Atlanta Falcons poised to run a 9-0 record

Dan Quinn’s first season at the helm of the Atlanta Falcons with Kyle Shanahan as his sidekick has gone incredibly well, and few could have predicted a 4-0 start for a team that went 6-10 last season. But the Falcons are one of the six remaining undefeated teams right now, and their brilliance doesn’t seem ready to subside.

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In fact, the Falcons are poised to have a 9-0 record, because their schedule for October and November looks quite easy. Coming into the season, we thought facing the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and Dallas Cowboys in the first three weeks would be quite the NFC East gauntlet for Quinn’s side. Instead, the Falcons took advantage of the Eagles surprising struggles on offense, a collapse from the Giants, and Tony Romo‘s injury to run up a 3-0 record. They then blew out the Houston Texans yesterday in a game that might as well have been a 100-0 victory.

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It doesn’t get significantly more difficult for the Falcons either, as they get to take the NFL’s third-highest scoring offense to the Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and San Francisco 49ers in their next five games before they are forced to face the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings. Even then, the Colts and Vikings have been disappointments so far this season, so the Falcons most difficult games of the year might be against the currently 4-0 Carolina Panthers.

The Falcons easy schedule is a huge boost, because not only do they get to face a reeling Saints team (though they did pick up the narrowest of victories against the Brandon Weeden-led Cowboys despite a sloppy performance on their part) and a lost Buccaneers team twice, but they also faced the NFC East at their weakest and get to play games against the easy AFC South.

Basically, the Falcons schedule is a joke, whereas they themselves have upped their game this season. After playing without a legitimate rushing attack last season, the Falcons have seemingly found a touchdown-maven in Devonta Freeman, and rookie Tevin Coleman. Both players are actually averaging less than four yards per carry, but their work on the ground is picking up. Terron Ward looks like a nice find, and he and Freeman had no problems chewing up the Texans defense (led by J.J. Watt and Vince Wilfork up front) on the ground.

Of course, the meat of this Falcons team is found in the passing game, and no receiver is playing better than Julio Jones right now. Heck, few quarterbacks are playing better than the oft-underrated Matt Ryan, who is boasting a borderline-elite 67.1% completion percentage with six TDs, just two picks, and 8.4 yards per attempt.

Roddy White looks old (he has a sub-50.0% catch rate through four games), but the Falcons have found a new, more explosive partner-in-crime for the target-hoarding Jones in Shanahan’s long-time favorite project Leonard Hankerson, who is finally shining. Throw in Freeman and Jacob Tamme as safety valves, and it’s easy to see why Ryan’s cachet of weapons has been vastly upgraded.

As cliche as it is to say, the only thing stopping the Falcons from running a 9-0 record by beating their next five opponents is themselves. The Redskins are a legitimate threat, but it would be rather embarrassing for this team to lose to Kirk Cousins and Co, who were undressed by the Giants on Thursday Night Football in Week 3. They did beat the Philadelphia Eagles, though, so the Redskins are indeed a test for the Falcons.

Sep 27, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn smiles after a touchdown is scored against the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium. Atlanta won 39-28. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

That said, it gets easier after that. The four opponents after the Redskins don’t scare anyone, and the Atlanta Falcons should have no problems dispatching the mercurial Saints, the talent-deficient Titans, the rebuilding Bucs, and the wild and whacky 49ers. If the Falcons lose any of these games, then it’s simply because of a lack of execution.

Are the Falcons a prototypical 9-0 team in the sense that they are “good enough” to be 9-0? No. They aren’t. They have an explosive offense and an improved defense, but they are still 27th in yards allowed and are over-achieving. Without the good luck against those NFC East teams, they could honestly be 1-3 right now.

However, the Falcons should be a 9-0 team based on the schedule they have in front of them, as well as the fact that they have legitimately improved.

Both they and the Panthers are 4-0 as a product of an easy schedule, but they aren’t lightweights either. 9-0 is within reach for the Falcons, and they should be embarrassed if they lose more than one of their next five games.

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