The Atlanta Falcons are slated to take on the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football while Tampa Bay sits winless on the season and Carolina holds the NFC South at 2-2. While the Panthers hold the current edge on the Falcons due to an early-season win, it was against a very different team, with Cooper Rush being Carolina's best player and consistently setting the franchise up for easy scores off turnovers or simply keeping the defense on the field long enough for the roster to let go of the rope.
With this in mind, it is clear the Falcons are now a win away from making the division a clear two-team race and sending their hated rival scrambling. Beating the Saints is always enjoyable, doing so to push them to a frustrating start and make the NFC South a two-team race would unquestionably signal a different kind of season happening for Atlanta.
Far too often over the last years, the South has been begging for the Falcons to win a key ballgame to force the franchise into the division race conversation. Whether under Arthur Smith or Raheem Morris, Atlanta consistently did just enough to be one the fringe of mattering in the division race.
Winning on Monday in front of a national audience sends an undeniable message and puts the Falcons right back in the conversation when it comes to viable options to steal an ugly division. As difficult as the schedule might look, if the version of the offense shows up that we watched against Green Bay, this is a team more than capable of playing with anyone.
Falcons Have a Chance for NFC South Statement Win Forcing a Clear Two-Team Divisional Race
With Baker Mayfield gone for an extended time and the Tampa offense clearly struggling, it is safe to say they aren't getting off the mat anytime soon. This leads us to New Orleans, which has been a scrappy roster, but is one loss away from a bad start that would be nearly impossible to climb out of when you look at the schedule.
All of this lines up for the Falcons to strike a blow to a hated rival while putting the franchise back into respectability and giving fans a reason to believe that this season is going to be different after all. What will be interesting to watch is whether or not last Thursday's win in Green Bay was a sign of things to come, or the outlier.
Atlanta has everything still in front of them due to a division that cannot get out of its own way. The mystery remains as to whether or not the team can take advantage and make the push it so badly needs after years of misery.
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