Will the Atlanta Falcons be One-and-Done in this Year’s Playoffs?

MATT RYAN AND MIKE SMITH

The Atlanta Falcons have been maddeningly inconsistent this year. They’ve stumbled into the playoffs this year as opposed to how they charged in last season after having grabbed the number one seed which makes you wonder: can they get it together in time to finally give Coach Mike Smith his first playoff win?

The way things are looking right now my guess would be a resounding no. Maybe next year Falcons’ fans or the year after that. As of right now the Falcons look to be the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs which means they are looking at a third game against the New Orleans Saints who have already beaten them twice this year.

The first game was a close one in which the Falcons overcame a 10-point deficit at home to send the game into overtime. Unfortunately the Falcons weren’t able to convert on a critical fourth-and-inches giving the ball back to the Saints who would go on to score a field goal to win the game.

JULIO JONES

The second game played just this past Monday in New Orleans wasn’t even close. Well it was for a little while. Atlanta led by three points after the first quarter but the Saints would go on to outscore the Falcons 38-6 through the remaining three periods.

The Falcons drafted Julio Jones to help open up the offense and give them the ability to keep pace with high-scoring teams like the Green Bay Packers who put them out in last year’s playoffs but that experiment has been unsuccessful so far. After two losses to the Saints and a loss to the Packers this season, the Falcons don’t look to be in any better of a position to handle teams with high-octane passing attacks than they were last year.

RAY EDWARDS

Atlanta added Ray Edwards during the offseason to improve their pass rush but that also hasn’t happened. It’s bad enough that the Falcons aren’t scoring any better than they were last season but they haven’t been able to slow anyone down either. Teams have had a lot of success converting third downs against Atlanta’s porous defense.

The Falcons probably wouldn’t have made the playoffs at all this season if the Chicago Bears hadn’t lost both Jay Cutler and Matt Forte to injury. The Bears have struggled to generate offense since losing their two most important offensive players and are currently on a five-game losing streak. They looked like a lock for the playoffs a little over a month ago.

There is an outside chance that the Falcons could end up playing against the San Francisco 49ers who would be a better matchup for them. If the 49ers lose this week which isn’t likely to happen, and the Saints win then the 49ers would drop into the third seed and face the Falcons at Candlestick Park in the first round. The 49ers aren’t the offensive juggernauts that the Saints and Packers are which would give Atlanta a fighting chance to pull out a win.

Then again there’s always the chance that the Falcons could beat the Saints in New Orleans in a couple of weeks. Atlanta has done it before and it’s always tough to beat a team three straight games in the same season. For that to happen though they will have to give a much better effort than they gave on Monday. If not then Mike Smith’s playoff-win drought will continue. 

Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and also writes for both The Penalty Flag and Outside The Redzone. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @Sportmentalist.