Atlanta Falcons will not finish the 2020-21 season at 7-9
After back to back 7-9 seasons for the Atlanta Falcons, a third straight season under .500 will not happen.
Adam Rank with the NFL Network recently went over the Atlanta Falcons schedule and predicted what games the team would win and lose and what the record would ultimately be by the end of the 2020-21 season.
He said the team would go 7-9 and miss the playoffs. This is inaccurate.
Rank’s prediction that the Atlanta Falcons will finish the 2020-21 season at 7-9 is not nearly as stupid or far off as his infamous prediction that the San Francisco 49ers would go 3-13 in 2019. Obviously, this was not even close to what their actual record was,15-4.
He received ridicule for this prediction, as he should have, and he also acknowledged that this was a stupid prediction.
Again, his 7-9 prediction for the Atlanta Falcons is nowhere near as ignorant or misinformed as to his 49ers prediction. Based on what the league has seen from the Atlanta Falcons the last two years, many could say that his prediction is actually in-line and most likely accurate.
It is an easy prediction to say the team will once again finish with a 7-9 record for the third straight season. However, the Atlanta Falcons are not the New Orleans Saints. The changes and additions to the team can not be ignored because this is now a different team.
Atlanta Falcons will make it through their difficult 2020 schedule
Yes, the Atlanta Falcons have a very difficult schedule, that much is true, but again, this is no longer the same mediocre, underachieving team. The beginning of the season will be very difficult to navigate, anyone can see that.
The rest of the schedule does not get any easier either. However, this is an improved team with confidence going into the season that this year will be different. Strides have been made on both sides of the ball to improve and to once again reach the level that they played at in 2016 and 2017. Finally, the coaching staff seems to be cohesive and working as one, rather than operating under confusion and in an experimental nature to see who fits where the best.
Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff both know their jobs are on the line. Another slow start and both will be gone by the halfway point of the season, possibly even sooner than that. Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Alex Mack, and the other veterans on the team know that their time is running out to bring a Super Bowl to Atlanta. T
here will be a sense of desperation to this team and desire to stop underachieving and finally win games on a consistent basis.
Don’t be surprised to see the Atlanta Falcons win 10 or 11 games and find themselves in the playoffs. Nobody expected them to do anything in 2016 and nobody is expecting them to do anything in 2020.