The Falcons have been hot coming out the bye week in recent years

Let’s keep this one short and sweet: Over the last five years, the Falcons are improbably 5-0 coming out of the bye week. That’s despite the fact that 2013, 2014, and 2015 were all pretty mediocre seasons, and it tells you that rest makes the Falcons better. If you believe in that voodoo, of course.

This is relevant because the 2016 Falcons are coming off the bye, and they’re only three wins away from their best record since 2012. They’ll be facing a Cardinals team that has either lost or tied three of its last four games (tied with Seattle, lost to Carolina and Minnesota) and won just one by three points against the 49ers. If you’re heading into this week feeling perhaps a little more confident than you should, you can thank little stats like those.

Previous bye week record aside—because while cool, that’s not actually that indicative of what the Falcons will do now—the week off did give the Falcons a chance to get healthier. Putting Tevin Coleman and Desmond Trufant back on the field will do a lot to ensure Atlanta’s 6-0 in the last six years after the bye week.