The win the Falcons celebrated over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football was huge. Of course, getting a road conference victory in prime time is always great, but given the early season circumstances this team could ill afford to go 0-2 with the schedule they have coming up.
While a road divisional game is never straightforward, on paper this is one of the easiest games on the schedule for Atlanta, at a Carolina Panthers team that seems to be going nowhere fast with two poor showings to start
the new campaign.
The Falcons split the season series with Carolina each of the last five seasons. No matter how bad the Panthers have seemed to be they always get one over on the Birds in recent memory. Their playoff aspirations being what they are, Atlanta cannot allow that to happen this season as well.
Here is the scenario the Falcons face if they beat the Carolina Panthers in Week 3, as well as if they lose.
If the Falcons win
They will have successfully flipped the script following their disappointing Week 1 defeat at the hands of the Bucs, going 2-1 and actually getting off to a better start than through three games last season.
Atlanta will have given itself some breathing room with the toughest part of the schedule on the horizon, against the Commanders, Bills and 49ers all back to back with the bye week baked in there as well. Washington is dealing with an ailing Jayden Daniels at the moment, so for the opportunist this could mean setting the stage for a potential 3-1 start where the Birds would really be sitting pretty.
The Falcons would avenge their Week 18 defeat at the hands of the Panthers last season, and would move their all time record against their I-85 rivals to a robust 38-23.
Elsewhere, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be heavy favorites against the New York Jets this weekend. If that win comes to fruition, Atlanta will at least keep pace with them at just one game back of the division lead.
If the Falcons lose
The victory against Minnesota and the good vibes coming into this week will feel incredibly hallow as they would sit at 1-2 with two division losses, firmly on the back foot. A Bucs victory would see the Birds fall to a full 2.0 back in the South and it would be resoundingly difficult for them to wind up winning that tiebreaker at the end of the campaign.
There would really feel like there’s no room of error in the immediate aftermath, with the team seemingly having to win at least one of the next three matchups before the schedule lightens up a little bit. No matter how light it may get, a 1-5 start would likely spell doom.
This would be the first time the Panthers will have won back-to-back games against Atlanta since they did so in the 2014 season finale (which was a “winner takes the division” game) before winning the first meeting in 2015.
