There is still hope for the Atlanta Falcons to contend for the NFC South title.
After a painful 29-25 home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 14, the Atlanta Falcons are reeling in the NFC South.
They were in the lead and in a three-way 6-7 logjam in the kids’ table division with the New Orleans Saints after losing to their divisional rivals. The Falcons had a 63% chance of making the NFL Playoffs before Week 14. That percentage fell to 33 percent after the Bucs’ devastating loss.
It is now all about the last four games. To secure the coveted postseason berth, Atlanta may need to sweep their own remaining games in addition to Tampa Bay dropping at least one of their next four games.
All three teams still have two divisional games left on their schedule, but the Buccaneers currently hold the tiebreaker over the other two teams. Since New Orleans is currently without any leverage in any of the tiebreaker scenarios, it needs both Tampa Bay and Atlanta to struggle.
Atlanta outgained Tampa Bay by 144 yards on Sunday, amassing 434 yards against the Bucs’ 290.
But an early turnover that led to a Tampa touchdown and a pair of missed field goals from typically reliable kicker Younghoe Koo ultimately did the Falcons in.
Desmond Ridder, a second-year signal caller, has thrown fewer interceptions than just ten quarterbacks combined, but only twenty-five quarterbacks have a lower interception percentage (2.7%) than Ridder’s. According to Ridder following the game, “There is a lot of things we are going to clean up and a lot of things we’re going to learn from and get better from and come out better in the back end.”
This season, how many times have Atlanta supporters heard that sentence?
