Falcons vs NFL Elite: How They Compete With Top Contenders

The 2024 NFL season is flying by. After ten weeks of action-packed games, nail biters, and upsets, we football fans have only eight weeks to go until fourteen teams embark on a quest for the Lombardi trophy.

Odds are currently that Atlanta will be one of those teams making their case to play in Super Bowl 59. They sit two games above Tampa Bay in the NFC South, and three games above both New Orleans and Carolina. Even with the loss to the Saints last week, the Falcons still have a firm cushion ahead of the rest of the NFC South, sweeping their season series with the Bucs and possessing the best record in the division.

Winning the South isn’t a guarantee at the moment, but the chances of doing so are in Atlanta’s favor if they capitalize down the home stretch. Winning the division title is the first step to punching your ticket to the post season, but do our dirty birds have what it takes to knock off some of the best talent in the conference? If the season were to end today, here’s what the NFC playoff picture would look like:

1 Seed: Detroit Lions, 8-1

2 Seed: Philadelphia Eagles, 7-2

3 Seed: Atlanta Falcons, 6-4

4 Seed: Arizona Cardinals, 6-4

5 Seed: Minnesota Vikings, 7-2

6 Seed: Green Bay Packers, 6-3

7 Seed: Washington Commanders, 7-4

In the Hunt: San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Currently, the Lions are positioned to have the first round bye and home field advantage, while the Eagles, Falcons, and Cardinals make up the rest of our division leaders. The Vikings, Commanders, and Packers round out the wild card seeds right now, and teams like the 49ers, Bears, Rams, Seahawks and Bucs are on the cusp of playoff contention. It’s safe to say that this years’ NFC is a tight race, with each team being one or two games away from dropping or rising in the playoff seeding.

There are teams that have looked outright unstoppable at times, like the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders, and other teams that still have lingering questions surrounding their ability to compete, like the Arizona Cardinals and our very own Atlanta Falcons. Regardless, it’s clear that there’s a high chance we could see black and red on the field come January, but what will it take to outlast the best in the conference? Let’s size up the Falcons with the other six playoff teams right now.

Washington Commanders

Despite their disappointing game against the Eagles, this is still a team with one of the best offenses in football. Under the leadership of former Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, this Washington team is playing its best ball since Kirk Cousins was their franchise quarterback. After a carousel of signal callers, from Alex Smith to Sam Howell, the Commanders hit the nail on the head with their first round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Not only is Jayden Daniels leading rookie quarterbacks in both passing and rushing yards, he’s playing with the confidence of a five year NFL veteran, drawing comparisons to other great dual threat quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson. It’s rare for a rookie quarterback of his caliber to find that mix of talent and consistency so early into their career, but Daniels has done it and he now has this Commanders team posing as a significant threat to anyone they line up against.

With Atlanta’s deficiencies in stopping the run and containing mobile passers, it’s hard to imagine this defense not surrendering a sizable chunk of yards on the ground to Washington. The good thing is, Atlanta will get a feel for this Commanders team in week 17, and depending on the standings, that game could have major postseason implications.

Washington’s defense is playing pretty much how I’d imagine a Dan Quinn defense performing: shutting down struggling offenses and having trouble against the high powered ones. This has been a common theme with Quinn and his defensive units, as just last year the Cowboys gave up just five touchdowns in the first four weeks, and then surrendered six to the 49ers in week five. This year, Quinn has brought in some familiar faces to help bolster this defense, such as Dante Fowler Jr. and Dorance Armstrong, two players he coached during his three year stint in Dallas. He’s also turned the secondary around completely, as they now allow just 182.2 yards per game after allowing a league worst 262.2 yards in 2023.

Even with occasional gaffes in play, Quinn has greatly improved this team in his first year. The question is, what type of Falcons offense will show up when we play Washington in week 17? If it’s the one who couldn’t score more than one touchdown when the defense gave up six field goals in week 1 against the Steelers, then it could spell bad news. However if it’s the one that generated over 500 yards of offense in week five against the Buccaneers, then we could be in for a highly competitive game.

Minnesota Vikings

Another contender Atlanta is set to play is the Minnesota Vikings. Coming into the season, many pundits had their doubts about Minnesota, with expert Adam Rank predicting the Vikings finish 7-10 on the season. This outcome was highly likely after losing their franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins to free agency, and having to rely on journeyman Sam Darnold and first round pick J.J. McCarthy. The decision on who would be the starter was made clear after McCarthy tore his meniscus in the preseason opener, and Darnold would once again be tasked with trying to turn around a struggling team.

Through ten weeks, Darnold has been what this team has needed to get them back to the playoffs, and while he’s no Kirk Cousins, he’s had this team rolling through five weeks with an undefeated record before suffering their first loss to the Lions in a 31-29 thriller. They would drop another game to the Rams before getting back on track against the Colts and Jaguars.

I can’t help but wonder: How long can it last? During Darnold’s first attempt at reviving his career with Carolina in 2021, he looked great through four weeks and seemed to be trending in the right direction before hitting a brick wall and regressing back to the quarterback that failed to develop in New York. He started the season with four straight 300 yard games, and then ended the season without throwing a touchdown pass in the final five out of six games he played. This year, I’m starting to see some of those same trends surface again, going from an average 116.2 passer rating in the first four weeks to now just an average 96.9 rating in the last four weeks, with the turnovers ramping up along the way. The Vikings wins are also not as commanding as they were in that first month, and it seems like they are just a play away from being in danger of falling to .500 instead of their 7-2 record.

You could easily say the same for the Falcons, after five of their six wins were decided by a single possession. It’s a slippery slope that we’re all top familiar with, but to me it seems like Minnesota has a bigger stability issue than Atlanta, and with their bye week already gone, there’s no built in extra time for them to reset and get things right like Falcons can in their week 12 bye. Just two weeks after that, Atlanta will travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings, and it should make for an interesting clash of two teams with some real similarities. Whoever comes out on top will likely be the one who learned from those early season miscues.

Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals are one of my favorite and most slept on teams to watch in the NFL right now. Yes, I have Kyler Murray, James Conner, and Marvin Harrison on my fantasy team.

Going into the year, you’d think San Francisco would be the favorite once again to win the NFC West, but after all four teams struggled to get going in the first half of the season, the Cardinals were the first to find their stride and now sit alone atop the division. Kyler Murray has been superb and is on track for a career year in terms of efficiency. That’s of course with help from one of his favorite targets Marvin Harrison Jr. The rookie hasn’t had the greatest first year as a receiver, and has at times struggled to maintain steady chemistry with Murray, but when these two are clicking, they can torch any secondary they play.

Third year tight end Trey McBride is also another favorite target, and Murray has been learning to look his way a lot more this year as a safe sure handed option on check downs. While the Falcons don’t see Arizona in the regular season, we could see them in the playoffs, and Atlanta needs to be ready for an offense that has a lot at their disposal. One of the Cardinals strong suits is the ability of Murray to extend plays with his legs and make miraculous throws on the run, a skill only a handful of pro quarterbacks possess. Atlanta has faced dual threat quarterbacks already this year, but not to the extent Murray is able to create something out of nothing.

Led by their veteran safety Budda Baker, who already has 100 tackles on the year, this defense has been improving every week. They haven’t surrendered a touchdown in the last two weeks and aren’t allowing many deep completions on the year. They’re playing highly disciplined in coverage and are generating a good amount of turnovers. If we do end up seeing this team, Kirk and company better be prepared to play mistake free football.

Detroit Lions

Like I mentioned earlier, the Detroit Lions have looked absolutely unstoppable at times this year. After going one up one down in Weeks 1 and 2, Detroit has been clicking on all cylinders going on an impressive seven game win streak to now sit at 8-1. They’ve blown out teams, and even in their back and forth battles, it seems like the Lions have the upper hand for majority of the contest. You truly know your team is great when your starting quarterback throws five interceptions and you can still win by drilling a 52-yard field goal to win the game. I think we are truly witnessing one of the most well-rounded Lions teams ever, and that’s both saying something because of their long history and not saying a lot given how checkered that history has been.

The Lions are another team that Atlanta won’t see in the regular season, and if the playoff seedings hold up, the Falcons wouldn’t have to face them until the NFC championship game, giving us ample time to prepare for their juggernaut of a team. Even with abundant preparation, it would still be an uphill climb to try and knock off this Lions team. They have one of if not the best rushing duo in the league, and one of the strongest rushing defenses as well. They’re truly hard to stop on both sides of the ball and can tire a team out when given the chance.

Because of their versatility on offense, they have a lot of options to try and push the ball downfield making them tough to stop and has contributed to them ranking sixth in third down conversion percentage. Head coach Raheem Morris likes to match best on best in coverage, but I fear this strategy alone won’t work against a team like Detroit, and even though our pass rush has been the worst in the NFL, I’d love to see them hurry Goff into errant throws for potential turnover possibilities. This is undoubtedly the toughest draw the Falcons could get if they did make a deep playoff run.

Green Bay Packers

The Packers are another one of those sleeper teams that could make a deep run if given the chance, and the team that would currently be matched up against the Falcons. This team had a lot of hype coming into the year after winning on the road against Dallas in the Wild Card round, and almost upsetting the 49ers in the Divisional round. A team that sat at 3-6 in Week 10 put together two separate three game win streaks to end the season 9-8 and lock in a playoff berth. Through ten weeks this year again, they have flipped that 3-6 record to 6-3, and if it wasn’t for a highly competitive NFC North division, the Packers could be looking at hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2021.

After a down year in 2023, Green Bay acquired Josh Jacobs from the Raiders and he’s so far been a difference maker for this team ranking fourth in rushing. He relies on his speed and power to get to the second level, and can make defenders miss in open space. The receiving room was ambiguous at the the start of the year, unknown to the team and league on who would take the number one receiver role. So far, it’s been Jayden Reed’s spot to lose, and he has it in a firm grip as he’s on track for a career year as a sophomore.

What piques my interest with this Packers team is that they’ve already played four out of the seven teams who currently hold a playoff spot, and still will play both the Lions and Vikings again. So far, they’ve went 1-3 in the games against playoff teams, with their one win being a blowout against the Cardinals. How I look at this is they’ve had one of the tougher schedules this year, and the road really doesn’t get any easier; they’re not winning games that scream that they can be a playoff contender.

If Atlanta sees this Green Bay team in the postseason, they could be facing a team that has learned a ton over the course of the year, and is better at understanding those key moments that define a game and winning those little battles to ensure a Packers victory. Their up-and-down performance suggests they’re one of the more winnable possible postseason matchups, however.

Philadephia Eagles

Philadelphia is the one team on this list that Atlanta has faced already, and though not without a scare, came away with a victory as well. However, if Atlanta has to face them for a second time in the playoffs, they’ll have to fight even harder for a season sweep.

The Eagles passing game isn’t something that is going to blow you away. They rank right in the middle of the pack for passing yards a game with 197.8. Jalen Hurts isn’t the type of quarterback that’s going to throw for 350 yards and 3 touchdowns on any given day, but what is intimidating is their ability to run the ball and set up the play-action and run-pass-option. It’s a scheme that plays to the strengths of a player like Hurts, and even more so now that Saquon Barkley is the one carrying the load out the backfield.

This, coupled with their number two ranked defense for yards per game has helped the Eagles overtake that number one spot in the NFC East back from the Commanders. During the first two weeks, the defense gave up close to 400 yards a game, and since then they are averaging around 238 yards per game. Saying this is a completely different team from when Atlanta played them would be an understatement. They play to their strengths, capitalize on opportunities, and don’t make nearly the same amount of mistakes as they did earlier in the year. If the playoff seedings hold up, Atlanta could see this Eagles team as early as the Divisional round, and they better be prepared for a much tougher Eagles squad than in week 2.

There’s still a ways to go until we see what NFC teams will be fighting for a Lombardi trophy, but it’s always good to take a look at what the potential competition will look like when the time comes. With that said, Atlanta’s main goal right now is obvious: Do what needs to be done to secure a playoff spot come January, and worry about these teams when the time comes.