Atlanta Falcons

2021 Record: 0-0

After consecutive 7-9 seasons, the bottom really fell out for the Atlanta Falcons last season. They started 0-5, which led to the firing of both head coach Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff. Interim head coach Raheem Morris lead the team to four wins in six games, but the season would end as it started, with five consecutive losses.

New head coach Arthur Smith, the former offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, still has veteran quarterback Matt Ryan, who recorded his tenth straight 4,000-yard season last season and threw 26 touchdown passes. Ryan is three touchdown tosses from 350 in his career, but he will have to hit that mark without Julio Jones, who was traded to the Titans in the offseason. But Ryan does have a shiny new toy in tight end Kyle Pitts, who was drafted fourth overall in April’s draft.

While Ryan should have another productive season even without Jones, the ground game and defense are major concerns. In Nashville, Smith had Derrick Henry, who ran for over 2,000 yards last season, while his new team averaged less than four yards per carry and under 100 yards per game in 2020. The defense, meanwhile, was torched through the air early and often, which was a big reason for the team’s last-place finish in the AFC South.

In their history, the Falcons have had only two stretches in which they failed to reach the .500 mark for four or more seasons in a row. The first was from 1966 to 1970, their first five seasons in the NFL, while the second was from 1983 to 1990. Barring a major turnaround, this will be the third such stretch.

Atlanta Falcons 2021 Schedule

Sunday, September 26, 2021: at New York Giants, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX

Sunday, October 3, 2021: vs Washington Football Team, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX

Sunday, October 10, 2021: vs New York Jets, 9:30 a.m. ET, FOX (in London, England)

BYE WEEK

Sunday, October 24, 2021: at Miami Dolphins, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX

Sunday, October 31, 2021: vs Carolina Panthers, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX

Sunday, November 7, 2021: at New Orleans Saints, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX

Thursday, November 18, 2021: vs New England Patriots, 8:20 p.m. ET, FOX & NFL Network

Sunday, December 5, 2021: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX

Sunday, December 12, 2021: at Carolina Panthers, 1:00 p.m. ET, FOX

Sunday, December 19, 2021: at San Francisco 49ers, 4:05 p.m. ET, CBS