NFC South power rankings, Week 15: Each team's path to the 2024 playoffs
2. Atlanta Falcons (6-7)
- Make playoffs: 30%
- Win division: 26%
The wheels have fallen off in Atlanta. Once 6-3 and among the best teams in the NFC, the Falcons dropped their fourth straight game after falling to the Minnesota Vikings on Kirk Cousins' return to U.S. Bank Stadium.
The defeat bumped them from first place in the division. However, they do still hold the tiebreaker over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on account of beating them both times they played.
To make the playoffs, the Falcons need to regain their one-game deficit. The Buccaneers’ best chance to lose is probably this Sunday when they travel to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Another route exists in the form of clinching a wildcard spot as the NFC’s seventh seed. The Falcons are currently ninth in the conference, two games behind the 8-5 Washington Commanders. They have an excellent chance to make up one of those games when the two meet in Week 17.
All these hypotheticals are for naught if Atlanta cannot figure out how to start playing winning football again. They averaged 14.3 points per game during their four-game losing streak, a total that only seems to be sufficient to beat the New York Giants.
A big reason for their collapse has been the play of Cousins, who has thrown for zero touchdowns and eight interceptions during the losing streak while posting a porous 57.2 passer rating.
Kirk Cousins is the first quarterback to go four straight games in a single season without a touchdown and at least eight interceptions since Brett Favre in 2005, per @ESPNStatsInfo. #Falcons
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) December 8, 2024
Calls are growing for the Falcons to start first-round quarterback Michael Penix Jr. But with the rookie having yet to see meaningful play time this season, there is no telling if he will be able to come in and instantly turn things around.
Head coach Raheem Morris announced that the team would be sticking with Cousins as the starter as they feel he gives them the best chance to win. Things need to turn around quickly with the pressure building.
Morris must know something the rest of the country doesn’t about Penix because Cousins’ play has been league-worst when he isn’t facing a team with a losing record. With the season teetering on the edge, surely it wouldn’t hurt to see what the rookie can do.
It’s not like the offense could be any worse.