This has definitely been a disappointing start to the Atlanta Falcons 2018 season; there’s really no arguing that. After only one win over the course of their first five games, the DirtyBirds might have already played themselves out of NFC Playoff contention. However, it does look like their schedule might finally start helping them out a bit – thank goodness.
The encouraging fact is that their next five games are against the Buccaneers, Giants, Redskins, Browns, and Cowboys. While the Falcons defense has left us little to be optimistic about, it will help that none of those teams currently have winning records, and for the most part, subpar offenses. With that being said, it’s the NFL and each of these teams still have plenty of playmakers the Falcons can struggle with. After all, they have yet to prove they can stop anybody, but there’s no doubt they have a legitimate shot to win all of these games.
As Atlanta’s first five opponents have a combined record of 15-8-1, their next five opponents have a combined record of 9-13-1. Needless to say, the Falcons are entering a stretch of games where they could potentially get back to playing .500 football by the time of their Thanksgiving Day match-up with the New Orleans Saints.
I’m not saying the Dirty Birds will be fighting for a playoff spot in the coming months, but the opportunity is there for them over the next 4-6 weeks to get back into this thing.
We’ve truly learned just how important Deion Jones, Keanu Neal, and Ricardo Allen are to this Falcons defense through five weeks. Not only have there been communication issues in the defensive-secondary, but the sheer instincts these three guys bring to the table have clearly been lacking. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I don’t have confidence the Falcons defense (full of inexperienced back-ups) will figure it out in enough time to make the 2018 NFC Playoffs.
But hey, stranger things have happened.