Where do the Atlanta Falcons stand entering Week 10 bye?

Evaluating the Atlanta Falcons as they enter their Week 10 bye.

After an eventful start to the 2020 NFL season, the Atlanta Falcons will head into their annual bye week in Week 10 this weekend. The regular season has been packed with a years-worth of news and rumors for the Falcons, including a shift in personnel on the team and questions surrounding the future of the organization as it got off to a brutal start to the 2020 campaign.

First, Atlanta jumped out to a winless record of 0-5 overall to begin the year, which quickly dropped it back in the NFC South and NFC standings while looking like a team that would once again be on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs and taking part in the postseason.

With that start to the new year, the Falcons ended up parting ways with head coach Dan Quinn as well as general manager Thomas Dimitroff, pushing the organization to have to look at who would lead the team on the sidelines as well as who would lead the franchise in the front office for the 2021 season and beyond.

With Atlanta basically at rock bottom through the first five weeks of the regular season schedule, it began to kind of turn things around in the following weeks beginning with the first win of the year over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6 of the year on the road in Minneapolis.

Since that point, the Falcons have won three of their last four and will enter the Week 10 bye week with an overall record of 3-6 overall. With Atlanta now at its bye week, how does it stand for the rest of the season once it returns to the field in Week 11?

The Atlanta Falcons have started to turn it around but still have work to do.

When it comes to the team itself and the players on the roster, we are once again seeing a team that we have seen in the past few years. A team featuring a high-powered offense countered by a questionable defense that has allowed opposing teams to get back into games late resulting in brutal losses.

On offense through Week 9, the Falcons rank 13th in the NFL in points per game (27.0), while tallying 290 yards per game through the air (third-best in the league) and 106.8 yards per game on the ground (13th-lowest in the league).

On defense through nine games, Atlanta has given up 27.9 points per game (10th-most in the NFL), while allowing opposing offenses to average 410 total yards per game (fifth-most in the NFL).

When it comes to where the Falcons stand in the rankings around the league, their 3-6 record is still in the bottom half of the NFC going into Week 10. Atlanta is tied with the Carolina Panthers (3-6) for 12th place in the NFC standings, while also sitting tied with Carolina for third place in the NFC South behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3) and New Orleans Saints (6-2) atop the division.

Although the Falcons have had a nice stretch here in the middle of the season going into their Week 10 bye, the upcoming schedule remains very tough for Atlanta in the final seven games of the regular season.

The Falcons still have to play Tampa Bay and New Orleans twice each over the final stretch of the year, and they will also have to face off against the likes of the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 12, Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14 and Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16. That stretch could be rough for Atlanta unless it continues to surprise everyone and making a serious run against some top-notch opponents.

At their bye week in Week 10, things have certainly been a rollercoaster for the Falcons over the first nine games of the season. Even though it has had some bright spots midway through the year as of late, Atlanta remains near the bottom of the NFC South and NFC standings and is in for a rough stretch to conclude the 2020 campaign.