NFL.com Reveals Atlanta Falcons Latest Playoff Odds

NFL.com shows the Atlanta Falcons playoff odds following a four-game losing streak, and what a win (or a loss) could do for the Falcons against the Raiders.

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris cited turnovers and penalties as two crucial reasons for his team's four-game slide. / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons were once riding high, holding a 6-3 record entering a Nov. 10 matchup with the New Orleans Saints and leading the NFC South by two games over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After Sunday's 42-21 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, several players trudged to the locker room with their faces splattered in disappointment.

Perhaps all at once, Atlanta had seen its playoff hopes take their biggest hit yet.

The Falcons lost their fourth straight game and now sit at 6-7. The Buccaneers (7-6) have won three straight games and sit atop the NFC South by one game.

And Atlanta's playoff odds, once so strong, so promising, are suddenly diminishing.

According to The Athletic's playoff predictor, the Falcons had a 95% chance to make the postseason and a 93% chance to win the division entering their game against the Saints. They were tied for the fourth-best odds overall to reach the playoffs.

Now, Atlanta sits at No. 15. It has a 41% probability of snapping its six-year playoff drought and a 37% chance to win the NFC South.

Both Falcons right guard Chris Lindstrom and linebacker Nate Landman expressed optimism Monday about the team's ability to contend. Atlanta's confident in the pieces it has, but Landman noted the Falcons need to start playing complementary football more consistently.

Such inconsistency is one reason why Atlanta has slipped. Head coach Raheem Morris has several others.

"The biggest thing when you talk about overall production is the turnovers," Morris said Monday. "Turnovers in the National Football League will absolutely kill you. The penalties, we've been really good all year ... we wanted to clean up some of those things in the red zone in particular, have been absolutely killing us.

"So really, it's been turnovers, the penalties, and (Sunday) in particular, which was kind of an anomaly for most of the season, was the big plays that we did in the secondary."

Can the Falcons fix their flaws and extend their season beyond the next four weeks? The odds aren't in their favor -- but the door remains open if Atlanta can return to its previous form.