Alright, 1 down, 31 to go. I felt good about a post about the birds, so I decided to continue with another bird team. This one’s gonna be about the Atlanta Falcons.
If anybody wants to call me out on how bad these predictions are, leave a comment below!
Some disclaimers:
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There are no ties in my predictions. I hate ties.
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Each person can only win one award. I don’t want Chase Young winning three awards when I get to the Redskins.
With that said, let’s get to the Falcons season!
Schedule
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Week 1 – Win (1-0) vs Seahawks
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Week 2 – Loss (1-1) @ Cowboys
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Week 3 – Win (2-1) vs Bears
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Week 4 – Win (3-1) @ Packers
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Week 5 – Win (4-1) vs Panthers
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Week 6 – Loss (4-2) @ Vikings
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Week 7 – Loss (4-3) vs Lions
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Week 8 – Win (5-3) @ Panthers
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Week 9 – Loss (5-4) vs Broncos
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Week 10 – BYE
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Week 11 – Loss (5-5) @ Saints
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Week 12 – Win (6-5) vs Raiders
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Week 13 – Win (7-5) vs Saints
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Week 14 – Win (8-5) @ Chargers
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Week 15 – Loss (8-6) vs Buccaneers
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Week 16 – Loss (8-7) @ Chiefs
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Week 17 – Loss (8-8) @ Buccaneers
Best Win
In a later post, I’m gonna talk about the season that the Saints are gonna have, and Saints fans are gonna be very happy. However, the Falcons pull off a big upset when they defeat the Saints in Week 13. The Falcons have played the Saints several times already, so they should know a lot about the tendencies of guys like Brees and Payton. Because of that, I think they’ll be able to split the season series with this win.
Worst Loss
The Falcons don’t actually have many terrible losses. They’re able to put away a lot of the teams that are worse than they are. There is one game, though, that Falcons drop. They lose a game that they shouldn’t have lost against the Lions in Week 7. Stafford is able to lead the Lions into Atlanta and defeat the Falcons.
Season Outlook
The Falcons have a good year, but they fall apart down the stretch, losing their last three games. They’ll miss the playoffs because of this, and they’ll be put in a difficult spot. They’re a team that should be playoff-viable, but they’re clearly the third-best team in their division (more on that in a different post). On top of that, their core is getting older, and they might end up being stuck in mediocrity.
Team MVP
The Falcons have some really good players, but their undisputed best player is Julio Jones, and he’s going to win the Team MVP. He’s one of the top receivers in football, and any success that this team has is going to be directly tied to him. He has the ability to win games by himself, and he’ll do that during this season.
Offensive Player of the Year
Todd Gurley should have a good year this year, but Matt Ryan is gonna be the Offensive Player of the Year. He’s a Hall-of-Fame QB (yeah, I said it), and he should also be an incredibly integral part of the success of the Falcons. If you have a quarterback that plays at a good-to-great level, he’s gonna win one of these awards.
Defensive Player of the Year
Grady Jarrett is one of the best interior linemen in the NFL, but nobody cares about him because he’s a defensive tackle. I’m gonna give him some respect here and say he’s the Defensive Player of the Year. This dude is a monster, and if he played any other position, there would be a ton of people talking about him.
Rookie of the Year
This draft class is kinda shaky, with only A.J. Terrell and Marlon Davidson being realistic options for this award. However, I think A.J. Terrell was the third-best corner in the draft, so I think he’s gonna win this award. He won’t have an insane season, but he’ll be a very good starter that holds his own against the wide receivers of the NFL.
At least the falcons aren’t dumb enough to trade their team’s best wr for a sack of nuts.