The Atlanta Falcons jumped out of the gate in the 2017 football season by winning their first three games. It seemed as though they were ready to avenge the loss of the Super Bowl and take it out on everybody else.
But after that hot start, the Falcons turned in a horrible October, the second month of the season.
Meanwhile, NFC South rivals, the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints got red-hot.
Come November and a listless loss against the New England Patriots, and people were ready to write off Matt Ryan and the rest of the Dirty Birds.
But the falcons strung together some must-win games, sacking Dallas into submission and surviving the Jets and lambasting the Bucs.
Now, Atlanta is one of the hottest teams in the league.
After losing a low-scoring affair against the Minnesota Vikings, the Birds have four games left — winnable games — that will tell the tale.
This is the Falcons schedule, including two games against NFC South-leading New Orleans.
“Do the Falcons have a tough schedule ahead of them? Sure, but everything is still on the table for them and that’s all you can hope for. It doesn’t matter how you make it into the postseason, just get there,” Matthew Tabeek of AtlantaFalcons.com says.” Would a top seed and home-field advantage be better? Maybe, but as Falcons fans witnessed last year, it isn’t necessary.”
Elliott Harrison of NFL.com says this: “Yet another reason this is a fantastic matchup: The Falcons own the top-ranked third-down offense (48.1 percent conversions), while the Vikings field the league’s best third-down defense, yielding a lowly 28.5 percent conversion rate.”
Week 13 DEC 03 1:00 PM ET VIKINGS
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14 DEC 07 8:25 PM ET SAINTS
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Week 15 DEC 18 8:30 PM ET AT BUCCANEERS
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Week 16 DEC 24 1:00 PM ET AT SAINTS
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Week 17 DEC 31 1:00 PM ET PANTHERS