The Atlanta Falcons are quickly losing the confidence of national analysts, and their latest placement in The Athletic's NFL power rankings makes that pretty clear.
Following the biggest win of the season in Week 7, they followed that up with an embarrassing 16-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and their inconsistency is becoming too much to bear--so much so that in The Athletic's Week 9 power rankings, the Falcons dropped two spots to No. 23.
And The Athletic's Josh Kendall (a Falcons beat reporter) didn't hold back when assessing the Falcons' season, offering a particularly harsh reality check about where this team stands. In his latest power rankings, Kendall summed up the Falcons' season with four words: "The hope was false."
"Twice now, the Falcons have gotten some national attention," Kendall wrote. "First with surprising wins over Green Bay and New Orleans. Then again with an upset of the previously unbeaten 49ers. Each time they get people's hopes up, though, things go south."
The Atlanta Falcons are facing some harsh messages from the national media with a brutal placement in Week 9 power rankings
It's a pretty fair assessment of what Atlanta has shown through eight games. The Falcons have already proven they can compete with some of the NFL's better teams. Their wins over Green Bay, New Orleans and San Francisco weren't exactly expected, especially considering how inconsistent they've looked in their losses.
But every time it seems like Kevin Stefanski's team is finally figuring things out, another ugly performance follows. Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay might have been the worst example yet as the Buccaneers became the first NFL team since 1974 to win a game without completing a single pass.
Michael Penix Jr. completed just eight of his 24 pass attempts for 125 yards and a career high four interceptions. Sure, the weather conditions were awful. Heavy rain made throwing the football extremely difficult for both quarterbacks, and Penix certainly deserves some consideration for that.
But Tampa Bay figured out how to win in those conditions. Atlanta didn't. And considering the Falcons have one of the NFL's most talented running backs in Bijan Robinson, it's fair to question why they continued putting so much responsibility on Penix's shoulders.
Robinson finished with 76 yards on 19 carries, while Penix attempted 24 passes despite struggling with his accuracy throughout the afternoon in the inclement weather.
The Atlanta Falcons have much bigger problems than their power ranking
The frustrating thing is that the Atlanta Falcons have already shown they have enough talent to beat quality opponents. The Falcons simply haven't shown they can sustain that level of play from one week to the next.
And with the upcoming schedule that has Cincinnati, Kansas City and Detroit waiting over the next three weeks, that inconsistency could become a serious problem in a hurry.
The one silver lining here is the Falcons absolutely still have playoff hopes, and are just half a game behind Carolina for the NFC South title at the moment. The division is wide open, and all they need to do is stay in the hunt until Week 16.
The Atlanta Falcons don't need another impressive upset followed by an embarrassing loss. They need to start stacking wins. Otherwise, that No. 23 ranking might start looking a little generous.
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