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At 2-6, it may look like the Falcons aren’t heading anywhere except to a long offseason full of rebuilding. While COVID-19 may have changed a lot about this season, it did not change much for the Falcons who continued to play bewildering football. Dan Quinn managed stunning consistency, which was highly problematic considering how the team had played previously.
It may be a small sample size, but the Falcons looked a bit improved under Raheem Morris and even beat a team they lost to just weeks before. They are on a slow, gradual course to mediocrity.
The good news about ending up near average? Those teams could make the playoffs, per Chris Mortensen of ESPN.
NFL competition committee expects to present a resolution to owners based on a contingency of having a 16-team playoff season (8 in each conference) if games are lost due to the pandemic, especially as bye weeks disappear, according to league sources. Committee met by zoom today.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) November 2, 2020
The NFL has surprised by only needing to shuffle a few bye weeks as of the halfway point of the season. However, with bye weeks running out, the league needs a contingency plan in case of cancelled games.
That contingency plan is to put bad teams in the playoffs. The Falcons could be that bad team!
That’s right: Dan Quinn getting fired and the Falcons making the playoffs could all be things happening in one season. The downside, of course, is that the playoffs will get even worse and dilute what should be the league’s top teams facing off against each other. The more important upside is it could give Falcons fans hope, however, hope is a dangerous thing for Falcons fans.