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The most important thing the Falcons can achieve today is a win, given that it’ll ensure a winning season and keep them in the thick of the playoff hunt. But there are other items at stake, as well.
The Falcons can set two records today, one individual and one franchise. The first is Matt Ryan’s franchise record for touchdown passes in a single season, which he set back in 2012 when he threw his 32nd and eclipsed Steve Bartkowski, who set the mark originally back in 1980. If Ryan throws three touchdown passes today—hardly an unreasonable assumption, given the opponent—then #2 will be at 33 and have the chance to absolutely shatter the record over the last two weeks of the season. Whether he sets it today or not, that 32 is likely to look like a distant memory by the time the Falcons wrap up their Week 17 matchup against the Saints.
Then there’s the franchise scoring record, which we discussed earlier this week. The current mark is 442 points, set back during the 1998 Super Bowl season, and the Falcons are stunningly only 14 points off the record as of right this moment, despite having played only 13 games. Again, given the caliber of defense they’re playing, it’s extremely likely the 2016 team will own the record by the end of today, and that they’ll continue to build on it in the weeks ahead.
Do you think the Falcons will manage to set records today?