In Year 1 of the Kevin Stefanski era, the Atlanta Falcons are facing an uphill battle to make the playoffs. On paper, the roster is talented enough, and with how many games Raheem Morris blew in 2025, you'd think all Stefanski needs to do to make the playoffs is be slightly better than his predecessor. But that's not exactly the case.
The Falcons have yet to determine a starting quarterback, so 2026 could easily be a transition season in Atlanta. Everything boils down to the QB play and what Stefanski can get out of Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa, but they're also going to have to contend with a wide-open NFC South.
Every team in the division is a threat to win it. The Panthers won the division last year, the Saints had a fantastic offseason, and the Bucs are the most experienced. So what it could boil down to is non-division games, and one NFC South team has a strength of schedule far better than anyone else in the division. And the Falcons aren't that team
The NFC South is being set up as the Saints' division to lose
Of course, the archrival New Orleans Saints have the perfect draw to make the playoffs. According to analytics guru Warren Sharp, the Saints boast the NFL's second-easiest playoff schedule in 2026, only behind the Detroit Lions. And that's a major difference from Atlanta's own SOS placement.
The Dirty Birds find themselves near the middle of the pack, as they boast the 13th-hardest schedule in the NFL. Moreover, the Bucs and Panthers are also near the bottom of the NFL in strength of schedule, with Carolina sitting at 30th in the league with only the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals set to inherit tougher schedules. So this draw in the Big Easy could not be better.
Outside of the division, the Saints play the following
Home:
- Green Bay Packers
- Minnesota Vikings
- Arizona Cardinals
- Cleveland Browns
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Las Vegas Raiders
Away:
- Chicago Bears
- Detroit Lions
- New York Giants
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cincinnati Bengals
The only 2025 playoff teams the Aints are set to face are the Bears, Packers, and Steelers. They'll also face five teams who picked inside the top 10 in the 2026 NFL Draft. For a team who has improved considerably this offseason, you cannot ask for a better draw than that, which really sucks for us.
The Saints are banking on Tyler Shough to improve in Year 2, and the schedule (and situation) suggest he will. Not only is he set to face some of the most mid teams in football, Travis Etienne and Jordyn Tyson are now some of his top weapons as New Orleans spent big on both sides of the ball.
So not only are the Falcons perfectly set up for another season between seven and nine wins, they are going to have to contend with a team they swept last year potentially capitalizing on a favorable schedule and winning the NFC South for the first time since Drew Brees' final season back in 2020.
We saw how a favorable schedule helped the New England Patriots get to the Super Bowl in 2025, so fingers crossed that the Saints don't repeat that story as the popular pick to win the NFC South.
Add us as a preferred source on Google