Atlanta Falcons: 3 Early bold predictions for the 2020 season

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 15: Matt Ryan #2 and Julio Jones #11 of the Atlanta Falcons react after a touchdown late in the second half of an NFL game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 15, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 15: Matt Ryan #2 and Julio Jones #11 of the Atlanta Falcons react after a touchdown late in the second half of an NFL game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 15, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Falcons (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Atlanta Falcons (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

3. Falcons avoid early-season collapse like in 2019

The first prediction that will take place during the course of the 2020 season for Atlanta is the fact that the Falcons will be able to avoid the early-season collapse that they went through a season ago in the first eight games of the regular season schedule.

Throughout the course of the year in 2019, we saw to entirely different teams in Atlanta before and after the Week 9 bye week.

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In the first eight games of the regular season last year, the Falcons went into their bye week riding a six-game losing streak while carrying an overall record of 1-7.

That early-season hole put Atlanta behind the rest of the NFC and the league in general at the halfway point, basically pushing it out of the playoff picture much earlier than it had hoped going into the season.

Although the Falcons did bounce back and put together a solid stretch to round out of the regular season, completing the 16-game regular-season schedule with a record of 6-2 in the final eight contests to grab an overall record of 7-9 for a second straight year.

This season, however, Atlanta will be able to ultimately avoid having a similar collapse in the first half of the year, although it will still have a tough task of matchups on the other side of the field before the Week 10 bye week in 2020.

The Falcons might end up floating around or right above the .500 mark at the midway point in the year, but they won’t fall back in the standings like they did early on in the 2019 campaign this time around.