This most consistent thing about this Falcons team is that you can count on them to always be inconsistent. Following one of the most impressive wins you can get on Monday Night Football against the Buffalo
Bills, their mistake-riddled performance against the completely banged up San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football saw them drop a highly winnable game.
In a vacuum, the 3-3 record doesn’t look too bad, but when looking at the context of the season, all three losses were maddeningly frustrating and beg the question of if this team can truly make something more happen this year than they have in the past seven.
The Miami Dolphins pose as a “get right” team, coming into this week with some of the worst vibes in the league, having only beaten the even more hapless New York Jets thus far.
Here is the scenario the Falcons face if they beat the Buffalo Bills in Week 6, as well as if they lose.
If the Falcons win
They will move to an above .500 record at this point in the season or later for the third straight season after suffering five consecutive seasons where they were constantly at or below .500 at this stage. It will be a step up in terms of getting off to a good start.
The vibe shift would be prevalent, as a win would help erase some of those bad feelings from San Francisco, and it would be needed as the next two games on the schedule look a lot tougher now than they were on paper coming into the season — at the 5-2 New England Patriots and against the 6-1 Indianapolis Colts in Germany.
They would have a chance to potentially match the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the loss column if the Bucs suffer defeat to the New Orleans Saints.
If the Falcons lose
Things would go from bad to catastrophic. The 3-4 record would already set them back in what looks to be an insanely competitive year in the NFC, but a loss to a Dolphins team that’s in total disarray would be difficult to come back from when it comes to team psyche.
The division race will slip further away with a Tampa win against New Orleans, as the Birds would be two back in the loss column without the tie breaker, and the wildcard race doesn’t seem much easier either with a slew of very good teams all jockeying for position.
Atlanta’s current playoff odds sit at 39% according to playoffstatus.com. A defeat here would drop those to 28% with more difficulty in the coming weeks. Atlanta will be the underdog in each of the next two matches, and 3-6 would be an all too realistic scenario.
