The Atlanta Falcons are headed into another challenging game this week against the Kansas City Chiefs coming off a second straight defeat and ugly performance in the international showdown.

Now three games below .500 and losing ground in the NFC South despite the division being as weak as ever, this week's trade deadline saw the Falcons send away one of their best players in Jessie Bates to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a solid return of picks for a player on an expiring deal.

Despite officially becoming deadline sellers rather than buyers though, Atlanta is not giving up or waving the white flag on the season by any means. During his press conference this week, Kevin Stefanski definitively declaring that this franchise still wants to win and win big in 2026.

"Our fans are smart enough to know in no way, shape, or form would we punt on this season. We have three wins, just like every other team in our division," Stefanski said when addressing the fact that the team moved on from Bates and is not buying at the deadline.

While Atlanta is in last place in the division at 3-6, he is certainly correct in pointing out that this record only places the Falcons a half game out of first place. Saying it publicly out loud is one thing, but it's obvious the organization feels that building for the future is more important than potentially winning the division at seven or eight or nine wins and likely going out early in the playoffs.

Despite the fact that fans are certainly starved for the postseason after a decade of watching from home, this team has proven it is not good enough to legitimately compete for a championship this year. The Falcons are going to try to get to the playoffs, but they are not going to miss out on opportunities to get better beyond 2026 in exchange for it.

While it was tough to stomach, the move of trading Bates was the correct one, and it is one that will make Atlanta better in the long run. It may make it tougher to win games right now, but as Stefanski made very clear, that does not mean the Falcons do not want to win this division.

They are very much still involved in this race, however the vision for this franchise is looking to the future right now, and with the product the team is putting on the field right now, it makes a whole lot of sense why that is the case.