It came down to the wire once again, but this Sunday, the result went in favor of the Falcons as Atlanta eked out a 27-23 win in Seattle to pick up their first victory of the season.
While the record isn’t where the Falcons would like it to be through the first three weeks, they’re a few plays away from 3-0 after falling just short in their comeback bid against the Rams and allowing a lead to slip away against New Orleans. If things fall into place around “bonafide stars” like Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Cordarrelle Patterson, Steak Shapiro and Sandra Golden said on 92.9 ‘The Game’s The Steakhouse’ that it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that the Falcons can rattle off plenty of wins in the coming weeks and compete in the NFC South based on what we've seen so far.
“Cleveland’s coming in. They’re beatable…you look at the NFC, does that San Fran team with Jimmy Garoppolo look intimidating? Have you watched Jameis Winston in New Orleans, does Carolina look that scary? Tampa with all those injuries. Now we’re like ‘let’s get to 2-2 and head to play Tom Brady in Tampa’," Shapiro said.
To Shapiro’s point, the Falcons' upcoming schedule doesn’t look as daunting as it may have seemed in the offseason following a slow start from the Bucs, Trey Lance going down in San Francisco, perhaps a Super Bowl hangover in Cincinnati and the Panthers struggling offensively. The Saints did get the better of the Falcons in week one, but a rematch late in the season presents an opportunity for redemption.
The Bucs are still the overwhelming favorite in the NFC South, but the Falcons can certainly stack up against the competition based on what we’ve seen through the first three weeks of the season.
After having the luxury of watching the early going of the campaign, other seemingly winnable matchups on the Falcons' schedule include a trip to Washington, hosting the Bears and the Steelers.