It's Playoffs or Bust as Atlanta Falcons Go All In

They Atlanta Falcons have filled their biggest needs with Pro Bowl players as well as drafted depth. It's playoffs or bust after a six-season drought.

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has been all smiles since taking the job, and for good reason. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

It has been seven long years for the Atlanta Falcons since the team last appeared in the playoffs. Since that 2017 season, when the team made the Divisional Round, just about everything in the organization has changed.

The 14-year veteran and team leader under center Matt Ryan retired. Former general manager Thomas Dimitroff, who engineered the 2016 Atlanta roster that made the Super Bowl, is no longer in the NFL. 

Moreover, only two players on the roster were part of the team’s last playoff appearance: defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and offensive tackle Jake Matthews. Time flies, and as the 2024 NFL regular season is now less than a month away, the new era under longtime owner Arthur Blank is set to begin.

However, expectations are at their highest point in nearly a decade as this season has the ideal blueprint for a playoff trip. 

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General manager Terry Fontenot has willed the organization into ‘win-now’ mode. 

Every general manager in the NFL is subject to criticism, and Terry Fontenot has been under plenty in his short three-year tenure with the Falcons. While some of it may be justified, there should be none this offseason, considering that he has brought in three Pro Bowl-caliber players to fill three of the team's biggest needs, starting with Kirk Cousins at the most critical position in football.

Breaking: Kirk Cousins has agreed to a four-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons, his agent announced Monday on social media. pic.twitter.com/83HsatrGBk

— ESPN (@espn) March 11, 2024

This past March's free agency was productive with a highly capable offensive line and standout skill players in Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts. The following month, the team drafted Michael Penix Jr, a headscratcher for many outside of the organization. The bottom line is that the team will not enter the dark ages like when Ryan retired when Cousins decides to retire or leaves at the end of his four-year contract.

Nor are they held hostage by Cousins's reconstructed Achilles the same way the New York Jets were with Aaron Rodgers in 2023. All of the Jets' offseason promise went down in flames with Rodgers the first series of the season.

The Falcons have depth at quarterback.

Additionally, this past week, the team added two former Pro Bowlers to the defensive side of the ball: linebacker Matt Judon and safety Justin Simmons. Judon is in the final year of his contract, and Simmons was cut by the rebuilding Denver Broncos in a cost-saving move. The moves give Falcons' stars A.J. Terrell, Grady Jarrett, and Jessie Bates III some much-needed help.

The NFC South is up for grabs, and winning the division ensures a playoff berth.

The last time the Falcons won the NFC South in 2016, they went to the Super Bowl. Since then, the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have both had streaks of winning consecutive division titles.

With the Falcons only finishing two games behind the Bucs in the division last year, the gap between them should be marginal. The Buccaneers are bringing back relatively the same team.

On the other hand, the New Orleans Saints also finished with the same record as the Bucs, and they, too, also brought back the same core team.

The Carolina Panthers still have a ways to go with their roster and don't appear to be a threat.

The Falcons were the betting favorite to win the division before the additions of Judon and Simmons. Now, anything short of an NFC South title and a playoff run will be seen as a disappointment.

It's playoffs or bust for the Atlanta Falcons.