Atlanta Falcons: Studs and duds from Week 17 vs. Buccaneers
Stud: Losing to finish the year
Most people wouldn’t view a loss as being a positive to come out of the game. But for the Falcons, it was.
Atlanta had absolutely nothing to play for in the Week 17 matchup against Tampa Bay, and given the fact that the Falcons came into the game with just four wins, it was in their best interest moving forward to just lose the contest.
With the loss, Atlanta fell to 4-12 overall on the year and will have one of the top draft picks in the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft. At this point in the year, the most important thing for the Falcons is focusing on the future.
Dud: Uncertainty of the future
With the future of the Falcons and them focusing on just that being a key aspect to the franchise, Atlanta heads into the offseason with a fair amount of uncertainty when it comes to the direction of the franchise.
With a head coach and general manager search underway in Atlanta, those two aspects of the organization will play a crucial role in what the team does and how it looks moving into 2021 and beyond.
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One thing that could happen is the Falcons try and move on from veterans like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, although that is unlikely to happen at least in 2021. Ryan is getting up there in age and Jones has failed to stay healthy yet again this year.
There is a lot to figure out in Atlanta now with the offseason underway.