Three reasons the Atlanta Falcons will make the playoffs in 2021

Look around the NFL and you won’t find a single person that gives the Atlanta Falcons an ice cubes chance in hell of making the 2021 playoffs.

We get it, the Atlanta Falcons are coming off of a 4-12 season and have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons. Their last taste of the playoffs ended in heartbreak to the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles when the Falcons were unable to convert from the goal line.

However, there are a few things that seem to stack up nicely for the Falcons in 2021 that may allow them to go from one of the NFL’s worst teams to one of the NFL’s best in less than a year.

Atlanta Falcons strength of schedule is far easier than previous years

According to CBS Sports, the Atlanta Falcons have the third easiest schedule in 2021 among all NFL teams. They are basing this off of the 2021 opponents’ win percentage from 2020. The teams on the Falcons 2021 schedule won just 45 percent of their games in 2020.

Only the Cowboys and Eagles have an easier schedule – though this should not surprise anyone as the NFC East is an absolute dumpster fire.

When looking at the Falcons schedule, there are two things that stick out immediately – they don’t have back-to-back homes games all year and of course the ridiculous trip to London to play the garbage Jets.

When you take a closer look at the schedule, there are a couple more issues as well.

The first is they play the Cowboys on the road on what leads into their short week of the season as the Falcons will fly back from Dallas and play the Patriots four days later whereas the Patriots will be coming off of a home game.

The other issue is having the bye-week during week six of the new 18 week NFL season.

All-in-all, the schedule is very manageable and will give the Atlanta Falcons a chance to win 8-10 in 2021, which could see them secure a playoff spot.