ESPN’s latest preseason power rankings didn’t do the Atlanta Falcons any favors, and neither did the bold prediction attached to them.
Atlanta landed at No. 27 ahead of Week 1, which is hardly shocking with the questions hanging over the quarterback spot. But Seth Walder’s forecast went well beyond this season. He sees the Falcons missing the playoffs for years to come.
“The Falcons will not make the playoffs from 2027 to 2029,” Seth Walder writes. “Atlanta needs a quarterback, but the current team isn’t bad enough to land a top-two pick.
The Falcons could draft one next year, but they might have to give up some serious capital to trade up. And though there are building blocks on this team, I fear the Falcons could be caught in the middle - even in the NFC South.”
If that plays out, Atlanta would be staring at 12 straight seasons without a postseason berth. That’s a bleak outcome, though it becomes easier to understand if you’re unconvinced Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr. is the answer for the long haul.
The quarterback situation is the obvious pressure point, and there’s a real chance the Falcons are shopping for one by March. Even so, the roster may be good enough to avoid crashing all the way to the top of next year’s draft order. One of Tua or Penix could give Atlanta just enough competent play for its skill-position talent to produce enough to scrape together seven or eight wins.
That still might not be enough to make a serious run at the NFC South. Nine or 10 wins and a division title are within the realm of possibility, but Vegas still gives Atlanta the worst odds in the division.
And the problems don’t stop there. This is a flawed team on both sides of the ball, made worse by Jalon Walker’s season-ending injury and the eight-game suspension for James Pearce Jr.
The pass rush was the defense’s calling card last season, but that unit has taken major hits on paper. Jeff Ulbrich will have to work some magic if Atlanta wants to finish anywhere near the top half of the league in sacks after ranking second a year ago.
The schedule isn’t doing the Falcons any favors, either. Over the first 10 weeks, they have to deal with the Chiefs, Bengals, Packers, Ravens, 49ers, Bears, and Steelers outside the division, plus three divisional games mixed in. If Atlanta can’t settle on the right quarterback quickly, that stretch could get ugly in a hurry.
In Other News...
Falcons Rookie Corner Just Made A Crowded Roster Battle Harder Ignore
Atlantas preseason opener against Denver gave the Falcons a first look at an undrafted rookie who may already be forcing his way into the roster conversation. Malcolm DeWalt IV made noise in a crowded cornerback room by flashing the kind of activity coaches notice, showing up around the ball and giving the secondary another name to track as the roster battle unfolds.
DeWalts biggest moment came when he appeared to snag an interception on a Broncos throw before the play was wiped away, a reminder of how close he came to a headline grab. Even without the takeaway counting, he kept making an impact with work on special teams and steady production in the box score, which only adds to the challenge of sorting out a deep group of Falcons corners. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Suddenly Face A Bigger Michael Penix Jr. Question Than Expected
The Falcons quarterback picture has taken an unexpected turn in camp, with the Week 1 job still unclaimed and Kevin Stefanski leaving the competition open for now. Michael Penix Jr. is working his way back from an ACL injury, but the team is still managing his workload as practices continue under limited-contact conditions, leaving the position in a holding pattern as camp moves along.
Penixs recovery timeline remains uncertain, and the wait has only added more intrigue to a situation that already had plenty of it. With the season opener approaching and no starter announced, Atlanta is being careful not to rush the process, even as the depth chart conversation gets more complicated by the day. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Stefanskis Falcons Debut Looked Rough But One Detail Matters
The Falcons preseason opener was the kind of first look nobody in Atlanta will confuse with a referendum on the season. A 27-7 loss to Denver came with the usual August messiness, including nine penalties and fewer than 200 total yards, but the larger context mattered just as much: new head coach Kevin Stefanski was asking his team to work through basic concepts rather than emptying the notebook, and the Broncos defense made everything look harder than it needed to.
There was also a built-in caveat in the personnel. Bijan Robinson did not suit up, Drake London barely got on the field, and several of the most important pieces were kept in reserve as the Falcons sorted out what they wanted to reveal and when. The result was a flat box score, but for a team still in the early stages of a new regime, the more important question is how much of this rough debut was about execution and how much was simply about holding back. [Read more 🡒]