Falcons can gain significant ground in NFC South before Week 12 bye

It cannot be overstated how important the Atlanta Falcons' last two wins were. Two game-winning drives for Kirk Cousins against the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have them ready to put a significant buffer between them and the rest of the division over the next few weeks.

Looking at the situation for the three contending teams, things significantly favor the Dirty Birds. They must now take advantage as they could take a convincing lead in the NFC South.

NFC South schedule significantly favors Falcons over next few weeks

The Atlanta Falcons appear to be finally getting their footing as they enter their Week 6 game against the struggling Carolina Panthers. They orchestrated two game-winning drives against two divisional foes and their passing offense was unstoppable in Week 5.

Assuming they can continue their momentum, the Falcons will find themselves with a large lead for the top spot in the NFC South.

First, you have to compare the Falcons' and Buccaneers' schedules up to Week 12.

This significantly favors Atlanta; they benefit from playing the lowly Panthers, a Seahawks team that has taken a step back, the Buccaneers, the struggling Cowboys and Saints, and an offensively-challenged Broncos team.

Meanwhile, Tampa has to play the Ravens, Chiefs, and 49ers before their Week 11 bye. That is brutal.

If Atlanta can continue their win streak and pull off the sweep of Tampa Bay in Week 8, they will be way ahead of schedule when it comes to winning the NFC South.

The other team in the race is the Saints—with a caveat. At the end of New Orleans' loss to Kansas City, they lost their starting quarterback Derek Carr to an oblique injury which will cost him multiple weeks. They will likely turn to late-round rookie Spencer Rattler.

With them already struggling and now turning to a rookie QB, they are potentially staring down a sustained losing streak.

New Orleans will play the Buccaneers, Broncos, Chargers, Panthers, Falcons, and Browns before their bye week. While we don't know how long Carr will be out, it is safe to assume they will be underdogs against everyone except the Panthers and Browns.

All in all, the Falcons have a legit chance to extend their division lead to three or four games going into their bye week. There would be six games remaining after that and if you have that large of a lead, the division is as good as yours.

However, this is the NFL, anything can happen on any given week. The Atlanta Falcons must take care of business and not worry about what their divisional rivals are doing.