After the Falcons put us by a curler coaster of feelings in a loopy fourth quarter and extra time interval towards the Carolina Panthers, they emerged victorious and in sole possession of first place within the NFC South for the primary time since Week 4 of the 2017 season.

The Falcons have been extra so fortunate than good towards Carolina, with Eddy Pineiro’s missed kicks giving them an opportunity to win, following a defensive lapse which led to the sport tying D.J. Moore hail mary landing. This group has had so many unfortunate breaks over time that it’s good to see some fortune shift of their favor for as soon as. Now begins their journey to keep up first place.

Atlanta meets the Los Angeles Chargers this weekend. This can be a group initially anticipated to make quite a lot of noise within the AFC, however which has had a extremely tough string of accidents the previous few weeks. They are going to be with out star cross rusher Joey Bosa, star left deal with Rashawn Slater, and beginning vast receivers Mike Williams and Keenan Allen (Allen has an opportunity to play, however is unlikely to take action), amongst others.

Additionally they boast the worst run protection within the NFL on a yards per carry foundation (giving up 5.7 ypc), which performs into Atlanta’s strengths. A sport which at the start of the season was marked as a possible defeat is wanting all of the extra like a toss up nowadays, even supposing the Chargers are coming off of their bye and are nonetheless led by star quarterback Justin Herbert.

Let’s check out the circumstances surrounding the Falcons in the event that they beat the Chargers in Week 9, in addition to wanting on the situation in the event that they lose.

They’ll consolidate their grasp of first place within the division, a minimum of for an additional week, it doesn’t matter what else occurs throughout the league. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose to the Los Angele Rams and the New Orleans Saints lose to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night time Soccer, Atlanta will open a two sport lead within the NFC South.

The Falcons can even have video games arising towards the Panthers on Thursday Night time Soccer, in addition to the Bears, Commanders, and Steelers in that order proper after this matchup earlier than going into their Week 14 bye week. None of their subsequent 5 opponents on the schedule have information above .500, and the one group on the schedule for the remainder of the season which at present has extra wins than losses is the Ravens. Beating the Chargers now can catapult Atlanta into the form of run which might win them the division crown.

The Falcons will transfer their all-time file towards the Chargers to a formidable 9-3 and halt a two sport shedding streak they at present have towards the west coast franchise. They at present have a better profitable proportion towards the Chargers than towards another NFL franchise of their historical past.

Atlanta will transfer to above .500 for the primary time since 2017, and what a time it will likely be to take action. That’s one demon they haven’t been capable of exorcise for years.

It’s clearly not ideally suited, however I view this sport a lot in the identical manner that I seen the Bengals sport — a loss wouldn’t be catastrophic. Atlanta will nonetheless have that mild schedule on the docket, because the Chargers are on paper probably the most tough video games remaining for them. If they’re to lose, you’ll moderately that defeat be towards an AFC opponent, as it could not mess up the group’s convention file in terms of tiebreaker implications for a possible Wildcard spot.

They’ll stand to fall as little as third within the division with victories by the Saints and Buccaneers, on account of their 1-2 division file and having misplaced to every of these groups, which creates tiebreaker implications.

If Tampa or New Orleans wins they usually do fall out of first within the NFC South, Atlanta can even fall out of the playoff image completely for this week. There are at present eight groups with information of 3-5 or higher all inside vary of the NFC’s remaining Wildcard spot. The present occupant of that spot is the San Francisco 49ers, who boast the identical 4-4 file because the Birds, however they’re on a bye week which means they are going to stay at .500.

Atlanta will as soon as once more fail to maneuver to above .500. I’ll maintain mentioning this till it occurs, as I’ve been for years. Their subsequent likelihood to take action can be in Week 11 towards the Bears, in the event that they beat the Panthers on Thursday Night time Soccer subsequent week.