It’s become danger time for the Atlanta Falcons, who have sandwiched their two impressive and feel good victories in prime time against the Saints and Packers in between a pair of two game losing streaks which have them stuck inside a hole, and they better get moving to maneuver their way out quick.
The Birds once again laid an egg in a home game which resembled at best a neutral sight battle and at worst an absolute Bears fan takeover, against Chicago. Things don’t get any easier as they now host the undefeated San Francisco 49ers, led by two Falcon coaches of yesteryear in Kyle Shanahan and Raheem Morris, who are looking to bury their former employer’s season.
Here is the scenario the Falcons face if they beat the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7, as well as if they lose.
If the Falcons win
It will be one of the bigger upsets in the NFL season up to this point and they will bring the 1972 Miami Dolphins one step closer to their yearly champagne celebration, which happens after the final undefeated team suffers its first blemish. This one would bring about memories of 2019, when the 4-9 Falcons went to the Bay and upset the 11-2 Niners in one of the shocks of the season.
This ship that is Atlanta’s season may start to get steadied just in time to avoid the impending iceberg that’s now clearly visible in the distance. The Birds would move to 3-4 with a chance to pull themselves back to the surface with a game against the struggling Buccaneers next week as they navigate the difficult portion of the schedule.
The first place Carolina Panthers currently play the Bucs this week. Atlanta could get to within one game in the loss column if Tampa pulls off an upset. They would also shake away from the New Orleans Saints if the Kellen Moore led team stumbles in its game against Pittsburgh, played in Paris this weekend.
If the Falcons lose
Things will be derailing in real time as even a victory against Tampa next week (which is not a given) won’t be able to put them in a decent position. They would be 3-5 with games against the Bengals and Chiefs before the bye week and games against the Lions and Vikings on the other side of the bye. It doesn’t get much more brutal.
Needless to say, at this point we will already need to start looking at Atlanta’s potential draft position moving forward, as 2-5 would be justification enough to do so. There’s a large cluster of 2-4 teams in the league right now, and any who lose this weekend will likely be in top 10 draft pick placement for the time being.
Raheem Morris would continue what seems to have become a tradition of a former Falcons head coach who was fired returning to Atlanta the very next season and beating the Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Dan Quinn came back as Cowboys defensive coordinator and won in 2021, Arthur Smith came back as Steelers offensive coordinator and won in 2024, and now Morris will have come back as 49ers defensive coordinator and won.
