NFL Power Rankings, Week 12: Eagles fall to Saints in embarrassing fashion
By Dan Parzych
23. Atlanta Falcons
After suffering a tough loss on the road to the Cleveland Browns, the Atlanta Falcons a home matchup against the Dallas Cowboys would help them get back on the winning track to keep those playoff hopes alive in the NFC. Obviously, the Falcons are still in a great position to make a final push over these final six weeks, but their path just got a little more difficult after losing another tough one to the Cowboys.
Even more frustrating, this marked the fourth time in 2018 that Atlanta ended up losing a game by single digits, showing just how different things could be if this team managed to hold on in key situations when it matters the most. There’s a reason why expectations were so high for the Falcons to reach the playoffs for a third year in a row when looking at all of the potential on both sides of the football, but a loss like this hurts when seeing how Matt Ryan should have made better decisions on numerous occasions.
To top things off, the Falcons will be on a short week as a result of a Thanksgiving meeting with a familiar face in the New Orleans Saints. Desperation is beginning to kick in for Atlanta since they can’t afford to lose that many more games, and if they come up short in New Orleans, the pressure will be higher than ever heading into December.