The Atlanta Falcons are no stranger to being doubted by the masses. They haven't made the playoffs in eight years, but have one of the most talented rosters in the NFC. They fired Raheem Morris and hired Kevin Stefanski in hopes of breaking that drought, which hasn't come with a ton of confidence.
DraftKings just made their early 2026 win/loss totals available, and their assessment of the Falcons' situation could not be more off base. Despite winning eight games with Morris coaching and majorly upgrading the coaching staff with Stefanski, DraftKings has the O/U win total at a pathetic 6.5 wins.
That isn't exactly the most stellar assesment of the new regime in Atlanta. I understand that it's hard for some people to get behind hiring a coach who won eight games over the last two seasons with the Browns, but thinking this team will regress even though the same core is in place is blasphemous.
The Atlanta Falcons' early 2026 win-loss total is way too disrespectful for Year 1 of the Kevin Stefanski era
Stefanski is a two-time Coach of the Year who got the most out of some awful rosters and made the playoffs twice in Cleveland. He is an objectively good football coach in a better situation, and it's also pretty difficult to get less out of this team than Raheem Morris did, so his job should be way easier.
The Dirty Birds won eight games in two straight seasons, and even that was failing to live up to this potential, so a seven or six-win season would be a major regression. The expectation in Atlanta should be to win nine or 10 games assuming Stefanski helps further Michael Penix Jr.'s development.
The worst part is that the Panthers have the same projected win total, while the Bucs and Saints have higher win totals than Atlanta. It's still projected to be a photo finish in the NFC South, but if you truly think the Falcons will finish last in this division under this new regime, you must be living under a rock.
Falcons fans should be livid about this assessment, and so should Stefanski. The offense cannot possibly be more disappointing than it was, and Penix should be back in Week 1. So if they won eight games with a handicapped Penix and Kirk Cousins, he'll be unleashed in a superior offensive system.
The defense took massive strides in 2025 and the offense has everything the 43-year-old will need to spearhead an elite unit, so even with some red flags at QB, this is a team that's built to compete. Their hopes of making the playoffs with Stefanski at the helm are better than they've been in years.