The Atlanta Falcons' Super Bowl window is "closed... for now," according to Bleacher Report Brad Gagnon's team by team breakdown.
“The talent is there at the skill positions, along the offensive line and on defense to an extent, but we need to see something from either Michael Penix Jr. or Tua Tagovailoa first.”
It’s a fair assessment on paper, but calling Atlanta's Super Bowl window closed may be going too far. The Falcons' defensive line went from second to last in sacks to a franchise record 57, which was good for second in the NFL.
The Falcons may not be contenders yet, but they're not far off either
The secondary got an upgrade too. Avieon Terrell joins a group that already had Xavier Watts and Jessie Bates III, two of the best safeties in the league. Run defense was a problem (27th in EPA per rush allowed), but a huge chunk of that came from one nightmare game against Jonathan Taylor. Strip that outing out and Atlanta's average rushing yards allowed climbs into the top half of the league.
Special teams cost Atlanta games last year. Missed kicks, bad punts, a return game that went nowhere. It's a big part of why Raheem Morris isn't the coach anymore. And the coaching staff has a collective has improved across the board.
The fix this offseason was straightforward: sign Nick Folk, the league's most accurate kicker over the last two seasons, bring in punter Jake Bailey, and draft Zachariah Branch to inject life into the return units. When it comes to the offense, that was never the issue.Â
Bijan Robinson just put up 2,298 scrimmage yards, a franchise record, on 366 touches. Drake London and Kyle Pitts give whoever's at quarterback two legitimate weapons. And the offensive line is solid. What's missing is competent quarterback play.
Tagovailoa and Penix are former top 10 picks with real flashes on tape, even if last season went sideways for both of them. If either one plays to the level he's flashed before, Gagnon's own comparison point applies: the 2024 Vikings went 14-3 on the strength of a quarterback who'd been written off, slotting into a roster that was already built to win.
The other half of the "pretenders" argument is the NFC South itself, and that's where it gets shaky fast. This is a division where three teams finished 8-9 last year and the Panthers won it with a losing record. Tampa Bay just lost Mike Evans. Carolina is still figuring out if Bryce Young is the long-term answer. New Orleans is a pleasant surprise story, not a juggernaut.Â
"Closed... for now" undersells a roster that's one position group away from being dangerous, sitting in a division nobody's circled as a powerhouse. If Stefanski gets even modest quarterback play from Tagovailoa or Penix, the Atlanta Falcons could be a sneaky contender.
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