Falcons 2022 NFL Schedule: 3 Levels of Daunting Challenges

The Atlanta Falcons will have their work cut out for them next season.

The Atlanta Falcons have one game against the New Orleans Saints this week. However, the future is never too far away.

For the Falcons next season, their schedule is one of the more demanding in the NFL based on the strength of schedule.

While dates and times are yet to be decided, the opponents (except for one) are.

Many of their 2022 opponents will be playoff teams from this season, or at least were mathematically contenders until this past Sunday.

Here is a look at who the team will face next season.

1. The Usual NFC South rivals.

• Carolina Panthers (home and away)
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers (home and away)
• New Orleans Saints (home and away)

Of course, the rivals of the NFC South will present challenges themselves, but two of these teams are set for a turbulent offseason.

The Saints have a deep roster that can quickly become formidable with an upgrade to the quarterback position.

The same could be said of the Carolina Panthers, as they have a host of QBs who may not be the long-term answer.

Unless Tom Brady retires, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the most stability, and who knows precisely who Brady and coach Bruce Arians can lure in this offseason?

The difficulty in schedule increases with the next group.

2. The NFC West.

• Arizona Cardinals (home)
• San Francisco 49ers (home)
• Seattle Seahawks (away)
• Los Angeles Rams (away)

As of now, three of these teams have a winning record as they enter the final week of this season. The outlier is the Seattle Seahawks, who are at 6-10 and face many difficult decisions throughout the entire organization.

The travel to face two of these teams will be a task.

While the NFC West has many formidable foes, the next group maybe even more difficult.

3. The AFC North.

• Cleveland Browns (home)
• Pittsburgh Steelers (home)
• Baltimore Ravens (away)
• Cincinnati Bengals (away)

This group is more balanced than the NFC West, and the travel will not be as extreme, but the physicality of each of these teams is well-documented.

Should the Falcons not correctly address the trenches this offseason, each of these organizations will quickly remind the team of why the lines are essential.

An interesting note with this group is that the last-place team in this group may be a .500 team at this season's end.

To round things out, the Falcons will face the same place finisher in the following divisions:

• NFC North (home)
• AFC West (home)
• NFC East (away)

Those teams (as of now) would be the Chicago Bears, the Las Vegas Raiders or Los Angeles Chargers, and finally, the Washington Football Team.

Week 18 will sort the final group out, but as a whole, the Atlanta Falcons - with their own questions from Matt Ryan to Calvin Ridley and more - are slated to play in at least nine contests where their opponent finished over .500 this season.

The only way for the Falcons to combat this is to have a very productive offseason.