The Atlanta Falcons are fighting for their playoff lives with one game to go in the regular-season. The finale, Sunday Dec. 41 against the Carolina Panthers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, has been moved to 4:25 p.m., the National Football League said this weekend.
The Falcons are coming off an ugly 23-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints at the Super Dome. Atlanta (9-6) must beat the 11-4 Panthers to earn the last playoff berth in the NFC. The Seattle Seahawks (9-6) are rooting for the Falcons to loss, as they would get the nod if they defeat the Arizona Cardinals (7-8) at home.
The Falcons are winless this season (0-6) when held under 20 points, as they were on Sunday. The 13 points against the Saints was the second-lowest scoring output of the season for Atlanta, which only put up 7 against the reigning Super Bowl champs, the New England Patriots.
Matt Ryan, talking to reporters after the game, said that he is ready to focus on Carolina in a must-win game Sunday. ““We are going to have to put that behind us and get ourselves back to work this week to see if we can find a way to get the job done next week. For us, it’s pretty clear what’s in front of us. We have to play better than we did today.”