The 12-2 Falcons come in to week 16 of the NFL Season having already clinched a playoff berth and look to lock up the number one seed in the NFL Playoffs with a Monday Night win against the Saints in Atlanta. But before the game has even started, this game is lost for the Falcons in the eyes of the media. ESPN, the main culprit has done nothing but put down the success of the Falcons this year.

After clinching a playoff berth last Sunday, ESPN never ran any highlights of their victory over Seattle or mentioned that they had clinched a playoff berth during their Monday Night Football halftime show. But it’s not like they were pressed for time. They still managed to show highlights of the Bucs-Lions, Bills-Dolphins, and Browns-Bengals games.

Trent Dilfer has recently said that the Saints can beat the Falcons on Monday night, but they can also beat them should there be a rematch in the playoffs. He even went as far as saying that this Falcons team reminded him of the 2003 Kansas City Chiefs. A team that went 13-3 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. He is just one of the many so-called experts that is yet to be a believer of the Falcons.

Now can the Falcons be beaten? Of course they can, but so can every other team in the NFL. Saying that a team can lose a game could be said about every single game in the history of the NFL. But the lack of respect and the lack of credit that the media outlets give the Falcons is nothing other than embarrassing. Coming into the Monday Night football game, regardless of the outcome of the game, the media will continue to doubt the Falcons and they will continue to not give them credit. I can already hear the analysis after the game. (more…)

source: YardBarker

When the NFL added the Houston Texans to the league in 2002, the NFC South division was formed. The Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers left the NFC West and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vacated the NFC Central to bring the division count to eight.

Hit the jump to read about how the Falcons are in the spookiest division in the NFL and what that means for the 2010 season.

(more…)