Falcons charitably ranked 28th best NFL team in latest power ranking

The Falcons are doing something right. Not on the field, of course, but they are getting a lot of respect from sports media. In the latest power rankings from NFL dot com, I was curious if the Falcons were ranked as the worst team in the entire NFL.

I pulled up the article and scrolled past dozens and dozens of better, smarter, and more competent teams. I hit the bottom of the page and was shocked to not see the Falcons sitting at 32.

How can this be? Sure, the Falcons have precisely one win at the halfway point through the season. That one win came against the struggling Philadelphia Eagles, thanks mostly to Nelson Agholor’s pathetic drop on what would have been a game-winning touchdown. As has been standard this season, the coverage did not provide much coverage.

No, Washington took last place with their interim head coach and interim quarterback and roster seemingly full of interim players that will be replaced later. They technically have a worse record at 1-8, so the Falcons have lucked out.

I scroll up, which is an odd feeling when looking for the Falcons. Almost unnatural. To my shock, the Falcons were not at 31. The respect was real. Instead, the flailing Jets took the spot. That might be unfair, as the 1-7 team would almost certainly have one more win if Sam Darnold did not get mono.

Scrolling up again I can feel my fingers struggling from such an odd motion. No Falcons! Wow, the winless Cincinnati Bengals take this spot, with the writer subtly giving Thomas Dimitroff and Dan Quinn a round of applause for their baffling offseason moves. The Falcons cracked the 20s!

What a wild ride. Luckily I was sitting down when I scrolled up yet again, finding no red and black but aqua and orange. Yes, the Miami Dolphins rocketed up the rankings after beating the 31st best team. The same way the writer implicitly rocketed the Falcons up the rankings because of an undying respect for the team.

Here we are. The Falcons come at 28th! That’s nearly mid-20s! Let’s see what writer Dan Hanzus had to say.

The Falcons come off their Week 9 bye and get to prepare for ... the superpower Saints, also coming off a bye. Yep, it’s been that kind of season in Atlanta, where the Falcons are off to their worst start in 16 years. You don’t get to 1-7 without breakdowns on both sides of the ball, and that’s certainly been the case, despite most of the blame being put on Dan Quinn’s atrocious defense. Quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub (in his lone start) have carried their share of the load, but what happened to the Falcons’ running attack? Atlanta leads the NFL in passing yards per game (317.0), but the Falcons have yet to post a 100-yard rusher this season.

Amazing to see such kinds words written about this team. Watch out Tampa Bay Buccaneers, because the Falcons are coming for that number 27 spot!