Can Atlanta Beat New Orleans Sunday Again?
Do The Math: How Can Falcons Nevertheless Make Playoffs?
The Atlanta Falcons must win the rest of their games to take a chance at making the 2021 NFL postseason.
The playoff hopes for the Atlanta Falcons took a major hitting with Sun'due south 31-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. There's no debating that fact.
The Falcons' 18-point defeat coupled with the Detroit Lions shocking xviii-point win against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15 means Atlanta now possesses the worst point differential (minus-126) in the NFC. Only the Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets are worse in the entire NFL.
Atlanta's strength of victory is as well second-worst in the NFL at .333. Although after Lord's day's results they have two wins confronting teams with .500 marks (New Orleans and Miami), the Falcons haven't beaten a team with a winning tape this yr.
But in what is the crazy 2021 NFL flavour, the Falcons are non eliminated from playoff contention. And considering they are 6-8, the their route to a postseason booth is quite clear.
Outset and foremost, the Falcons must win all their games. Three straight victories to cease the regular season will gave Atlanta a 9-8 record.
Two of Atlanta'due south final three contests are at home, where the Falcons are 0-5 this season, and their solitary road trip remaining is to Buffalo. The Falcons concluding won iii straight games at the end of the 2019 season. Atlanta has won back-to-back games just once this season.
The last time the Falcons beat a playoff squad on the route was too December 2019. That's role of why Dominicus's loss was then plush to Atlanta -- had the Falcons won at San Francisco, they could have however fallen in Buffalo and had a chance at a ix-viii finish.
In all likelihood, the Falcons won't terminate with iii straight wins, and the scenarios for Atlanta making the playoffs with a viii-9 record are too unlikely to consider.
Simply for fun hypothetical reasons, let's say they practice finish 9-8. What else has to happen for the Falcons to make the postseason? What results should Atlanta fans be rooting for downwardly the stretch?
Atlanta's playoff hopes are actually not equally long of a shot equally one might initially remember. Here'south a breakdown of what the Falcons demand past the week:
Calendar week sixteen
Coil to Continue
- Minnesota Vikings loss to Los Angeles Rams
- Washington Football Squad loss to Dallas Cowboys
Week 17
- Minnesota Vikings loss to Greenish Bay Packers
Calendar week 18
- Philadelphia Eagles loss to Dallas Cowboys
Including Tuesday night's decision to Week 15, Washington and Philadelphia play each other twice in the final four weeks. In addition to the results above, the Falcons need the Eagles and Washington to split their two meetings.
The results to a higher place aren't all that unlikely. The Cowboys, Packers and Rams are all fighting for division titles and should win those four games above. The catchy part could be if the Cowboys don't have much to play for in Calendar week 18, simply if Dallas wins the adjacent 2 weeks, home-field reward will be on the line during the final Dominicus.
The most difficult issue the Falcons need is Washington and Philadelphia to beat each other each once. Because Atlanta lost to both Washington and Philadelphia, the Falcons can't make the postseason alee of either of them with the aforementioned tape.
Interestingly, New Orleans is not anywhere on the list of results needed for Atlanta to brand the postseason. That's because the Falcons already beat the Saints and will play them again in Calendar week 18. If Atlanta wins-out, New Orleans' best possible finish is ix-eight, and the Falcons would own the tiebreaker.
But every bit possible equally these scenarios may be, again, they hateful nil if the Falcons don't win-out to terminate 9-8. That'southward the biggest result Atlanta needs in the last three weeks of the regular season.
Source: https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/news/atlanta-nfl-playoff-scenarios-week-15-arthur-smith-dh
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