Have the Falcons exceeded or fallen short of expectations?

For a team that hadn't reached the postseason in seven years, the Atlanta Falcons had a lot of hype coming into the 2024 season. They finally landed a quarterback to pair with their offensive talent and intriguing new coaching staff.

Ten weeks in and it has been a mixed bag. It was a rough start to the season followed by division dominance and then Week 10's brutal loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Let's deep dive into whether this team has exceeded or fallen short of the expectations set before the season.

Have the 2024 Falcons been a success or another disappointment?

The Atlanta Falcons haven't made the postseason in seven years. Their last playoff game came on the road against the Eagles when they were stopped on fourth and goal. We have had to sit with that bad taste in our mouths since 2017.

Why do I bring that up? Well, I think that is where we have to start. The goal for every team is to win the Super Bowl but the Dirty Birds need to make the playoffs first. They are well on their way to doing just that which, in my eyes, is a success.

Winning the NFC South is the other factor in this. From day one, Raheem Morris said that this team needs to win the division. Fortunately for them, their 4-1 record against their three rivals has them on track to do just that.

For the most part, we all expected them to win the division in 2024; their talent is too overwhelming for them not to.

What I don't think we expected was to already see a two-game lead over the second-place Buccaneers, plus a tiebreaker. Sweeping the Bucs has been the key to the season.

For that I would say they have exceeded expectations.

However, we need to see what they look like over the next few games. Their failure in New Orleans brought back disappointment and we need to see how they respond pre and post bye week.