ryan a basis of balance from which to work.

"Our mentality is that we're a run-first football team," he said "We're going to go out there and we're going to try and pound the ball and ride what our offensive line can do. "Fortunately we've got a couple guys in the backfield that can make some plays," he added. "Michael Turner (50-170 this season), Jerious Norwood, even Jason Snelling had a great game last weekend. So those guys really get us going. They move the chains on third-and-short situations, and that's a big advantage for us."

Still, it's becoming clear that Ryan has made a big difference in the overall success of the Atlanta attack.

"Ryan's good very accurate, makes good decisions, knows where to go with the ball and can put it on the money with his accuracy," Belichick said. "He has a lot of down throws, too. It's not like he's throwing a lot of screen passes and check-downs. He can get it down the field. He knows when to fire it, knows when to put a touch on it. He's really impressive."

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.