In three weeks, the Atlanta Falcons may face their toughest matchup of the regular season when they host the San Francisco 49ers, who are currently 4-0 and ranked No. 1 in practically every power rankings list online.
That could potentially be an early playoff game preview if the newest predictions from CBS Sports turn out right.
According to their latest playoff projections, the Falcons will win the NFC South, which would put them in position to host the Wild Card round at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The bad news is they're projected to face the 49ers, who CBS believes will advance.
"The Falcons are the hottest team in the NFL over the past two weeks, but that's not going to help them here. Kyle Shanahan, who served as the Falcons' offensive coordinator
during Atlanta's Super Bowl season in 2016, gets some revenge on his old team by knocking them out of the postseason."
For right now, the smart money is on whoever emerges from the NFC South getting blown out of the water in the Wild Card round, likely by one of the three heavyweights from the NFC West.
There's precedent to go by here, too. Last season the Falcons played the 49ers in the middle of October, losing on the road by a score of 20-10. The Niners notably didn't even have their starting quarterback Brock Purdy in the lineup, so backup Mac Jones got the win.
Then again the biggest issue there was stopping Christian McCaffrey, who went off for 129 rushing yards and two touchdowns. This year the Falcons have the NFL's top run defense by a mile, so it could go differently in their next matchup.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: NFL playoff projections have Falcons facing 49ers in Wild Card
