Ouch; 1-3 after a Sunday Night Football loss to the Patriots. 30-23, and it is debatable if it was really that close.
Do the Falcons recover from a 1-3 disaster? If Roddy White can ever return to form, will the Falcons start scoring? Of all the injuries that the Falcons are dealing with, a gimpy White seems to be the most significant.
What it means: The Falcons now find themselves in unfamiliar territory — on the outside looking in. Since 1990, only 9 percent of teams have made the playoffs after a 1-3 start. One of those 22 teams (out of 258) was the 2002 Falcons, who finished 9-6-1 and lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in a divisional playoff game after beating the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card game. But this Falcons team has a tall task, with teams such as the Seattle Seahawks, the Packers and the San Francisco 49ers still remaining on the schedule. And the Falcons were supposed to be a Super Bowl favorite. [Source: ESPN.com]
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It is hard to figure how a team touted as a Super Bowl contender suddenly fell to 1-3. History says the odds are stacked heavily against the Falcons now. According ESPN Stats & Information, only 9 percent of teams that start a season 1-3 have gone on to make the playoffs since 1990. In order to beat those odds, the Falcons have to figure out a way to score touchdowns — immediately. Atlanta leads the league with 18 red zone drives this season but is fifth worst in touchdown conversion (38.9) on such drives, according to Stats & Information. [Source: ESPN.com]
As Mark Bradley of the AJC says, “When the Falcons see red, they stop and lose”
Let’s hope that hosting the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets on MNF is just what ATL needs to get things going in a hurry. Now for the “if'” – if the Falcons can close out the Jets, they will go to 2-3 at their bye week. After that, there are winnable games at home vs. Tampa Bay, and road dates in Arizona and Carolina. Let’s suppose the Falcons manage to pull off four straight wins, which would bring them to 5-3 facing a pivotal home match against Seattle.
I’m not going any farther with this guessing game; if ATL can’t pull off four straight starting this Monday night, I think they miss the playoffs. Even if they do manage to pull to 5-3, there are still no certainties. The playoffs are still obtainable, but unless Brees gets injured and missing significant time, the Falcons are not going to overtake the dreaded Saints.