4 Clear advantages the Atlanta Falcons will have in battle for NFC South

3. Rest

How much value a rest advantage will have for the Falcons depends on your perspective. The Falcons played in the early window on Sunday afternoon while the Bucs played the Baltimore Ravens late Monday night. This does offer the Falcons more time to get healthy and an extra day to prepare. We see what a big advantage that can be with the injuries both teams are dealing with now seven weeks into the season.

Atlanta's veterans having an extra day while Tampa deals with losing a myriad of players is unfortunate but a part of the game. Atlanta dealt with this playing in Philly on a Monday night only to return to Atlanta to host the defending champs.

Tampa will, however, host the game after playing Baltimore at home offering a bit of respite. The winner of this game will not only grab control of the NFC South but likely have the lead for the foreseeable future. Both teams have a similar slate making this game pivotal to retaining division control and convincing their respective fanbases that what they saw last week was the outlier. If you're Tampa setting the schedule up this way has to be frustrating.