Teams Atlanta Falcons should be watching closely this week

Atlanta Falcons fans will closely be watching the scoreboard this week with Tampa Bay and New Orleans both playing games that look far tougher than they did a few weeks ago. While the Falcons take on the 1-win Panthers, New Orleans will play Green Bay and Tampa takes on a suddenly hot New York team. The Giants have rallied around their undrafted quarterback in one of the more entertaining stories of the season.

Green Bay will be fighting for their playoff lives against the Bucs after a very toughly fought game in Atlanta for Tampa. Both teams are far better than Carolina and have a very real chance to help Atlanta in the NFC South.

Of the two games, the most important is Green Bay vs. New Orleans. The Falcons currently hold the tiebreakers over the Saints. So if the Saints win and the Bucs lose, Atlanta will be back in the playoffs and hold control over the NFC South.

While it would be ideal for both teams to lose Atlanta simply needs a great game from Jordan Love and the Packers to sneak back into the playoff picture. It is a Packers team that is more than capable of beating anyone as we saw on Thanksgiving against the Lions and shortly after against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Green Bay should be favored in this game and give the Falcons the chance to sneak back into first place. New York vs. New Orleans is a bit more interesting considering how poorly the Giants had been playing before their recent run.

The Saints are in a mess as well it appears with a huge problem at quarterback. The Giants very well could have the best team and quarterback on the field at this point in the season. However, it is a coin flip which version of New York shows up in New Orleans.