The Atlanta Falcons may have a playoff run in them, they may not. Regardless of what they do the rest of the way, though, their 2018 opponents are set.
At first glance, the slate of opponents looks pretty manageable. They get four games against the brutal AFC North, where only the Steelers and maybe Ravens figure to be any good in the upcoming season. They also get the NFC East in full, and while the Cowboys are solid and so is Washington, the only truly good team is Philadelphia.
The road games against the Eagles and Steelers might be brutal, but otherwise nothing immediately freaks me out. That’s a good sign, at least.
Here are the home and away games for the upcoming season.
Home
Dallas Cowboys
Baltimore Ravens
Away
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New Orleans Saints
Carolina Panthers
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Again, we won’t know the actual schedule until late spring. That means it will be a long time before we know where these games fall and where the bye week fits in, which can help determine the success of the season. We do know that this looks like a manageable set of opponents, especially compared to the last couple of seasons, and we’ll hope it turns out that way in reality.