4. Helping Sam Darnold cash in
Someone is going to pay Sam Darnold top dollar this offseason. Consider the lack of options in the draft at the quarterback position. Each top prospect you have to talk yourself into being willing to overlook some obvious flaws. Darnold could be the better option for some teams that aren't going to be able to draft a quarterback.
Look at Darnold's season as a whole and it isn't just the Falcons that have helped Darnold put together the best season of his career. However, when pundits were starting to question whether or not the quarterback was fading down the stretch of the season in stepped the Falcons to take away any concerns.
Yes, the receivers the Falcons were facing are elite but it doesn't explain away this absolute beating the Falcons took. Watching Darnold hit receivers on deep shots while the Falcons defenders stumbled out of the picture was painfully comical. It was the most Falcons defense we have seen this season. Darnold had a career day and picked apart Atlanta's secondary building up his numbers and quieting any concerns about whether or not he could be a long term starter.