The Falcons are in the midst of a historic collapse

Remember when the Falcons were 5-0? They'd just beaten the Washington Redskins 25-19 on a Robert Alford pick six in overtime.

The playoffs seemed like a sure thing then. Dating back to 1970, 66 of the 72 teams that started 5-0 made it to the postseason.

The six teams who failed to reach the playoffs: the 2009 Denver Broncos and New York Giants, the 2003 Minnesota Vikings, the 1993 New Orleans Saints, 1978 Redskins and the 1974 New England Patriots. Each of those teams finished the season with a .500 record

The Falcons are in trouble after having lost six of their last seven games and now need a tremendous amount of help to make it as a wild card in the NFC with both the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks two games ahead.

But Atlanta is content with becoming just the seventh team to miss the postseason after the 5-0 start. This team wants to make history.

See, no team has ever won its first five games and finished the season with a losing record. The Falcons are 6-7 and face a real chance of becoming the first.

Sunday they finish up a three-game road trip in Jacksonville to take on a Jaguars team that has scored 90 points in the last two games. For comparison's sake, Atlanta has scored just 86 points during its current six-game losing streak.

After the Jaguars, the Falcons host the Carolina Panthers — the same team they were decimated by 38-0 last week — and then the New Orleans Saints, who gave the Atlanta its first loss back in Week 6.

The Falcons are seemingly always on the wrong side of history. Add this to the list.