Falcons Have Command Of The NFC South

With the Saints crumbling against a tough Broncos team, the Falcons could not possibly be in better shape in the NFC South right now.

As of the moment I'm writing this, the standings in the NFC South are like this. This assumes that the NFL doesn't decide to retroactively declare all the Falcons' games to be illegal because they're not supposed to be winning them, of course.

Falcons: 7-0
Buccaneers: 3-4
Saints: 2-5
Panthers: 1-6

At this point, for all intents and purposes, the Falcons have sewn up the division. The Buccaneers could still make a run, but it would require them to win nine straight games and the Falcons to go 4-5 the rest of the way. Given that the Panthers, Saints and the Buccaneers themselves are on the slate, not to mention a mightily struggling Cowboys team, that seems awfully unlikely. Same deal with the Saints, except they'd have to win nine straight and the Falcons would have to go 3-6 or 4-5 with losing two to New Orleans. The Panthers just aren't going to make it.

It would be one thing if the Falcons were 7-0 and the Saints were nipping at their heels, but they're undefeated and crushing the division. There's a very real and very encouraging possibility that they could have this thing wrapped up in a few weeks and can determine whether they can rest or gun hard for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. It's a nice decision to be able to make.

How do you think this will shake out the rest of the way?