Just when it seemed the Atlanta Falcons season couldn't go any more painfully sideways Sunday's game set up one path into the playoffs. Not only did the Falcons lose in overtime handing their division lead back to Tampa Bay, but now the team must find a way to cheer for a New Orleans Saints win. Tampa Bay will play the Saints next Sunday with a win giving them the NFC South crown and sending the Falcons home and officially out of the playoff race.
In reality, Sunday's loss was an elimination game for the Falcons who had already been handed a second life. After bumbling away a huge division lead the Falcons turned to Penix out of desperation. The quarterback won his first start and Tampa Bay stumbled against Cooper Rush and the Dallas Cowboys. The Falcons had the division lead and simply needed two wins to have their first playoff game since the 2017 season. Now, however, after the loss to Washington, a New Orleans win is the team's only hope of finding their way into the playoffs.
The fate of Atlanta's 2024 season now is in the hands of the New Orleans Saints
Even with the Saints playing another division rival it is going to be difficult to cheer for New Orleans. There isn't any question who the Falcons have the most disdain for in the division and it is mutual. The rivalry between fans and both teams has been well-covered and is still by far the defining rivalry within the NFC South.
A division the Falcons could have taken by simply beating the Saints a bit earlier in the season in a game that would start their slide. New Orleans beating the Falcons to start Atlanta's slide, while losing to Tampa in the season's final week to rob Atlanta of any hope of a division crown would be very on-brand for the franchise. A team stuck in misery of their own creation being the Falcons' last hope of finding a way into the 2024 playoffs is a fitting end to a season that started out so promising and ended in typical Atlanta fashion.