Contender or Pretender? NFL.com Weighs in on Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are off to a 3-2 start and sit on top of the NFC South, but are they contenders or pretenders? NFL.com answers.

Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts had his best game since his rookie season last time out against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons have navigated what looks to be on paper the toughest part of their schedule to the tune of a 3-2 record. Despite being tagged as having the easiest schedule in the NFL heading into the season, it's ranked the seventh hardest to date by analytics site TeamRankings.

With just-five games having been played, the standings are cluttered around the NFL, and the Falcons are one of 10 teams sitting at 3-2. NFL.com's Kevin Patra predicted which five teams are contenders and would make the playoffs and the five that would miss out.

The Atlanta Falcons made the cut. However, predicting success for the notoriously-fickle Falcons can scare any prognosticator.

"I -- perhaps, like you, reader -- cannot believe I'm willing to put this much faith in a Falcons squad with an epic history of faltering," wrote Patra while oft-traumatized Falcons fans nod along. "Few clubs can match Atlanta's ability to turn a pleasant scenic stroll down a sunbathed path into a harrowing fear flick titled Horror Road."

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Still, the Falcons have been on the right end of what we affectionately call "Falconing" here in Atlanta on several occasions. Atlanta flipped the script in each of its wins. Each of their opponent had at least an 84% chance of winning in the fourth quarter, including the Eagles at 97.6% according to ESPN.

"Kirk Cousins' career path suggests this will be the windiest of roads for the Falcons. At times, the quarterback suffers from checkdown paranoia in critical spots. In others, like Week 5, hedarts pigskins into tight windows to create game-winning plays. Cousins will always play some of the most hectic games. It's his nature." 

The Falcons' defense has been porous at times this season. They rank 18th in total defense and 20th in scoring defense. That said, in every-single-game this year, the defense has come up with crucial stops in the fourth quarter to put the ball in the hands of the offense to win or tie the game.

It's flashes of defensive brilliance that give Patra more faith in choosing the Falcons as contenders.

"By placing Atlanta here, I'm not just betting on Cousins, but Raheem Morris' defense and the big names coming to life: Jessie Bates III, Justin Simmons, A.J. Terrell, Matthew Judon, Grady Jarrett. There is enough pedigree here to make the Falcons formidable. Logging back-to-back division winsdidn't hurt, either," concluded Patra.

The Atlanta Falcons and their fans find themselves in uncomfortable territory: Hopeful.

How many times has this Falcons team lined up for the crucial kick like Charlie Brown only to have Lucy snatch the ball away at the last minute.

One of those potential pitfalls arrives this week in Charlotte. If the Falcons are going to be contenders, they have to kick the Carolina Panthers while they're down. The last two years in Charlotte have been a personal house of horrors for the Falcons that included an embarrassing Thursday night loss in 2022, and a 9-7 disaster last year when the Panthers entered the game 1-12.

Already this season Cousins has shed the stigma that he wilts under the bright lights of prime time. Atlanta has turned "Falconing" into a positive through the first five weeks.

Maybe, just maybe, it's OK for Patra and Falcons fans to start dreaming a little bigger.

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