The Atlanta Falcons have a tough schedule.
The Atlanta Falcons are nearing the start of the season, now just a week away from kicking things off in Week 1 with a trip up north to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
There are some real questions this team still has left to answer ahead of the start of the Kevin Stefanski era, but fans all offseason long have been scanning the schedule and looking to see just how many games this team can win in year one. The schedule is never going to be easy, however it does feel a little bit more manageable than most years for Atlanta.
There's a stretch early on though where the Falcons will face consecutively teams that are hopeful to make the playoffs. One of them in late October could be one of the most significant of the season.
Falcons Showdown with 49ers Could Be Absolutely Massive
When Atlanta takes on the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7, it will be the third straight home game for the Falcons with the previous two against the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears. When it comes to the standings in the NFC, there's a ton of playoff hopeful teams who may be jostling for a wild card spot, and the 49ers and Bears are both in that category.
The three straight home showings are sandwiched between road divisional games against the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so earning at least one or two victories in the three home non-divisional games will be absolutely massive to keep pace in the NFC standings.
It's still a little bit of a mystery just exactly what this team is going to be this upcoming season, but they have made no bones about the fact that making the playoffs is both the goal and the expectation.
Winning games not just in the division but against strong teams in the NFC is going to be absolutely critical in the pursuit of making that happen. A game against the 49ers in the middle portion of the season during a tough part of the schedule would be a wonderful way to create some momentum headed into the meat of the year.
Depending on what the Falcons record is and whether or not they were able to pick off one of Chicago or Baltimore, a matchup against San Francisco is going to be a huge indicator of what the rest of the season could look like.
