The season has done a full 180 in the best possible way for the Falcons. Just two weeks ago the doomsday scenarios were being looked at in a magnifying way following two early losses with Cooper Rush under center. Since then, Michael Penix Jr. has returned, the Falcons’ offense has taken off with the arrow now firmly pointing up.
Nothing has given this fanbase as much joy in a very long time as spoiling the New Orleans Saints’ 20th year anniversary of their dome re-opening, and doing it in such an emphatic
way on national television.
The next test is another one in prime time, this time broadcast into living rooms across the country via NBC on Sunday Night Football. The opponents are the Baltimore Ravens, one of the serial contenders in the AFC. The Falcons caught a break in that they will not have to face Baltimore’s two time MVP winning quarterback Lamar Jackson, but this remains a formidable team nonetheless.
Here is the scenario the Falcons face if they beat the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5, as well as if they lose.
If the Falcons win
They will have completely won back over the majority of the fanbase, including the many folks who are still highly (and very fairly) skeptical waiting in anticipation for the rug to get pulled out from under them. Three straight prime time triumphs will also showcase to the country just how good this team can be and will generate some national respect for the first time in a while.
With the Carolina Panthers on a bye week, Atlanta will move into sole possession of first place in the NFC South and this division will all of a sudden not only be a very real goal but also an expectation at this point.
The Falcons would win just their third ever game against the Ravens, and their first one since a Thursday Night Football showdown between Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco in 2010. This is the franchise against whom Atlanta has the joint-fewest victories against along the Steelers, who kept that win total at two earlier this season.
While it’s still a hilariously low sample size, it will technically be correct to say that Kevin Stefanski will become just the sixth ever Falcons head coach with a record above .500, alongside Mike Smith, Dan Quinn, Leeman Bennett, Jim Mora and Wade Phillips (who has an all time 3-2 record as the head man in Atlanta).
If the Falcons lose
The wind will promptly be taken out of the sails and the momentum completely halted following back to back dominant wins against NFC opponents. Losing to an AFC team isn’t the end of the world, but for a Falcons team that’s still trying to dig themselves out of the hole they created with Cooper Rush, it’ll still be a blow.
For as embarrassed as the Saints were this past week, if they beat Minnesota then they will finish the week tied with the Falcons in second place while the idle Panthers move into sole possession of first place with a 2-2 record.
The schedule is tightening up now and there really aren’t too many breaks in it. Games against the Bears, 49ers, Bengals and Chiefs await before the bye week and to go into that stretch below .500, having just lost to a Ravens team missing Lamar, it will feel like one of those missed opportunities that comes back to bite at the end of a season.
