If the NFL season ended today, the Falcons would host a playoff game.
Arthur Smith’s club is coming off a Sunday in which they took down their rival in Atlanta, defeating the Saints by two scores. New Orleans sat atop the NFC South coming into the contest but left looking at the Falcons’ ass and elbows.
Atlanta now owns first place with a 3-0 record in the division, putting them in the driver’s seat and on track to host the first postseason game since Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s inception.
The NFC landscape is quite clear in two of the divisions. The Lions and 49ers hold a two-game lead in the North and West, respectively. The NFC South is anyone’s division right now, but the Falcons do hold the edge over the Saints. Whoever takes it, which is the Dirty Birds right now, is set to be a lamb to the slaughter for the NFC East runner-up.
The Eagles and Cowboys are currently having a world championship heavyweight fight, while the Saints and Falcons are something closer to the junior Olympics. Philadelphia currently leads Dallas, so it would be Jerry Jones and Dak Prescott coming to Atlanta to take on Arthur Smith and Desmond Ridder.
It would be an absolute bloodbath, but it doesn’t matter if Prescott and the Boys or Jalen Hurts and the Birds face the winner of the NFC South. It will be carnage; however, there will be different feelings in Flowery Branch and Metairie after the season.
If the Falcons return to the postseason for the first time since 2017 and lose, fans and ownership will think of it as a success. Just going to the playoffs is a win for this organization. That would make them an ascending team with the potential to continue climbing with external upgrades and internal development. The health of their salary cap is strong and in a position to commit more money to those upgrades.
On the other hand, the Saints will be happy to have made the playoffs, but this season has been supremely disappointing with Derek Carr and Dennis Allen. The worst-case scenario for fans is Allen hangs onto his job, which would certainly happen with a postseason berth. But their fate would be the same as Atlanta’s, and they’d go into 2024 with no opportunity to upgrade an aging, overpaid roster, especially at quarterback.
With Allen, Carr, and Pete Carmichael back in the fold, the Saints will continue to be the hamster on the wheel, kicking the can down the road. Unfortunately, the same could be said for the Falcons, who very well could have Desmond Ridder under center in 2024 if they end up in the postseason.
It really doesn’t matter who wins the NFC South, though. The result will be the same.
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Photographer: John Adams/Icon Sportswire
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